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Maxcy Seeking Fourth Term On County Commission

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 12, 2008

Guy Maxcy, a Republican, said that if he wins a fifth consecutive 4-year term, it will be his last.

"I will always fight impact fees," he said, agreeing that impact fees during a recessionary economy are bad timing and retard growth.

Maxcy was for the renewal of a 6-cent gasoline tax though. "There's got to be a pot of money to take care of the roads."

Q: How will you balance the needs of services with calls to cut taxes?

I believe that in order to balance the needs of services for the people in Highlands County, you first must prioritize those services into what is needed the most. One of the county responsibilities to the public is to provide for the health, safety and welfare of the citizens.

In view of that responsibility, I will continue to support the offices of the sheriff of Highlands County to provide good sound law enforcement. This undertaking for all the offices of law enforcement including the sheriff is a tremendous one to insure the public's health, safety and welfare.

The Highlands County Health Department is another agency that deserves our attention. As you know, there are many folks who are less fortunate than us that have a health need in our county. Providing health services to the folks who qualify in our county are a monumental task, one in which many counties do not take on. This is a priority none the less and we should try to hold the line as best we can to continue to assist the state in this regard. I only wish the state of Florida would hold their county health departments in high priority as well. After all, the health departments throughout the state of Florida are state agencies.

Other board functions that are held as a top priority by me are our Emergency Management Services, Emergency Operations Services and the Highlands County Volunteer Fire Department. We should make sure that our response times from these departments to the public remains level. I am very much appreciative of other agencies such as NU-HOPE of Highlands County, The Boys and Girls Club, The Children's Advocacy Center, Ridge Area Arc, that protect our citizens for their health, safety and welfare. Balancing the needs of our citizens to decreasing revenues will be a challenge that I accept.

Q: Did you support Amendment One and the effects it has had on county revenue?

I did not support Amendment One. We were promised big property tax savings with the passage of Amendment One by our governor and some legislators. Have you received big savings in your property taxes? I would venture to say probably not. The tax system in our state is broken and I along with many others throughout our state felt that this measure was very risky to say the least and did not make enough economic sense. Granting the second homestead exemption of $25,000 did not create the savings that we thought we deserved. The other consequence resulted in a shift of the burden to non-homestead properties such as business and real estate.

While I am grateful for the few dollars we have potentially saved with Amendment One our state must go back to the drawing board and put together a proposal that has the meat and potato savings that we deserve. In working with The Florida Association of Counties, I will help lead the charge for reform of the property tax system.

Q: Describe your leadership style.

My leadership style can be described as doing what it takes to make sure the will of the people is enacted. My examples are: this year, I felt that the will of the people was to continue to cut spending and with the help of the other four commissioners, we have. I felt that the will of the people was to reduce the millage, and we did. The will and voice of the people were to streamline county government and we have begun.

I want to make sure the peoples' voice is heard loud and clear and a style of mine is to keep the pulse of my constituents close and bring forth their ideas and concerns. I pride myself on being very assessable and want to know your concerns and needs which insures that I am a commissioner for the people.

Q: Do you support impact fees? Do you agree that not having them forces residents already living here to foot the bill for growth?

It is mandated by the state of Florida that each county have a financial feasible plan to show how we are going to pay for future infrastructure. Having said that, we do have impact fees and, yes I do not want residents living here to have to foot the bill for growth they did not cause. It is not fair that our folks already residing here have to pay for infrastructure that a new development may generate such as roads. I might add though that because of the severe downturn in our economy, we should spend more time discussing how to promote growth in Highlands County, not stunt it. Fees should be reduced not increased.

Q: What will be your most important task during your next term?

We are going to have to do more with less while making a concerted effort to keep the level of services the same. One of the most important tasks facing us over the next term is finding ways to cut spending resulting in a reduction of our budget. We are already faced with a severe reduction in revenues for next year. Our county is going to have to think outside the box in order to meet these reductions heading our way. We are told that property values are estimated to drop approximately 10 percent more next year. Managing the budget will be a tremendous undertaking and I will help lead the charge to accomplish the task. Cutting the budget in a responsible way and streamlining county government are my goals every year and I will work hard to continue sound leadership in this area.

Q: Why should voters select you for county commission?

We have a great county in Highlands and as a commissioner I can truly say that serving the public is a special part of my life that I really enjoy. I have gone the extra mile to make sure that you have immediate access to me as your commissioner. The contact I receive from you on various matters insures that your voice is being heard, which should be a No. 1 priority for any elected official. You have my commitment that I will continue to work on many areas such as no new taxes, cut spending, veterans affairs, transportation and senior citizen service enhancements. Please consider this; a hurricane chugs along across the open sea relying solely on the steering currents of nature to guide it. Well, Highlands County is chugging along too but will rely solely on the experience and track record of county commissioners to guide her. Through my work as your commissioner, I have been blessed with those two qualities and will work hard to lead us into the future.

Over my tenure as your county commissioner, we have accomplished many things. Let me list just a few. For the third year in a row, we have reduced the millage rate. Your staff has implemented ways to provide better service to the public, and I have helped lead the charge. We have a lesser unemployment rate from when I took office. We have a strong Children's Advocacy Center that has been responsible for assisting children in Highlands County in ways you can not even imagine. We have just put into place plans for a new Highlands County Veteran's Center of which I am pleased to have been a part of. My constituents have many enhanced county parks for recreation. We have built our county to a point of great trust with our legislators.

My promise to you is to continue to be open to your opinions, make myself always available, and most of all, allow your voice to be heard. Let me close by quoting something that I deem to be my creed while in office as your public servant: The Serenity Prayer. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

I want to continue my representation of you as Highlands County Commissioner District 5. Your vote will be very much appreciated.

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