Florida Public Records and Sunshine Law meeting, November 28

Local government representatives and the public in the 19th Circuit are invited to a presentation on the Florida Public Records and Sunshine Law on Monday, November 28, 2011, at the Indian River County Commission Chambers, 1801 27th St, Bldg. A, Vero Beach. The Vero Beach City attorney is a sponsor, along with State Attorney and Florida Attorney General officials. For more information, call 772-978-4730. This is a public meeting,the public is invited and there is no need for advance reservations.

I plan to take advantage of this learning opportunity and look forward to seeing City of Fort Pierce staff and others there.

The Billboard

My billboard is on south U.S. Highway # 1, on the west side, facing south. A letter to the editor questioned why I was campaigning so early and with such a big commitment. Here's a response to that letter.

Letter: Hudson views it as important to get word out to many new voters in Fort Pierce next year

Elloise M. Packer, Port St. Lucie

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Elloise M. Packer, Port St. Lucie

Letter: Hudson views it as important to get word out to many new voters in Fort Pierce next year

I thank John Mann for writing that Linda Hudson, who is running for mayor of Fort Pierce, "would take no salary if elected." His letter is helping get that conversation out.

This is the first time that the city of Fort Pierce elections will coincide with national elections. Previously, city elections were held in off years and the turnout was very low compared with state and national elections. In the August primary and the November general election of 2012, many more voters will be participating in choosing the mayor of Fort Pierce for the first time ever.

Because of off-year elections and annexations, the city of Fort Pierce has many voters in the southern part of the city who have never voted in a city election before. The billboard is the most visible and cost-effective way to reach those voters, and to get voters focused on what is happening in the city government.

What better choice than Linda Hudson, who is a native of Fort Pierce, and whose only "agenda" is the very best for the city?

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/nov/15/letter-hudson-views-it-as-important-to-get-word/

November 9 Campaign Launch

November 9, 2011... It was a great crowd of family and friends. I was humbled and proud that such a fun group of supporters and well-wishers came to the launch party and stayed to meet new friends and get reacquainted with old friends.

Here is the text of my presentation there:

Thank you all for being here tonight.

About five years ago, I began attending the city budget meetings. Since then, I’ve attended many budget workshops, requested public records, studied the budgets, asked questions of commissioners and urged action for and against many ideas and schemes. One constant theme of mine was to stop spending and stop the red ink of debt.

For the past two years, I served on the citizen’s budget advisory committee. Our recommendations challenged the thinking of elected and staff leaders. It brought to the forefront in a formal way how citizens think tax dollars should be spent in Fort Pierce.

A New Beginning in Ft. Pierce: What does a new beginning mean?

The City should spend money wisely and carefully.

The city has a budget of slightly over $30 million and debt at $95 million. In 2013, the city must pay $5 million for debt…money for past spending on property and a parking garage. Over-spending has caught up with our city. There must be serious spending reductions for every non-essential city function. Personnel costs make up the major part of city spending; pension and health insurance costs alone total $5 million.

City government should place service to its citizens above all else.

City Hall exists to serve the citizen; the citizens don’t exist to feed the spending habits of city hall. Residents are not “revenue streams,” but we are human beings who want to live or work in Ft. Pierce and prosper here. If we prosper, then the city expands its revenue.

We need a city government that lives within its means; operates in the black and not the red; puts the private sector ahead of the public sector; and puts the taxpayer ahead of everyone.

I plan not to take a salary or benefits. I will not take a car allowance, or even two car allowances. My family and friends will not be hired to be city government workers.

The city should spend tax dollars on what is essential to serve the public.

Public safety should be our number one priority: Our streets and neighborhoods should be safe. A safe city improves the business climate and the lives of our residents.

Our utilities should be efficient and affordable. We must find a way to lower utility rates so that businesses and residents can afford them.

City hall practices should improve the business climate to keep and attract businesses and bring jobs to the community.

A New Beginning in Ft. Pierce means:

No more government real estate speculation on property

No more wild, costly schemes that benefit a few, instead of benefitting the many, like the South Bridge reconfiguration

No more edicts that don’t make sense, like moving the Farmers’ Market permanently

If I’m elected, I will not lose sight of those who elected me.

Thank you for being here tonight. This event is as much about you as it is me. To those who have contributed, I say thank you too. To those who have offered to help in my campaign, I am very grateful for your time. If you have questions or concerns about anything, please don’t hesitate to email or call me.

I will do my best to provide open, honest public service.

Linda Hudson, Candidate for Mayor of Fort Pierce in 2012

FPUA-CFP Agree on Increased Transfer Method

I attended the joint meeting of the FPUA and the City of Fort Pierce Commission, where they worked their way to agreement on an increase in the transfer from the utility to the city. The compromise will probably add a little over a million each year to city coffers. UA Board member Mike Perri expressed his misgivings about possible rate increases in the future. While UA Director, Bill Thiess, said he thought they could increase the transfer in the next five years without increases, he also said planned decreases in the electric rate would probably not happen. The utility already has planned increases in water and waste water rates and the power cost adjustment is a fluctuating rate. The utility also won the ability to adjust rates based on the public service commission's deflator index, a kind of consumer price index for utilities. Commissioner Sessions objected strongly to the utility's proposal to advance monies in 2012, because of the expectation of payback from the city. Sessions said he felt like he was borrowing and paying back what was rightfully the city's money. Commissioner Becht has pushed for the increased transfer because he said it's fair to the utility and the city.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/oct/31/fort-pierce-utilities-officials-agree-to-pass/

Fort Pierce, utilities officials agree to new method of annual transfer

By Laurie Blandford laurie.blandford@scripps.com 772-409-1328

Originally published 06:12 p.m., October 31, 2011
Updated 07:54 p.m., October 31, 2011

FORT PIERCE — City and Fort Pierce Utilities Authority officials agreed they didn't want to increase electric rates as they proceed with a new method in calculating the amount of money the authority annually transfers to the city.

The City Commission and authority board met for a Monday afternoon workshop and agreed to move a large amount of the power cost adjustment into the rate part of electric bills. Officials said the adjustment is a pass-through cost to the authority's power provider, Florida Municipal Power Agency, to cover the fluctuating price of fuel.

The commission and board still have to give final approval to the new method at their next meetings.

Each year, the city receives 6 percent of the authority's total revenue. It received nearly $5 million last year.

But the adjustment hasn't been included in the transfer since 1994.

City officials wanted to include the adjustment in the total revenue so the city would receive an extra $1.5 million annually and help balance about $6 million in future budget deficits.

Authority officials came up with a compromise.

Residents' electric bills consist of two parts: the rate and the adjustment. The rate consists of the base rate to run the utility at $42.32 per 1,000 kilowatt hours and the base power cost at $49.52 per 1,000 kilowatt hours. The adjustment is $35 per 1,000 kilowatt hours.

Authority officials proposed moving $30 from the adjustment to the rate, which would give the city about an extra $1 million annually.

Authority Director Bill Thiess said the extra transfer would be done without a rate increase to residents, but it lessens the authority's ability to decrease rates in the future.

Instead of increasing residents' rates, the authority would make up the extra money going to the city by eliminating a rate decrease planned for next year.

But board member Michael Perri said Monday officials were making "a big mistake" and suggested instead raising the percentage annually transferred to the city.

"You can't convince me that down the road it won't affect the ratepayers," Perri said. "This is stealing from them."

Since the city won't see any of the extra money until 2013, officials agreed to set up the option for the city to borrow from the authority's $1.25 million in reserves next year if needed.

Still, officials must get approval from the authority's bondholders, which are two insurance companies, to change the way the annual distributions are calculated.

Thiess said he planned to send the proposed new method Tuesday to the authority's bond counsel.