Suwannee County Clerk of Courts Barry Baker addresses the clerk’s office’s budget issues.

Florida Senator Charles “Charlie” Dean, R-Inverness, and Representative Elizabeth Porter, R-Lake City, arrived at the Suwannee County Judicial Annex on Wednesday afternoon for a legislative delegation meeting. The delegation serves as a platform for local elected officials, government officials and the general public to discuss concerns and priorities for their state representatives to consider before going into the 2016 legislative session on Jan. 12.

Porter served as chair of the delegation and will also serve as next year’s chair, as Dean’s last year in office is 2016 due to term limits.

“It’s been a pleasure; it’s been an honor. I’ve enjoyed it,” Dean said, speaking on his years in office. “You have made my life worthwhile to do what I enjoy doing, and that’s serving the people. It is with a great deal of humility and humbleness that I say thank you for letting me share with you.”

Live Oak Police Department

Live Oak Chief of Police Buddy Williams’ request of Porter and Dean was to stand opposed to any future medical marijuana bills in the state of Florida. Williams said the state of Colorado, which has legalized both medicinal and recreational marijuana use, is not quick to address the expense associated with marijuana regulatory boards and other necessities that come with legalization.

“I’ve noticed in some of this discussion, and it’s not so much the medical side that concerns me, but they cloud the issue with everything else to include recreational, food products and all of this other stuff,” Williams said. “If we’re just ready to throw our hands up and say we’re giving in to the sins of society, then I think that’s a shame. I would hope that on the state’s side we’re definitely trying to do everything we can to fight it. It just seems to me that most people have just thrown their hands up and given in, and I don’t want to be the one that gives up.”

After Williams’ presentation, Porter thanked him for his help with Leo’s Law, a bill designed to provide GPS-tracking devices to people in danger of elopement, such as those with autism or dementia. The bill was named after Leo Walker, a nine-year-old autistic boy who eloped from his Live Oak home in 2014 and was found dead days later. Leo’s Law was not fully passed during the 2015 legislative session, but Porter stated she had high hopes it would pass when reintroduced in the next session.

Suwannee County School District

On behalf of the Suwannee County School District, Suwannee County School Board member Julie Ulmer presented a list of public education priorities for the delegation to consider. Ulmer asked for the support of restoration of Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO) funding; restoration of the district’s ability to levy two mils for capital outlay; continued evaluation of the state’s standardized testing mechanisms and their validity and relevancy; and careful consideration of school choice legislation that could affect the state’s revenue from public education.

Ulmer also asked for Porter and Dean to consider supporting an increase in Florida Education Finance Program funding for transportation and technology.

“We in Suwannee County came through this last year of testing far better than other districts because we have a longterm commitment to technology,” said Ulmer. “We utilize every dollar we can to fund computers in our classrooms and increase computer labs, and one of our greatest challenges is finding technology dollars. We have increased the number of computers dramatically and we are in better shape than a lot of other districts, but we’re not where we’d like to be.”

Finally, Ulmer surprised Dean with a certificate of appreciation for his years of service and support of public education.

“We’ve turned to you in times when we needed somebody to fight for us in Tallahassee and you’ve done that,” Ulmer said.

Suwannee County

Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners Chairman Jason Bashaw spoke on behalf of the county and laid out their 2016 legislative priorities, many of which are the same as last year’s priorities. The county’s priorities request the delegation support restoration of solid waste grants; mitigate the impact of county Medicaid cost sharing by placing a cap on annual increases; reauthorize the Florida Enterprise Zone program to increase effectiveness in rural areas; support payment in lieu of taxes for government-acquired lands; increase funding for small county road programs, water and sewer projects, rural transportation, expansion and construction of jails and emergency operations centers, and small county libraries; support the Freedom of Information Act; continue funding commitment to fiscally constrained counties; support and maintain provisions and benefits of the Florida Retirement System; and oppose proposals that shift costs from state to local levels or increase local costs.

Suwannee County Clerk of Courts

Suwannee County Clerk of Courts Barry Baker asked the state legislators to consider increasing or salvaging funding for clerks’ offices.

“Last year was a very tough year for clerks. Our needs are getting critical, and that’s not just for my office but for clerks around the state,” said Baker. “In 2009, a lot of the monies that used to come to the clerk’s office were redirected to the general fund because a lot of the monies were coming in from foreclosures and things like that. A lot of that funding from foreclosures has dried up, and that’s one of the issues that has got us in the situation we’re in now.”

Baker said clerks’ offices’ budgets were cut by five percent about two-thirds into the year, forcing the offices to absorb the losses.

“This year our county is also going to have some additional cuts,” Baker said. “It’s getting to a stage where things are getting critical for our office.”

Other speakers included Suwannee County Property Appraiser Lamar Jenkins, Florida Department of Health in Suwannee County Administrator Kerry Waldron, Suwannee River Water Management District Government Affairs and Communications Director Steve Minnis, and Dorothy Johns and Laura Hodges from the Suwannee/Lafayette Retired Educators Association. They each expressed their thanks and appreciation to Dean and Porter for their work in the legislature and asked for the continued support of their individual agencies or organizations.