McKinnon Groves Collusion? Will Lake County Chairman Sean Parks Sell Out His Own District 2 for Big Business Home Builders?
I was not personally in attendance at the McKinnon Groves hearing on September 7th, but like most residents of Lake County and the surrounding area — I watched the livestream.
We are witnessing yet another epic betrayal by those who were elected to STOP home builder overdevelopment in Lake County.
I wish I could report some good news on the hearing but it now appears the majority of Commissioners will vote YES for MORE home builder overdevelopment and the destruction of rural lands by APPROVING the highly controversial Scott Boyd — McKinnon Groves Housing Hellscape.
What this means is a Villages 2.0 Virus is going to be planted right in Winter Garden to further infect rural lands, clog up the roads and schools and the very people you voted into office to STOP home builder overdevelopment and keep Lake County rural — are the ones now tilling the soil.
WAKE UP LAKE COUNTY… it is game time to save your rural way of life.
If the voters of Lake County might have been wondering if their knight-in-shining-armor Chairman Sean Parks was coming to rescue his very own District 2 residents from this disaster… the McKinnon Groves hearing was a gut punch.
Parks revealed himself to be just another politician in sheep’s clothing.
Chairman Parks opened the hearing with a heavily biased doctoral defense of “his baby” — the contrived and controversial — Wellness Way and despite the requirement of maintaining at least the appearance of impartiality in public hearings, Parks proceeded to shower Scott Boyd and McKinnon Groves with endless, unsolicited accolades proceeding point-by-point, to buttress up the failing McKinnon Groves plan.
Chairman Parks literally appeared to be swooning over Scott Boyd actually stating publicly that we the people of Lake County are “lucky” to have a developer like him who is graciously willing to not destroy our rural lands as much as some other developers.
In his faulty circle-logic, Chairman Parks OPENLY ACKNOWLEDGED McKinnon Groves was NOT A PERFECT PLAN but opined it’s a lot better than what we might have with another home builder.
WHAT?
That’s like saying here is a SHIT SANDWICH but don’t worry — its a lot better than that other SHIT SANDWICH.
SHIT is SHIT Mr. Parks.
Parks presents the false premise that there is absolutely NO ALTERNATIVE to McKinnon Groves.
There are many alternatives.
Why doesn’t the Commissioner would grow a set and be a true leader for the people with some vision to insist that we all come together to create the PERFECT PLAN for the people of Lake County and NOT just for a few big home builders who are anxious to get started ripping up the county?
HEY PARKS…. HERE’S AN IDEA —
How about actually SLOWING DOWN THE VOTE long enough to LISTEN TO THE VOTERS OF LAKE COUNTY and provide the time to come up with the “PERFECT PLAN C” FOR THE PEOPLE rather than voting for SHIT to UNJUSTLY ENRICH HOME BUILDERS?
One speaker brilliantly pointed out that we need to develop a better PLAN C and that by virtue of his last name — the Chairman’s legacy should be building more PARKS for Lake County and LESS Rooftops.
Just listening to him, you might think Chairman Parks was a paid lobbyist for Scott Boyd and McKinnon Groves or something.
Do you think Chairman Parks might actually be on the take?
Do you think Sean Parks might be a lap-boy of all the old citrus landowner families in the area who got together to elect him in order to pull Parks’ strings to approve massive home builder developments to enrich themselves?
After all, the proposed McKinnon Groves development is in HIS DISTRICT.
I didn’t believe that rumor until I watched the hearing.
Parks was joined by Commissioner Campione who lavished, thick, gooey, nauseating, butter cream praise on McKinnon Groves and Scott Boyd for his courage and willingness to agree to 150 foot buffers…
This proposed development is a Toll Brothers Trojan Horse that is going to absolutely destroy the rural character of south Lake County FOREVER and all they could talk about was the BIG BUFFERS.
It was madness.
If you don’t know what a buffer is — in home building — it is the amount of separation between the existing area and the new development. The Commissioners were fawning over 150 foot buffers with Campione stating “we have never seen this before”.
Despite her email inbox apparently melting down over labor day weekend with angry constituents, Campione inexplicably declared — or you might say decreed — that “she thought” the people of the area would “much prefer 150 foot buffers” over larger 3–5 acre parcels that actually conform to the existing area and will maintain the rural character of their community.
A bit of advice Ms. Campione… next time… don’t think.
I guess we stupid country plebeians of Lake County simply just don’t understand that our ruling Lake County Commissioner-elites know what is best for us under the Wellness Way dogma promulgated by Commissioner-decree and the all-knowing masonic eye of infallible three-term (and soon to be voted out of office if he votes YES) Chairman Sean Parks.
Resistance is futile right?
Or as Commissioner Campione openly advised opponents in the audience that we “don’t help” our cause by “opposing this”.
The opposition is the cause Ms. Campione. They are one and the same.
Rather than continually spouting off drivel into open wounds — you would be wise to hold your tongue and not bite the voters’ hand that feeds.
While Ms. Campione dictates what the peasants in south Lake County must accept… she lives on a 6-acre, luxury multi-million dollar rural lakefront estate with no neighbors for miles.
Ms. Campione is literally surrounded by hundreds of acres of beautiful Lake County open NATURE, WILDLIFE, PEACE & QUIET along COUNTRY ROADS… the very same privileges she now seeks to deprive the people in the greater Flat Lake area of south Lake County.
You can see a picture of her country estate on Boathouse Dr. in Eustis below.
The arrogant hypocrisy of politicians is stifling isn’t it?
Her closest neighbors all live on large 1 to 2 acre luxury lots with million dollar homes.
This is EXACTLY the perfect “PLAN C” proposed by one of the area residents as an alternative to the McKinnon Groves 55+ Villages nightmare, yet Ms. Campione seemed to roll her eyes thinking the mere suggestion of a lower density PLAN C absolutely absurd.
I’ll bet if you travel to her country home you might hear the wind whisper from her secluded backyard… a housing-hellscape is good for thee, but not for me.
If you’re so in love with big business home builders and several hundred homes and thousands of villages-style golf-carts and exhaust pumping vehicles to clog up quiet country roads — why don’t you invite Scott Boyd to build McKinnon Groves in your backyard Ms. Campione?
Now under the Wellness Way doctrine of creating more jobs and more housing, Campione appears she will vote YES to ORDER the Boyd-borg bulldozers and backhoes to take all of that away from the residents of the Flat Lake area in Sean Parks District 2 — all because she can.
I think we all know how she and all the Commissioners might vote if McKinnon Groves was going in across the street from her quiet luxury estate home right?
Chairman Parks and Commissioner Campione are very clearly IN LOVE with Scott Boyd and McKinnon Groves and if I was a betting man — I would say they are both definitely YES votes on September 28.
But I’m really confused…
Did the people of Lake County VOTE in FAVOR of MORE home builder overdevelopment in the last election or something?
Wasn’t this the main reason WHY Sullivan and Breeden were kicked to the curb?
Didn’t newly elected Commissioners Shields and Smith win in 2020 precisely on this main issue of slowing down home builder overdevelopment in Lake County?
I guess sometimes you just can’t stop three-term delusional politicians drunk with power from driving their political career off a cliff…
And in case you’re a politician who might need some “cliff notes” (pun intended) to decode the comms being sent about your future — a YES vote on McKinnon Groves is the cliff.
The McKinnon Groves hearing on September 7th, was a Lake County — “LET THE PEOPLE EAT CAKE “ — moment that will live in infamy and forever be studied in political science classrooms around the world on what NOT to do should you wish to be reelected to a fourth term.
Commissioners Parks and Campione did not even attempt to hide their arrogant, condescending, heavily-home-builder-biased attitude as the duo tag-teamed each other to belittle opponents and cram McKinnon Groves down the throat of the peasant-plebs of Lake County they rule over.
And don’t get me started on the endless backroom-breaks and private discussions with the Applicant and his Attorneys… what was that all about?
Why wasn’t Brent Spain the Attorney for the opposition invited to the secret meetings behind closed doors?
The whole spectacle was absolutely stunning.
Facebook campaigns to STOP McKinnon Groves revealed that upwards of 98% of the voters of Lake County are AGAINST more home builder overdevelopment, yet Chairman Parks and the other Commissioners — blinded by the “Gospel of Wellness Way” — seem to think they know what’s best and are now literally rushing full speed ahead to drive their political careers and all hope of reelection right off the McKinnon Groves cliff — by betraying the voters of Lake County and voting YES to more home builder overdevelopment on September 28th.
To Commissioners Parks, Campione and Blake — is falling on a sword for Scott Boyd and McKinnon Groves really worth ENDING your political careers?
Understand, to win reelection, politicians must command the power of the media to control the narrative in order to sway the people’s vote — yet Lake County Commissioner Campione and Chairman Parks seem oblivious to the fact that their 2022 reelection fate literally is held in the hands of a Jedi media-marketing Facebook master who showed up at the hearing on what might be called a “mission of mercy”.
This Facebook political marketing equivalent of Obi-Wan Kenobi made an appearance to enlighten the Commissioners and try to educate them that they ignore the home builder overdevelopment issue at their own peril.
Facebook is the single most powerful platform for reaching the masses with messaging to either elect or throw politicians out of office and standing right in front of them was a master marketer who spends over $50 million a year running Facebook ads for attorneys and political campaigns.
uhhh… not sure how else to get you to take the hint so I’ll just say it…
take the hint.
(Unless of course you prefer serving fries.)
If you’re not up on Facebook and social media, let me unpack this a bit and break it down so you understand what you are up against should you vote YES.
In less than thirty days, the STOP McKinnon Groves campaign reached over 220,000 residents and nearly every single active voter in Lake County. Over 32,000 voters actively engaged with the content by commenting, liking or sharing — which is a 15% response rate when normal engagement response hovers around 2%.
In other words, the response from Lake County voters on this one issue of home builder overdevelopment was so unanimous and so overwhelming that it was literally off-the-charts and broke the Facebook algorithm.
A shit-storm was created in Lake County in just a few weeks. I’m told Commissioner phones and email inboxes were literally melting with angry constituents over the labor day weekend.
But rather than listen to the people who elected them — what do “good” politicians do? They table a vote to kick the can down the road in order to put themselves in black-out sequester so they no longer have to read the emails, listen to the angry voicemails and respond to their constituents.
Nice little maneuver for political cover but ultimately it won’t save your seats if you vote YES.
Now I’ve saved the best for last… so pay attention Commissioners and take note. The advertising cost to reach all of these voters was just under $20 per 1,000.
Let that sink in for a moment…
You see, when 98% of the voters are this angry, this united and this fired up about a single issue like the pending “Yes decision” you are about to make for McKinnon Groves, it doesn’t take much money to reach them in order to get you thrown out of office.
In fact, it’s pretty easy.
I would submit to you that the public testimony from the Facebook master was the single most alarming message all day and definitely the crossroad of your political career.
It seemed only Shields and Smith were taking notes and truly understand what awaits them if they too vote YES. You think maybe Shields and Smith are troubled with this vote because they don’t want to feel the sting of being single-term Commissioners like Breeden?
This speaker was graciously attempting to help all the Commissioners see the light and save their political careers because he hears what the people want and literally holds life and death political power in his Facebook dashboard to make or break political careers and replace every single one of the five Lake County Commissioners in their next election — without breaking a sweat or spilling his Martini at the pool.
But when his 3-minute buzzer was up — all Chairman Parks could muster was “finish up”.
Staggering how out of touch some politicians really are isn’t it?
Chairman Parks won by only 24,765 votes and yet he somehow believes he is invincible.
When you consider how angry the voters are on home builder overdevelopment and that you can reach all of his voters for less than $500 on Facebook — I think he should be able to figure out what is in store for him in 2022 if he votes YES.
Especially given the fact that I now hear a political action committee is being formed with hundreds of thousands of dollars in initial pledges for the sole purpose of ousting all those Lake County Commissioners who vote YES on McKinnon Groves.
You all have NO IDEA what you started.
You have NO IDEA all the deep-pocketed people you pissed off.
These people see what you are doing to the kind-hearted, country people who elected you and they don’t like it and they are not going to let it happen anymore.
They are now going to stop you for good.
We are not in Kansas anymore folks.
The days of manipulating your country constituents too tired to drive all the way to Tavares and oppose you are over.
Commissioner Campione sat on a shamrock in 2018 — which ironically is her maiden name — and ran unopposed for her third-term. That will not happen again should she also vote Yes.
I would probably say “ready-to-vote-YES” Commissioner Blake is burnt toast.
Unless he has a come-to-Jesus conversion between now and September 28th to be reasonable and vote NO on McKinnon Groves — to simply provide the required time to negotiate a “Perfect Plan C” for the people — he too will be gone in 2024.
Do you all really want to end your political career like this?
All the voters of Lake County want is to:
- SLOW DOWN THE VOTE to provide time
- in order to create the PERFECT PLAN C FOR THE PEOPLE.
This is NOT an unreasonable request by the people who elected you.
This is all the opponents of McKinnon Groves are asking for and the fact that you are NOT willing to listen and NOT willing to delay this vote on September 28th, is extremely troubling to the point that many opponents are now asking is there something deeper and darker here that we should be investigating?
Is there possibly some McKinnon Groves collusion with corrupt home builder kick-backs or something that is motivating the Commissioners to defy the will of their constituents and rapidly approve this home builder development?
WHAT IS THE RUSH COMMISSIONERS?
ex-Commissioner Timothy Sullivan was voted out in the last election for primarily not doing the will of the people on home builder overdevelopment.
Commissioner Doug Shields beat Sullivan for this very reason.
Shields won because he was active in fights AGAINST high-density growth in order to keep Clermont rural and it is precisely this fight against McKinnon Groves, that will propel Commissioner Shields to Chairman one day — provided he votes NO.
Doug Shields appears to understand the people of Lake County.
Kirby Smith appears to understand the people of Lake County.
It’s why they both won in 2020 and it’s why they will win again in 2024 — should they vote NO on McKinnon Groves.
I can tell you that a NO vote on McKinnon Groves is as close to a sure-thing reelection win as you can get.
It might even equate to a — Facebook marketing ensured — landslide political win in Lake County.
So, my advice to Parks, Campione and Blake is either bone up on the power of social media marketing for politics to truly understand what you are up against and VOTE NO if you want to save your political career…
Or just ask ex-Commissioner Sullivan how it feels to lose.
By the way — whatever happened to Sullivan?
Is he serving fries yet?
If you want to STOP McKinnon Groves and all home builder over development in Lake County — the Commissioners have gone into a black-out sequester so they don’t have to read your emails.
Be sure to call the Commissioner main office line every-single-day to log your opposition to home builder overdevelopment at 352–343–9850.
You can also look up where they live in the public records and send a hand written letter to their mailbox so they can’t hide from you.
Keeping Lake County rural needs your help.
Act now.
