BROWARD COUNTY COUNCIL OF PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS AND FLORIDA PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS ENDORSE MARK LAFONTAINE FOR HOUSE DISTRICT 92

Oakland Park – Florida House candidate Mark LaFontaine has received the endorsement of the Broward County Council of Professional Fire Fighters and the Florida Professional Firefighters for the vacant seat in District 92.

The Broward County Council of Professional Fire Fighters represents all 12 affiliated locals of the International Association of Fire Fighters, which consists of over 2,600 dedicated men and women serving the residents of Broward County. The Florida Professional Firefighters represents 23,000 firefighters and emergency services personnel in 175 cities, counties and special districts across Florida.

“As a Coast Guard veteran, I understand the danger these courageous first responders face every day. I’m honored to accept their endorsement,” LaFontaine said. “I will work with them in mind when I’m in Tallahassee representing the people of District 92.”

In addition to the Broward County Council of Professional Firefighters and the Florida Professional Firefighters, LaFontaine has been endorsed by the Florida AFL-CIO, the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund; Equality Florida; US Rep. Barney Frank, chair of the House Financial Services Committee; and Florida Rep. Kelly Skidmore, as well as a host of Broward’s other leaders.

Owner of a successful accounting practice based in Oakland Park, LaFontaine is a board member of Oakland Park Main Street, which is guiding that city’s development, and also has been a member of the Fort Lauderdale Audit Advisory Board, which oversees the city’s finances. He promises to help bring fiscal accountability to Tallahassee and to continue reforms of property taxes and insurance.

Florida House District 92 includes parts of Deerfield Beach, North Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Lazy Lake, Poinsettia Heights, Pompano Beach, Tamarac, Victoria Park and Wilton Manors.

By Mark LaFontaine


Gas prices average upwards of $4 per gallon. The streets are clogged, and not just during rush hour. Our quality of life is suffering from South Florida’s poor transportation planning, and it’s only going to get worse. And Tri-Rail’s lack of dedicated funding is an annual topic of discussion in Tallahassee.

Let’s face it: Florida has California-sized transportation problems. Building more roads isn’t the answer – that’s part of the problem. More roads leads to more traffic, not less.

In May, the IBM Commuter Pain Index, a survey of 4,000 drivers nationwide, ranked the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area number three when it comes to commuter difficulties. Sixty percent of area drivers said driving here has gotten worse over the past three years, and more than half reported increased driving stress – equaling such notoriously bad driving areas as Dallas and Los Angeles.

Commuters cited start-stop traffic as the worst issue here – at 42 percent, tied with Atlanta and second only to Los Angeles. Thirty-five percent said aggressive driving is a nuisance. And – no surprise – among the worst roads are I-95, Florida’s Turnpike and US 1.

According to South Florida Commuter Services, a program of the Florida Department of Transportation, “The annual cost of traffic congestion in South Florida is between $2 -$3 billion, for an average of $900 - $1,700 per motorist per year. The average South Florida commuter spends 51 hours in traffic per year.”

OK, those are the problems. What are the solutions? In 2003, the Legislature created the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), charged with creating and managing a regional transportation system. The RTA includes Broward County Transit, Tri-Rail, Palm Tran in Palm Beach County, and Miami-Dade Transit.

Tri-Rail is definitely the area’s biggest mass transit success. The three-county rail system’s ridership has been growing steadily over the years, and now has its highest daily ridership ever. That’s no surprise, given the price of gas. But Tri-Rail’s success comes ironically as the Legislature once again failed to pass a dedicated funding source for it.

Two plans were considered and both passed the House but failed in the Senate. Now it’s up to the three counties that fund Tri-Rail to keep funding the system at slightly higher than current levels, but the counties are facing their own budget problems. If the counties bail then the only solution is cutbacks in Tri-Rail service, as much as a 60 percent cutback in weekday trains.

Last year Tri-Rail led the nation in commuter rail growth, and this year the system is doing even better – up 28 percent, according to the Miami Herald. It’s time South Florida got serious about options to single-occupant vehicles and realized the economic, environmental and energy saving benefits of public transportation.

The American Public Transportation Association reports that every $1 invested in public transportation projects generates approximately $6 in local economic activity. That’s significant in a region like South Florida, where our economy is fragile, property values are in a freefall, and we’re always one natural disaster away from a tumbling tourism climate.

The benefits of public transportation – especially a system like Tri-Rail – are obvious. In these stressful economic times, however, stopping Tri-Rail in its tracks is the wrong thing to do. Once again, the Florida Legislature has dropped the ball on dealing with Florida’s real problems.

WHY ISN’T TALLAHASSEE ADDRESSING FLORIDA’S REAL PROBLEMS?

As I’m writing this the Legislature is still in session, and has thus far discussed whether evolution should be taught in science class, and if women seeking abortions should be forced to view and pay for an ultrasound. They also passed legislation allowing workers to keep guns in their cars during working hours.

Are these the priorities of Floridians?

I realize that we’re not always going to agree or come to a consensus, especially in a state the size of Florida and with the diversity of population that we have. But I just don’t understand how our elected leaders can spend precious weeks out of the small amount of time they have in session focusing on wedge issues that only divide us.

When I move around District 92 talking to voters I hear about property taxes, windstorm insurance, foreclosures, and how the quality of life in South Florida is suffering.

Property taxes: The Legislature still hasn’t adequately dealt with following up on the property tax cut voters passed in January, which offered little in the way of real relief to homeowners who are suffering and just resulted in forcing municipalities to trim their budgets to match their reduced revenue.

Windstorm Insurance: Hurricane season is just around the corner, and officials are once again predicting an above-average year. We were spared the past two seasons, but recall the two years before that – record years for Florida. And as the old saying goes, “It only takes one hurricane for it to be a bad year.” The Legislature is discussing freezing rates for Citizens, the state-run insurer of last risk, until 2009. While this may be a politically popular move, Citizens doesn’t have enough money in its coffers to deal with the risk. Be prepared for a massive rate hike if Florida is hit by a storm in 2008.

Foreclosures: Florida ranked second nationwide in the first quarter of the year in the number of properties in foreclosure, according to Foreclsoures.com – 18,055 filings, a 65% increase over the first quarter in 2007. Broward County is the hardest hit region in South Florida, a sad fact that doesn’t seem likely to change in the short term, given how quickly we grew over the past few years. There are no easy answers here, and the stumbling national economy plays a huge part in our ability to climb out of this crisis. But local communities and the families left without homes are on the frontlines suffering most visibly, often without a support network to help them through.

So what’s the common thread tying all of these issues together? Money. There’s not enough of it, and what we have is being funneled into projects that don’t address the real needs of our people.

I often talk about being an accountant and financial professional, and that’s something that will inform my decisions in Tallahassee. It’s time someone with real world experience with the issues Floridians want addressed actually was in a position to do something about them.

STRAIGHT TALK ON FLORIDA’S BUDGET

It’s a sad fact that Florida has earned its reputation.

Despite repeated warnings of dire consequences, voters overwhelmingly passed Amendment 1, the property tax cut amendment, in January. Now we are seeing the results of that shortsighted action.

The Legislature is trying to cut $500 million (give or take, on any particular day). Some lawmakers want to tap the trust funds to make up the shortfall. Others want to pare the budget down to bare bones. Municipalities across the state are trying to figure out what they can afford, all with the backdrop of a housing crunch and the looming threat of a national recession.

Residents are fed up, and everyday the papers carry stories of families that have just given up, and are leaving the Sunshine State for good. We have only ourselves to blame.

It’s easy to point fingers and say “I told you so,” but it’s much more important to find a way to fix the problem. With only a 60-day window find solutions agreeable to a majority and secure the Governor’s signature, this session is turning out to be as dramatic as an episode of “The Sopranos.”

Let’s hope things in Tallahassee don’t get that out of hand.

As I move around District 92, which covers a good bit of Broward County, I hear the frustration. The biggest problem as I see it is that legislators told voters what they wanted to hear, not what they needed to hear. It seems that’s a cycle that always repeats itself.

As an accountant and financial advisor, I know how important it is to have the right advice before you make a decision – especially one regarding money. My slogan in this campaign is as direct as it can possibly be: It’s Your Money! Implicit in that statement is that you have a right as well as a responsibility to spend it wisely, which you can only do if you’re given the right information.

Now, I’m not one for a “take your medicine” approach, but haven’t we all seen what turning our heads has done to our economy? The current crop of legislators in Tallahassee put themselves in this box.

It’s time someone told you the truth about our state’s budget, the income and outgo, and how we’re deciding what our priorities are. Last month I wrote about Governor Crist’s plan to chop more than 21 percent from the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs, despite the fact that more than 1.8 million veterans live in Florida and rely on the services the Department provides.

As a veteran, I am appalled. As an accountant, I see this cut as not productive to the larger good. As a Floridian, I am embarrassed that this is how we treat those who served their country.

But the bottom line is that the bottom line is dripping red ink. Many cuts need to be made to get us in the black.

I think one cut is more important than others: let’s cut the bull and give voters straight talk on the financial consequences of decisions they’re asked to make. Only then will Floridians be proud of the reputation they’ve earned.

VETERANS CUTS HURT, NOT HELP, FLORIDA’S BUDGET

There are more than 1.8 million veterans living in Florida. There is no doubt that, no matter your perspective on current conflicts, we all owe a debt of gratitude to the brave men and women who defended our country over the years. That’s why it’s a shame that Governor Crist’s budget delivers such a slap in the face to our valiant fellow citizens.

According to numerous newspaper reports, the Governor’s budget slashes funding for the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs from $77 million to $60 million, a cut of 21.5 percent. The DVA received the third-largest cut among the state’s 33 agencies.

Is this any way to run a government?

I’m a veteran of the US Coast Guard, and serve as a board member of the Broward Veterans Services Council, as well as run the Gold Coast chapter of American Veterans for Equal Rights as their president and national treasurer. AVER is a non-profit association of reserve and veteran service members dedicated to full and equal rights and equitable treatment for all present and former members of the US Armed Forces. We focus on ensuring veterans are treated fairly, on issues like health care and other benefits.

Now, we all realize Floridians are hurting. Our economy is stumbling, gas prices keep rising, our drought continues, and the next hurricane season is just around the corner. Add to that the burden of municipalities having to cut services to accommodate the revenue shortfall left by the property tax amendment, and you’ve got a recipe for uncertainty.

And that’s the rub – Governor Crist championed the property tax cut amendment that voters passed in January, giving homeowners a break of about $240 a year on their property taxes, but ensuring that other services are cut. Services veterans rely on.

As a candidate for the State Legislature from House District 92, I find this appalling. As an accountant and financial professional, I make my living helping people protect their interests. From where I stand, no one has been served well. It’s up to the Legislature to fix this horrendous problem. But will they?

There are no accountants in the Legislature, and few veterans. Let’s hope someone steps up and speaks out for the 1.8 million Floridians who need their voices heard.

Expectations, Meet Reality

Broward residents are not happy, and it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.

First, everyone’s received their TRIM notices with the expected property tax bill amounts. Did you receive the giant tax cut you were expecting? If you did, you are one of the few.

Second, we’re another day closer to January’s election on the property tax reform proposal, and the prognosis is not good. Whether that’s because the proposal is complicated, or hasn’t been sufficiently explained to voters, or is just a bad piece of legislation is unclear. Again, the outcome doesn’t meet the expectations.

Legislators in Tallahassee don’t seem to understand the depth of apprehension residents have toward “the process” that is supposed to fix this crisis. And who can blame them? So far, all we’ve heard is an updated version of the classic punch line, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

Throw in the uncertainty surrounding PIP for auto insurance, and Florida once again looks like the gang that can’t shoot straight.

Here’s one truth: In the past year we’ve heard lawmakers issuing “best case” scenarios for their property tax reform plans, and homeowners hearing “best case” scenarios for their own personal situations. But the two cannot be reconciled.

That’s where I come in. I’m an accountant and investment planner by profession. It’s my job to tell you straight out what’s happening with your money and your financial situation. As a candidate for the State Legislature from District 92, I’ll do the same. And if I’m elected to this post, I’ll still do the same from Tallahassee.

One thing that seems certain is that this time next year we’ll still be discussing this issue. If voters reject the “super homestead” reduction on January’s ballot, legislators will have to go back to the drawing board in the spring session to find another solution. And another budget cycle will have passed for our municipalities, who have already taken deep cuts to provide you with your (admittedly paltry) property tax cut this year.

More library closings, staff reductions, and police overtime cuts are on the horizon for 2008.

Broward is undergoing profound changes right now. I grew up here and have lived here all my life. I’ve seen us go from a coastline of small beach communities to a booming metropolis. (Remember what a big deal it was when we received our own area code?)

The beautiful paradise we used to know is now wrought with the same challenges other large metropolitan areas face. Underpinning everything is the ability to afford your own home and to achieve a standard of living that allows you and your family to be comfortable. This concept is known around the world as the American Dream, and it is one of the reasons Broward has changed so much over the past few decades -- people are flocking here to experience our piece of paradise.

All that is in danger now due to the property tax crisis. For the first time ever, Broward has experienced a population decrease, as frustrated residents just gave up and decided to make their lives elsewhere. Many parents are finding that their kids who go away to school aren’t returning to live here after graduation because they can’t afford housing. Other parts of Florida are seeing the same flight.

So how do we fix this? First, let’s recognize that Florida’s CFO, Alex Sink, is an accomplished financial manager who has her eyes on what’s happening in Broward and around the state.

Second, let’s send her some backup in Tallahassee. I will be the only accountant in the state legislature if you elect me. I will take my strong credentials, work experience, and history of working with the community to devise and implement the financial control system and oversight processes we need to straighten out Florida’s financial mess.

I’ve said it before, but it really is true – it’s your money! Shouldn’t your elected representatives provide the framework for your community to achieve economic success?

If one city in Broward goes bust because of the property tax crisis, the entire region is adversely impacted. And in a national economy with a predicted recession looming, all of Florida suffers.

And that’s just not an expectation. That will be a reality.

It’s Your Money
Tallahassee and the Property Tax Debate

The Florida Legislature has done a good job of dealing with a difficult issue. The property tax debate doesn’t provide easy answers for anyone, and the two-step process finally agreed upon – while not ideal – at least tackles the issue head-on. I applaud the effort, even if I’m not giving a standing ovation to the result.

Here’s the problem, and it’s being played out in every city and town throughout Broward County: whatever Tallahassee does on this issue has severe unintended consequences for every municipality. A property tax cut at the state level means that Fort Lauderdale – or Wilton Manors, Oakland Park, Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach, for that matter – need to cut their expenses, and that means cuts in services. We can all agree that municipal budgets have fat and waste, but when millions of dollars are on the line and citizens need to contend with the hard choices of keeping libraries and parks open or cutting police and fire services, we are facing dire circumstances.

We all live in Florida for the quality of life – and while it may have changed a lot over the years, Broward County is still a great place to live. I grew up in Deerfield Beach, and remember long sunny days hanging out at Pioneer Park and the beach, and then taking an easy drive up A1A. Of course, those days are long gone. Pioneer Park is packed every day, and traffic is so heavy on A1A that it’s sometimes faster to move on foot.

But my point is that while Broward is a different place now, its residents still need to experience the quality of life that brought us here. And it is unfortunate that many of the services that support our quality of life are now threatened by the property tax debacle.

As a candidate for the Florida Legislature, and as an accountant, financial planner and tax professional, I know how to make the tough choices, and how to assess the cost-benefit ratio that determines which cuts will hurt the least. I have dozens of clients that face the same decisions for their own personal situations, and I counsel them as to what makes the most sense.

It’s that professional sensibility that I will bring to Tallahassee. I’m not saying people won’t be upset, or disappointed, or hurt that they may lose something they hold precious. But the reality is that our elected officials have let us ride this wild property wave that now is just crashing on the shore. Should we have known that property values wouldn’t forever keep increasing, and that the real estate boom would end? Of course – but who in Tallahassee was advising municipalities to prepare for that?

Here’s my approach: Open up the process. Let’s be honest with citizens who are paying to run the government. Broward Property Appraiser Lori Parrish got the ball rolling last year when she encouraged Broward residents to show up at city commission meetings and ask questions about what was happening with the property tax situation. That’s a good start, but we need to do much more.

When I’m in Tallahassee, I will ensure that our municipalities are partners in the budgeting process. This year they were blindsided (although they shouldn’t have been!) I have spent my professional career bringing people together to air their differences and find common ground – it sounds easy, but the reality is that the first step is always the hardest.

The 92^nd district has 62,785 voters – you will be my boss, and your own best advocate. My role will be to take your desires, move them through the legislative process in the state capital, and feed them back to your local elected officials. At the end of the day, we all work for you -- it’s your money! I will not forget that when you elect me, and I hope you keep reminding me of it every day.