~ELECTION INFORMATION FROM BILL COWLES, SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS~

TO FIND MAPS OF ORANGE COUNTY COMMISSION DISTRICTS AND/OR SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICTS

CLICK ON: Maps

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BY EMAIL

Family & Consumer Sciences (House & Home)

Orange County/University of Florida IFAS Extension  Education Center

6021 S. Conway Road

Orlando, FL  32812

… I’ve attached our most current version of the Family Update Newsletter -- a newsletter that covers all topics related to the family, the home and consumers … click on:

UF NEWSLETTER

(pdf file)

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    News from Orange County Public Schools

OCPS ANNOUNCES ITS POLICY FOR FREE AND REDUCED PRICE MEALS FOR STUDENTS

Food and Nutrition Services Department of Orange County Public Schools is releasing the district’s policy for Free and Reduced Meals for students under the National School Lunch Program.

Household size and income criteria will be used to determine eligibility. These criteria can be found

on page two of this document.  Children from families whose income is at or below the levels shown may be eligible for Free or Reduced Price Meals. An application cannot be approved unless it contains complete eligibility information. Once approved, meal benefits are good for an entire year. You need not notify the organization of changes in income and household size.

Application forms are being sent to all homes with a letter to parents or guardians.  To apply for Free or Reduced Price Meals, households must complete the application and return it to school.  Only one application need to be completed for each household.  Additional copies are available at the principal’s office in each school.  The information provided on the application will be used for the purpose of determining eligibility and may be verified at any time during the school year. Applications may be submitted at any time during the year.

Households that receive Food Stamps or TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) are only required to list on the application, the child’s name, Food Stamp / TANF case number, and signature of adult household member.

Foster children may receive benefits based on the child’s personal income regardless of the income of the household.

Households with children who are considered migrants, homeless or runaway should call the district liaison at 407-317-3200, ext. 2789 or the Free and Reduced Department at 407-317-3966.

For the purpose of determining household size, deployed service members are considered a part of the household. Families should include the names of the deployed service members on their application. Report only that portion of the deployed service member’s income made available to them or on their behalf to the family. Additionally, a housing allowance that is part of the Military Housing Privatization Initiative is not to be included as income.

All other households must provide the following information listed on the application:

·         Total household income listed by amount received and type of income and how often the income is received (wages, child support, etc.) by each household member;

·         Names of all household members;

·         Signature of an adult household member certifying the information provided is correct; and

·         Social Security Number of the adult signing the application or check the box provided, indicating this household member does not have a social security number.

If a household member becomes unemployed or household size changes, the school should be contacted.  Children of parents or guardians who become unemployed should also contact the school. Such changes may make the student eligible for reduced price or free meals if the household income falls at or below the levels shown below.

Under the provisions of the Free and Reduced Price meal policy the Food Service Administrator will review applications and determine eligibility.  If a parent or guardian is dissatisfied with the ruling of the official, he or she may wish to discuss the decision with the determining official on an informal basis.  If the parent wishes to make a formal appeal, he or she may make a request either orally or in writing to:

Lora Gilbert / Food & Nutrition Services / 6501 Magic Way Building #500 / Orlando, FL 32802 / Phone # 407-317-3799

Unless indicated otherwise on the application, the information on the Free and Reduced Price Meal application may be used by the school system in determining eligibility for other educational programs.

FLORIDA INCOME ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES

FOR FREE AND REDUCED PRICE MEALS

Effective from July1, 2008 to June 30, 2009

Free Meal Scale is 130% of Federal Poverty Level

Reduced Meal Scale is 185% of Federal Poverty Level

Remember:  The total income before taxes, social security, health benefits, union dues,

or other deductions must be reported.

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THE 4^TH OF JULY ISN’T FUN FOR ALL FAMILY MEMBERS

Orlando, FL—While Millions of Americans are purchasing fireworks, food, beverages, and gas for the grill Orange County Animal Services is cautioning citizens of the potential hazards the Fourth of July could hold for their pets.

Animal Shelters around the state have become accustomed to the overwhelming intake of “4^th of July animals.” When the fireworks start popping, sparkling and cracking, many animals become agitated and scared. Without proper care, they can become lost, injured, or killed. Orange County Animal Services recommends you leave your pets at home, or in the safety of their kennel or crate. If owners must leave their pets outside, they should wear a proper collar made of nylon or leather with an updated ID tag to ensure return if the animal gets lost. 

A normally calm animal could become stressed from all the commotion and attempt to get away from the noise. The escape may be through a glass door or screen and most commonly, by digging a hole under the fence. A loose animal is dangerous, not to humans but to itself. “Ill-intending drivers, teenagers out for a laugh, and even wildlife are a potential threat” said Shelter Manager, Katherine Lockett. An animal that finds its way into the Orange County shelter is lucky by most standards. According to Orange County Animal Services, 28 of the 351 animals impounded in July 2007 were returned to their owners. A 68% increase in pets returned to their owners compared to June 2007.

“Resist the urge to bring your pets to your holiday festivities; while you may consider them a family member, they are much safer and happier in the comfort of their own homes” adds Lockett.

Orange County Animal Services is one of Central Florida’s largest Pet Rescue and Adoption centers.  Last year alone, Animal Services received close to 23,000 animals at its shelter. The agency’s mission is to protect the citizens and animals of Orange County.  Their vision is to give abandoned and neglected pets a second chance to live a long and healthy life in a safe, loving home.

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News from FLDOE

FLORIDA IS ONE OF SIX STATES SELECTED TO IMPLEMENT

FEDERAL SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PILOT PROGRAM

~ Differentiated Accountability program gives Florida flexibility in assisting low performing schools ~

TALLAHASSEE – Florida is one of six states selected to participate in the U.S. Department of Education’s differentiated accountability pilot program. The pilot program allows Florida to create a tiered approach to address required interventions for Title I schools that have not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act for two or more years. Florida’s selection into the program is based on a proposal that links state and federal accountability systems to identify schools that need focused preventive measures, those in need of more serious corrective action, and those that require intensive intervention such as restructuring or closure.

“Under this pilot program, schools in Florida that miss a few AYP criteria can easily be distinguished from schools exhibiting widespread areas of deficiency,” said Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith. “This will give us more flexibility in our improvement and intervention strategies for these schools, and allow our state and federal accountability systems to work in a complementary fashion.”

Participation in the pilot program allows Florida to reclassify its Title I schools that do not achieve AYP into three main improvement levels based on the school’s letter grade, percentage of AYP requirements met, and the number of years it has not made AYP. While this reclassification does not change federal or state accountability requirements, it does allow a more accommodating approach to implementing corrective actions for these schools. The three types of improvement levels are:

Preventive: Schools at this level are in their first four years of not making AYP and must implement varying levels of focused preventative measures to correct specific issues. This category is subdivided into “A,” “B” and “C” schools that have met 80 percent or more of AYP criteria and schools that have met less than 80 percent of AYP criteria, including all “D” and “F” schools. It is anticipated that “A,” “B” and “C” schools that meet at least 80 percent of AYP criteria will require less stringent levels of assistance than the other schools in this category.

Corrective: Schools at this level have failed to achieve AYP for five or more years and require more serious corrective action in order to resolve persistent weaknesses. This category is subdivided into “A,” “B” and “C” schools that have met 80 percent or more of AYP criteria and schools who have met less than 80 percent of AYP criteria, including all “D” and “F” schools. It is anticipated that all schools in this category will require substantial, targeted assistance in order to successfully meet AYP requirements.

Intensive: These schools have failed to achieve AYP for five or more years in addition to demonstrating severe, long-standing reading and mathematics-based deficiencies. They require the most intensive intervention methods such as restructuring and closure.

The Florida Department of Education will begin working with schools and districts on program implementation and improvement strategies following the release of 2007-08 school grade and AYP results. Full implementation is expected to be in place for the 2008-09 school year.

For more information about the differentiated accountability pilot program, visit:

http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2008/07/07012008.html.

To view Florida’s proposal, visit: http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/differentiatedaccountability/fldap.pdf.

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Thank you for support of more transparency and a higher standard of ethical behavior by elected and appointed officials in Orange County.

Although this has been a long process, on Tuesday, July 8 at 5:00 PM, the board will hold a final public hearing to adopt an ethics ordinance.  

Although the Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform Task Force, chaired by former Mayor Linda Chapin, adopted every proposal I put forth except for limiting campaign contributions, the draft ordinance prepared by county staff fails to address many of those proposals.  I raised this concern prior to and during a board discussion last Tuesday, June 24th  and plan to offer several key amendments to ensure that we bring about meaningful reform. 

However, based on the comments of several members of our commission, passage of those amendments is by no means guaranteed. 

Therefore, I ask for your assistance and support.   Please convey your support of this important issue by attending next week’s public hearing and/or contacting the board members prior to the hearing and urging their support of full disclosure of

Please see below to learn more about these key issues.

Again, thank you for your continued support.  Any help you can lend toward this effort is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Teresa Jacobs

[Orange County Commissioner, District 1]

Disclosure of Business Associates

Under current state law, elected officials are prohibited from voting on matters that benefit their business associates, but are not required to disclose the names of those associates.  Hence, the public has no way of determining if the law is being violated.  Therefore, although it is clearly illegal to vote on a matter that benefits one’s business associate, there is no effective way to enforce this law. 

This recommendation was endorsed by the Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform Task Force.  I will offer an amendment requiring disclosure of such business associates. 

Threshold for Reporting Business Associates, Relationships or Business Dealings

My concern is that, as written in the current draft ordinance, public officials would be allowed to invest large amounts of money, perhaps $10,000, $100,000 or even $1,000,000 in a limited liability company, partnership or other entity and not report their ownership interest or corresponding business associates if the public official’s share of the entity is less than 5%.

I am sure you’ll agree that any member of our commission with an investment of tens of thousands of dollars in a company has a material interest / investment in that company regardless of how insignificant their total share of the company may be.

I will offer an amendment requiring a $1,000 threshold; the same threshold as defined in the Florida Constitution and Florida Statutes.

Disclosure of Indirect Assets

This proposal was to guard against public officials concealing business relationships, assets or real estate holdings through the creation of several companies or subsidiary entities.  For example, by creating one limited liability company that owns another limited liability company that owns a piece of real estate in Orange County, an elected official could vote to rezone their own property, again a clearly illegal act, but there would be no way for the public to determine that such a serious voting conflict had occurred.  (I use the example of creating limited liability companies because they are so easy and inexpensive to create, they do not require disclosure of the owners/stakeholders, and they are frequently created in the real estate industry.)

This recommendation was endorsed by the Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform Task Force.  I will offer an amendment requiring that Orange County public officials disclose the names of all subsidiary companies and all limited liability companies owned directly or indirectly, as well as the names of all owners of such entities and to disclose all real estate owned by the parent company, subsidiary, or limited liability companies. 

Disclosure of Sources of Income Required by Florida Statutes, Section 112.3145

State law requires the disclosure of income by submitting either a sworn statement outlining all primary sources of income and certain secondary sources of income (from major customers) or an income tax return. 

My reason for offering this proposal, income tax returns, while appearing to provide a lot of information, do not provide the sources of certain types of income otherwise required to be disclosed by law.  For instance, state law requires the disclosure of all sources of income over certain thresholds.  Knowing the source of income is more important to the public than knowing the amount.  But income tax returns that include income from limited liability companies often do not provide the source of income, only the amount of such income.  Also, state law requires the disclosure of significant secondary sources of income to business entities in which the public official has an ownership interest, but income tax returns do not provide this information.

This recommendation was endorsed by the Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform Task Force.  I will offer an amendment to incorporate this language into the ordinance.

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ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER

JIM MARTIN

… interviewed Jim Martin today … click on:

JIM MARTIN

(video)

. Jim’s website can be found at: http:// www.electjimmartin.com

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LYNX BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

(07/01/80)

BY EMAIL

On Tuesday July 1, 2008 the LYNX Board of Directors unanimously adopted service changes for Links 1, 2, 9, 13, 14, 16, 20, 23, 25, 39, 45, 48 and 49 … click on:

Lynx Maps (pdf file)

These changes will take effect August 17, 2008.

This will be the first step in a two-part realignment plan for 2008. The adjustments have been designed to efficiently maximize LYNX service under financial constraints.

The fiscal impact will be an annual operating savings of $726,000. The second proposed realignment plan will be scheduled for December 2008 with a combined savings of $2.5 million. 

LYNX Customer Service will be available to answer any questions regarding these alterations. Passengers may also use Trip Planner to plan their travel.

OCINS NOTE: … our thanks to Matthew P. Friedman, Manager of Media Relations, LYNX for the email …

RECOGNITIONS

COMMENTS

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News from Orange County

15^TH ANNUAL COMMUNITY CONFERENCE

 The Orange County Neighborhood Services Division is pleased to present the 15^th Annual Community Conference. 

This year’s conference will take place on Saturday, July 19, 2008 from 8:00 A.M. to 2:30 P.M. at the Orange County Convention Center.  The entire day will be filled with opportunities for citizens to learn more about Orange County services, to gather key information from educational workshops, and to share new ideas for preserving and enhancing the quality of life in Orange County neighborhoods. 

Lavon B. Williams, Manager of the Neighborhood Services Division, is this year’s conference keynote speaker. 

Community Conference workshop highlights include:

·                                                                    Animal Services 101

·                                                                    Homeowner’s Association Conflict Resolution

·                                                                    Engaging Youth in the Neighborhood

·                                                                    “For Sale” to Foreclosure

·                                                                    Good Practices in Managing Money

·                                                                    Crime Prevention

·                                                                    Code Enforcement

·                                                                    Transportation

There is a $10.00 fee per person for the 2008 Community Conference.  After June 27th, conference cost will be $15.00 per person and must be paid the day of the conference at the registration desk.  The event fee covers participation in the workshops, the exhibits, a light breakfast and lunch.  Our Conference Sponsors this year are:  Associa Community Management Professionals, Inc., Home Insurance Depot, Wal-Mart Supercenter, and Orange County Parks and Recreation.

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THE ROLE OF SCHOOLS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER ACHIEVEMENT GAP

http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work_report_detail.aspx?id=40828

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News from OCFR

FIREFIGHTER PROTECTION BILL NAMED FOR

TWO FALLEN ORANGE COUNTY FIREFIGHTERS

Orange County, Fl., A bill created to save firefighters' lives was signed into law by Governor Charlie Crist on June 17, 2008 and will become effective on July 1, 2008.

The bill was named in honor of two Orange County Firefighters, Todd Aldridge and Mark Benge, who died in 1989 after the roof a gift shop collapsed; the bill is called the Aldridge-Benge Firefighter Safety Act.

The Aldridge-Benge Firefighter Safety Act will require owners of any commercial, industrial, or any multi-unit residential structure, to mark these buildings in a manner that identifies them as light-frame truss-type construction. A sign or symbol will alert firefighters of the construction material and allow them to modify their tactics for fighting fires in buildings.

“We are honored that the bill was named for Todd and Mark, but at the same time we are sadden at the loss of our fallen brothers”, stated Fire Chief Carl Plaugher.

Orange County Fire Rescue Department, an accredited fire department, is committed to ensuring the health and safety of our community.

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News from OCPS

MILLIONS SAVED IN ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOL BUILDING PROGRAM

Five Orange County school building projects were completed well under their respective budgets for a total savings of more than $13.7 million. The new projects include: Columbia Elementary, Bridgewater Middle and Wekiva High; and comprehensive renovations at Sadler Elementary and Liberty Middle.

"While we are providing needed facilities for the future, we are taking advantage of all cost-saving opportunities available in the current marketplace," said Superintendent Ronald Blocker. "Our Facilities Services team continues to deliver an excellent product resulting in added savings for taxpayers."

The savings were identified after the school board approved the Certificates of Final Inspection for all schools. The board recently took the action during their regular meetings held in May and June. The cost-savings have been transferred to the capital budget for use on other school construction projects.

"Building quality classrooms where and when needed and saving money without sacrificing value is an ongoing process," said Chief Facilities Officer Bob Proie. "The goal is not just to save money at any and all costs, but to build safe places of learning while keeping a close eye on the budget."

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ORANGE COUNTY RESIDENTS

REMOVE HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE AND ELECTRONIC WASTE

FROM YOUR HOME AND BRING IT TO THE

COMMUNITY COLLECTION EVENT

FOR PROPER DISPOSAL – FREE OF CHARGE!

Click on:

HAZARDOUS WASTE AND ELECTRONIC WASTE