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The Ledger News Chief TiMEOUT Polk Moms PolkPreps VIPrewards Outdoors Politics Mugs Database Home Delivery | Place an Ad | Print Ads | Mobile Home News Sports Entertainment Living Opinion Blogs Obituaries Real Estate Jobs Autos Classifieds -- TheLedger.com Blogs » Polk Commission Watch Search A Ledger Blog Polk Commission Watch Tom Palmer's updates on County Commission action and inaction Garbage contract draws possible protest Friday, August 26, 2016 at 1:47 by admin Representatives of Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas and WCA of Florida have filed a notice with Polk County that they plan to protest the bid award for the curbside garbage contract. The County Commission decided earlier this month to pursue contracts with Waste Management, Waste Pro and Trash Taxi to begin service Oct. 1, 2017. From materials I’ve received, I get the impression the nub of the dispute is coming from the two companies that offered lower prices than the… Read More » Tweet Tags: County Commission , public policy , solid waste What school tax suit was and wasn’t Wednesday, August 24, 2016 at 10:06 by admin Now that there has been a ruling on the lawsuit over how much latitude Polk school officials have in setting tax referendum dates, let me weigh in on what this means and doesn’t mean. ICYMI, the ruling was that the only latitude the School Board has is to decide which general election ballot the voting will occur. Forget about holding a special election. The ruling , however, does not t mean there’s any enmity between the County Commission and… Read More » Tweet Tags: charter , County Commission , elections , funding , growth , politics , public policy , taxes Early voting, mail balloting begins slowly in Polk Monday, August 22, 2016 at 11:28 by admin Early voting began Saturday and people are beginning to return mail ballots. According to the latest figures from the Polk Supervisor of Elections office, 6.4 percent of Polk’s 392,586 registered voters have already voted in the Aug. 30 primary. Wednesday is the deadline for seeking mail ballots. Early voting will continue through Saturday at the usual locations. So far 74,244 –18.9 percent of registered voters–voters have been issued mail ballots These numbers might improve as the week progresses, but there… Read More » Tweet Tags: elections , politics ICYMI: Christina RaceTrac under construction Friday, August 19, 2016 at 9:27 by admin Six years after it was proposed and residents began protests and a year after the legal dispute over its zoning was settled, construction is under way on a new RaceTrac convenience store near the intersection of Christina Boulevard and State Road 37. Normally the construction of yet another convenience store in Polk County isn’t big news, but this one has so much history it puts it in a different category. The store’s application for a corner site was initially rejected… Read More » Tweet Tags: County Commission , lawsuits , politics , public policy Indigent tax PAC takes break from fund-raising; campaign next Thursday, August 18, 2016 at 3:13 by admin Keep Polk Kids Healthy, the political action committee formed to campaign in favor of the renewal of the indigent health care sales tax, appears to have taken a break from fund-raising and may be focusing on its election campaign after the Aug. 30 primary. There have been no reports of contributions or expenditures during the last two weeks. So far the PAC has raised $103,339, most of it coming from the companies that own major local hospitals, and spent only… Read More » Tweet Tags: elections , funding , politics , taxes Effects of stingy school growth funding on display in Four Corners Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 1:09 by admin The headline in today’s Ledger displayed the results of growth funding policy in Polk County. Citrus Ridge school off U.S. 27 North in the fast-growing Four Corners area was overcrowded on its first day of classes. This probably didn’t surprise school officials. At a summit between members of the Polk County Sch0ol Board and the County Commission last October, school officials told commissioners about the growth pressures from the thousands of new homes that were coming, predicting it would overwhelm… Read More » Tweet Tags: County Commission , funding , growth , impact fees , politics , public policy NPA leads, Dems trail in Polk registration growth Monday, August 15, 2016 at 6:52 by admin The latest figures on Polk voter registration show the continuing trend in No Party Affiliation registrations.. They now make up nearly a quarter of all registered voters in Polk and have grown by a larger percentage (8.9 percent) in the past year than either major political party. (Yes, I know the smaller the basis, the smaller number that’s required to result in a larger percentage increase). Democrats, who make up 37 percent of the registered voters have the most anemic… Read More » Tweet Tags: elections , politics District 3 Commission race heating up Friday, August 12, 2016 at 10:13 by admin Things are heating up in the District 3 County Commission race between Bill Braswell and J.C. Martin, who will face each other on the Aug. 30 ballot. Martin complained at a candidate forum Thursday night that Braswell posted a fake sample ballot on his Facebook page with Martin’s name omitted and the oval next to Braswell’s name filled in. Braswell said he did post it–it has since been taken down–just to poke at his opponent, whose supporters continue to send… Read More » Tweet Tags: County Commission , elections , funding , politics , public policy , taxes Cypress Gardens Boulevard study to get FDOT help Thursday, August 11, 2016 at 11:25 by admin The study initiated by the Winter Haven Economic Development Council to look at the future of the Cypress Gardens Boulevard corridor, particularly the area around Legoland, is becoming more focused. Thursday the Polk Transportation Planning Organization asked the Florida Department of Transportation to provide technical assistance on one aspect of the study, which involves improving access for pedestrians and bicyclists. This is an issue because Legoland is planning a resort development on the other side of the six-lane highway from… Read More » Tweet Tags: economic development , planning , public policy , roads , transportation Florida elections officials: Voting system secure Monday, August 8, 2016 at 4:17 by admin State elections officials issued a statement today affirming the security of the voting system in response to press reports questioning its integrity. A copy of the statement is available at this link.. 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