Teresa's Record:
On Holding the Line on Taxes and SpendingFact: Teresa is the only candidate in this race who publicly opposed and voted against the 23% property tax increase in 2006 that resulted from skyrocketing property values. (BOCC Minutes 9/21/2006, pg 3 http://www.occompt.com/attachments/255_09-21-06_minutes.pdf) Fact: Teresa is the only candidate in this race who publicly opposed and voted against a plan calling for hundreds of millions of dollars in debt that Orange County didn't need and couldn't afford. (Orange County BOCC minutes 9/19/2006, pg 12 http://www.occompt.com/attachments/254_09-19-06_minutes.pdf ) Fact: When proponents of the 3 Venues (Arena, Performing Arts Center and Citrus Bowl) got enough votes to "Build Them All and Build Them Now," Teresa saw the risk and offered the amendment that changed the financing plan to only build what we could afford, when we could afford it. (Orlando Sentinel 7/26/2007) Fact: Teresa is the only candidate in this race who stopped Orange County from spending $400,000 in taxes for a boardwalk that was accessible only from a private time-share hotel. (Orlando Sentinel 9/11/2003)
On Creating Jobs and Diversifying our EconomyFact: In 2001, Teresa was asked to chair the Economic Development committee of the 9-county regional initiative known as myregion.org. Her committee was charged with exploring ways to diversify Central Florida's economy and make it more competitive in the global economy. Fact: In 2003, Teresa, along with a majority of the County Commission, UCF, the SBA and Disney World created The Disney Entrepreneur Center (E-Center) to stimulate economic development in Central Florida. By creating a single location that houses a variety of business assistance organizations, the E-Center provides easy access to industry connections, business counseling and relevant business training. This has accelerated the development and growth of small businesses in Central Florida and beyond. Fact: As an economics and financial professional, Teresa understands the importance of diversifying our economy. That's why she supported the creation of Orlando's "Medical City at Lake Nona," which includes the UCF Medical School, the Nemours Children's Health Care Campus, the Burnham Institute, the VA Hospital and the University of Florida Lake Nona Research and Academic Center. Fact: Teresa championed changes to the Horizon West Plan to build a business district serving new development in west Orange County. Fact: Teresa successfully proposed a Jobs-to-Housing Requirement for Innovation Way.
On Toll Roads and Reforming the Expressway AuthorityFact: In 2004, long before anyone else was focused on problems at the Expressway Authority, Teresa called for an audit and a total restructuring of its board to make it accountable to the citizens. (Orlando Business Journal 2/9/2004, Orlando Sentinel 11/3/2006) Fact: Teresa is the only candidate who stood up for the taxpayers by fighting a plan that would have increased sales taxes to build more toll roads. (1/28/2003 Public Memo to Mayor& BOCC)
On Responsible Growth & Environmental ProtectionFact: Teresa's life experiences, having grown up in Miami and living in Atlanta for 10 years as an adult, taught her the importance of responsible planning. She championed many initiatives to protect our schools against overcrowding, to reduce traffic congestion, to protect and conserve our environmental resources, while holding taxes low. Fact: In 2004, Teresa proposed a charter amendment to protect schools against overcrowding. When she couldn't get support from the other commissioners, she took her amendment to the voters and won - by a landslide vote of 77%. Fact: Teresa uncovered a flaw in the County's Impact Fee methodology that had resulted in tens of millions of dollars of lost revenue to build roads needed to keep up with growth. No other candidate in this race supported her efforts to correct that formula. Fact: Teresa is the only candidate that opposed "Pay & Go" agreements that allowed more development on heavily congested roads in spite of state laws designed to prevent such poorly planned overdevelopment. Fact: In 2002, Teresa proposed that Orange County conduct its own mitigation banking operations on environmentally critical properties. Under her proposal, proceeds from these mitigation banks would have been used to buy additional environmentally sensitive lands. Fact: Teresa proposed an Environmental Land Stewardship program as part of the Innovation Way development approval process to ensure the permanent preservation of valuable wildlife-habitat corridors, while giving value to nearby property owners. Fact: In 2008, Teresa proposed a resolution adopted by the board to help fight against corporations expelling one of our most important natural resources, water, for the purpose of bottling it and selling it. (Niagara in Lake County)
On Raising the Bar on Ethics, Protecting Citizens' Rights, and Standing up to Special InterestsFact: Teresa fought for 2 years to strengthen ethics and financial-disclosure requirements. Finally, she took these reforms directly to the voters as a Charter Amendment, which won by a landslide vote of 87%. (Orlando Sentinel 7/9/2008, Supervisor of Elections 2008 results) Fact: As one of her first official acts as a commissioner, Teresa successfully implemented the Public Notification Task Force that improved the way the County notifies citizens of upcoming public hearings for proposals that affect their neighborhoods. Fact: Teresa believes that our representative form of government only works when elected officials listen to their constituents before making decisions that affect them. That's why Teresa insisted on holding a community meeting for every significant land-use or zoning change request or other county government decision that she was asked to vote on. On average, she attended nearly 100 community meetings a year. Fact: Teresa proposed and successfully led the charge for the "Public's Right to Speak" charter amendment that now requires the County Commission to reserve time for citizens to speak at commission meetings before votes are cast. The Charter Amendment passed by 90%. For years, citizen weren't allow to speak at the morning meetings where over half of the Commission's decisions are made. (Orlando Sentinel 6/4/08, Supervisor of Elections 2008 results) Fact: Teresa earned a reputation for taking on special interests. She uncovered tens of millions of dollars in "sweetheart deals" with land developers that robbed taxpayers of needed road improvements. (Orlando Sentinel 8/3/2005, 12/25/2005) Political advertisement paid for and approved by Teresa Jacobs, candidate for Orange County Mayor, non-partisan |
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Listen to what people are saying about Teresa
“It is rare to find a politician who cares more about the citizens she represents than in being re-elected and using her public office for personal benefit. You are rare, perhaps unique, among politicians, because you truly care about the citizens you represent and doing the right thing. Your ethics, hard work and principles served you well as our County Commissioner and will serve you well in the future.”“I can’t thank you enough for your sacrifice of that which you cherish the most - your life with your family. You have not only made a magnificent difference in Orange County, but also in my life, because I am a better person for getting to know you and watching you be a community leader we can believe in.”“I’ll forever admire the way you championed “doing the right thing” – though calling for the necessity for debate inevitably came with the territory. Even when the sparks were flying, you always held your head high and carried yourself with great dignity, grace and were still able to make everyone smile with one of your witty jokes. You were always there for us!”
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