Meeting Request

This morning an email was sent out to all the Polk City Council Members.  It has now been a week since the petition for a referendum for a special election to dissolve the City of Polk City was presented to City Council at the October 12th, City Council Meeting.  We have not yet received a response from the city.  Many city residents are asking what is going on and if we have heard anything.  To help answer these questions we sent the following email to each individual Council Person:

"Good morning. A group of city residents would like to meet with you to discuss your individual views on the petition to get a referendum for a special election to dissolve the City of Polk City. With the large amount of supporters that signed the petition, we feel it would be in the best interest of the people to let it go to a vote. As a public servant we feel your support should mirror the majority of the views of the people. Please contact us at your earliest convenience and we will attempt to work around your schedule to set up this meeting. If you feel more comfortable responding to this request in an email, we will also respect that. The public is requesting additional information on your personal views regarding how this petition should be handled. We look forward to your timely response.

Sincerely,

Lisa B. Shifflett "



We understand that on Monday, October 18th, Council Member Don Kinsey requested to have a special meeting with fellow council members some time on Thursday, October 21st, to discuss the petition issue, but needs an additional council member to second this request.  He stated that we don't know where we are going with this petition until we know where we are on the issue.  As of Tuesday afternoon on October, 19th, he had still not been contacted by any of the other Council Members to agree to a meeting to discuss it.  Under Florida State Sunshine Law, no two or more elected or appointed officials are permitted to discuss city business issues without officially announcing a meeting and having their discussion either recorded for public review or open to the public.  Councilman Kimsey was attempting to have open discussions on this issue, but is still waiting for a response.  Councilman Kimsey also stated that Councilman Mike Blethen had sent out notification to the other council persons that he will be out of town between October 23rd and November 2nd, so he has requested that any issues be brought to his attention before that time so he can participate.  That time is quickly approaching.


We understand that several of the council members have other day jobs besides their responsibilities at the city, so it can be difficult to reach them during business hours to allow the public to voice their views on city issues.  If you call the main city number (863) 984-1375 and go through the automated menu to reach an individual council person, you are likely to end up in voicemail.  Since the official website for the City of Polk City has removed the emails for the Council members, we have provided them below:


Mayor Joe LaCascia:     Joe.LaCascia@mypolkcity.org
Vice Mayor/Acting City Manager Trudy Block:     Trudy.Block@mypolkcity.org
Council Person Nancy Adorno:     Mast-fitter@hotmail.com
Councilman Mike Blethen:     Mikeb1001@aol.com
Councilman Don Kimsey:     Donkis@aol.com


As we receive information back from the council in response to the email this morning, we will update the blog so the public can be informed of their views.