Retired Director of the Florida Park Service and Past Audubon Florida Executive Director
Term: 2017-2021
Former President of Florida Audubon Society
Past Audubon Florida Executive Director
Led the Florida Park Service to a fourth gold medal as America’s best state parks
Led gold medal award winning Florida State Parks to record budgets and investments in resource protection, staff training, volunteer recruitment and interpretive services
Victoria Colangelo was an outstanding volunteer and generous donor to Audubon’s Center for Birds of Prey. I admired her commitment to protecting water and wildlife. Victoria’s professional work to conserve wetlands makes Florida a better place.
I recently learned of the Winding Hollow vs. Ken Splathoff Pre-Trial Statements.
I find it to be a CONFLICT OF INTEREST that Kevin Cannon represented Ken Spalthoff vs Winding Hollow Subdivision HOA. A community in Winter Springs in the district he represents as commissioner.
Ken Spalthoff, who routinely attacks my character, was accused by his HOA of some very serious offenses. Attached is his pre-trial statement drawn up in 2020 by his attorney Kevin Cannon and my opponent for Winter Springs City Commission District 2 seat. The allegations involved kickbacks, false entries made in official HOA books and records, accusations of civil theft and fraudulent billing scheme.
Another interesting inclusion in this document is the threat Cannon makes to the HOA.
See Page 8, Paragraph I.6: [Cannon’s attorney fees to be paid by residents ] “…. substantial attorney fees….. impact to each member of the HOA would likely be a special assessment against each of the 394 HOA Member/Homeowners in the range of $2000 to $3000 per household.”
These constituents were being threatened by their very own elected representative to pay him personally $780,000 to $1,000,000.
The consent orders shared here should most certainly be characterized as serious. Some of the findings could possibly or probably indicate antiquated infrastructure but most of what is included here would suggest either a lack of staffing, or operator competency. There are just so many failures to report, neglected procedures and what sounds like inadequate general maintenance of the system. I am quite concerned as a resident of Winter Springs.
The partially untreated discharge events are always quite serious and would have a profound negative impact on water quality in the watersheds where it was released and perhaps even create a human health hazard for people unaware, recreating in nearby waters. However, to have several of these and not report them, there would have to be a significant plausible explanation for that to go un-disciplined, if not termination of responsible parties.
I also found myself wondering, maybe more importantly, how did they respond to the order? There may be circumstantial reasons for the findings, like staff turnover. However, once the order was issued, one would think getting it right would be prioritized.
Regardless, why have the residents of Winter Springs not be told about this situation? Why does our City use communication as propaganda for re-election instead of shooting straight with residents. Moreover, why are there so many failures and why were they never reported?
Recently, Victoria attended the Seminole County/Orlando North Hob Nob, Central Florida’s Premier Event of the Political Season.
Igor Spasojevic, Insurance Consultant and host of RIMM Podcast recapped the events of the Hob Nob. He sat down with Victoria to discuss her reasons for running, her desire to get involved, and her plan for serving the great city of Winter Springs.
Yesterday Evening 07/26/2022 A meeting was held in the City of Winter Springs to Discuss a development.
The interesting part of this meeting for me is that I had 3 questions to ask of the Commissioner who was speaking.
Here are the questions:
1) Did you speak with the property owner about this project and did you promise to her to change the zoning on this property for this project? Did you share with the property owner that this project would be both hers and your legacy to the city of Winter Springs?
– The answer to this question is YES. The commissioner has had this discussion with the property owner and he did share with her that this project would be her legacy and his.
2) Involving the Golf Course Property – have you spoken with the property owner and shared with him that you are in conversations with City Staff to remove the conservation easement? Did you also share with the property owner you would be working with him and his developer to get his project approved?
– The answer to this question is YES. The commissioner had this conversation with the property owner recently and then asked to have his signs put on the property.
3) You have shared with people tonight that you have only ever spoken to the developer once – yet it would seem that this is not the case? Since this is the same developer who has developed 434/Tuskawilla and has been in conversations on this property with city hall since April of this year?
– The truth is – Commissioner Cannon is playing with your emotions. He is intimately aware of what happens in City Hall – he is the single leader of everything in this city. His ability to spin the truth to his favor always intrigues me – it is how Lawyers operate, yet respectfully we don’t need a lawyer – we need a Community Advocate who will work with the community.
One hears of the mass number of homeless in big cities, but what is the situation in Seminole County?
The Seminole League of Women Voters, partnering with several other organizations, is sponsoring a Forum on “The New Faces of Homelessness.” The panel will be moderated by Dr. Joel Hunter and include panelists Meghan Killingsworth, Trevor Fraser and Jillian Finklestein. The panelists represent those involved with housing issues, the Seminole County Public Schools, and services currently available. Learn what you can do individually and politically.
One of the first things I will do when elected is turn back on the comments. This NO COMMENT commission is so interested in hearing from its resident’s it has turned off or limited who can comment on official city communication across the most popular social networks residents use today.
This has caused residents to form separate “groups” which then become echo chambers of the different tribes in our city. Nobody knows who to trust, or what group they should follow.
This doesn’t sound like a great strategy for building our city and bringing our people together.
We also did a check around other nearby cities in Central Florida to see how they handle comments and I could not find another that has comments blocked like Winter Springs. Lake Mary, Oviedo, Casselberry, Orlando, Winter Park and others all have comments enabled.
The City of Winter Springs pays a social media consultant $7,000+ per month to manage their online presence, but that apparently does not include comment moderation, which in my opinion one of the best ways to promote transparency in government.
Here are some screen shots that I took that show comments blocked on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.
I’d love to hear from residents, do you think we should ask the city to turn on the comments so we can have respectful conversation about the important issues facing our city?
We’re building a community to connect Winter Springs residents and give them a place to speak up for their community. You can find me on Facebook keeping you informed of key stories that impact you and our community. We’ll never block or delete your comments because we want to hear from everyone. When the time is right, I will ask you for your vote in November to be your next City Commissioner.
We are going to make sureall local voices are heard… from your home to our Winter Springs City Hall!
Poor water quality has a direct impact on water quantity in a number of ways. Polluted water that cannot be used for drinking, bathing, industry or agriculture effectively reduces the amount of useable water within a given area.
Declining water quality has become a global issue of concern as human populations grow, industrial and agricultural activities expand, and climate change threatens to cause major alterations to the hydrological cycle.
Globally, the most prevalent water quality problem is eutrophication, a result of high-nutrient loads (mainly phosphorus and nitrogen), which substantially impairs beneficial uses of water. Major nutrient sources include agricultural runoff, domestic sewage (also a source of microbial pollution), industrial effluents and atmospheric inputs from fossil fuel burning and bush fires. Lakes and reservoirs are particularly susceptible to the negative impacts of eutrophication because of their complex dynamics, relatively longer water residence times and their role as an integrating sink for pollutants from their drainage basins. Nitrogen concentrations exceeding 5 milligrams per litre of water often indicate pollution from human and animal waste or fertilizer runoff from agricultural areas.
An emerging water quality concern is the impact of personal care products and pharmaceuticals, such as birth control pills, painkillers and antibiotics, on aquatic ecosystems. Little is known about their long-term human or ecosystem impacts, although some are believed to mimic natural hormones in humans and other species.
Every day, 2 million tons of sewage and other effluents drain into the world’s waters.
Every year, more people die from unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including war
The most significant sources of water pollution are lack of inadequate treatment of human wastes and inadequately managed and treated industrial and agricultural wastes
The current Proposed SUPER WALMART Plans WILL NOT HAPPEN ON MY WATCH. This would require a CHANGE to the ZONING, which I am NOT interested in. Current Commissioner Cannon refuses to say NO to Super Walmart, calls 200 acres “vital for the future of economic development.”
Currently, the property is classified as the Greenway Interchange District (GID)
The intersection of State Road 417 and State Road 434 is known as the Greeneway Interchange District (GID) and lies within the Seminole Way corridor. The GID has the largest consolidation of vacant developable land within the City under one ownership.
Target Industry Uses appropriate for the GID include:
• Financial and Information Services
• Legal Services
• Architectural Services
• Publishers
• Associations
• CPA’s
• Headquarters
• Insurance
• Banks
• Telemarketing Bureaus
• Financial Transactions Processing
• Public Relations Agencies
• Credit Bureaus
• Advertising Agencies
• Consumer Lending
• Title Companies
• Computer Software and Design
• Life Sciences
• Hospitals and Medical Education
• Diagnostic Imaging Centers
• Medical Laboratories
• Agri-science Facilities
• Outpatient Facilities
• Blood and Organ Banks
• Research Laboratories
• Nursing Care Facilities
• Veterinary Services
• Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing and Research
• Digital Media
• Motion Picture and Video Production
• Simulation and Training
• Teleproduction
• Graphic Design
• Computer Hardware/Software
• Design and Development
• Animation
• Technical and Research Services
• General Management Consulting
• Marketing
• Interior Design
• Graphic Design Services
• Human Resources and Executive Search
• Environmental Engineering and Consulting
• Precision Instruments
• Civil Engineering Surveying and Mapping
• Telecommunications
• Industrial Design
• Lasers and Photonics
Other
• Long-Term Tourism
• Convention Center
• Hotels and Lodging
• International Trade
• Sports Associated Industries
• Other “basic” businesses and industries with high annual average wages
