Local leaders shone during Irma.
As I write this, we are 10 days after Hurricane Irma. During this time period, your local governments have opened the roads so emergency vehicles could reach you. We have worked hand in hand with all of our energy providers to restore power. And we are now working tirelessly to bring your lives back to normal and remove the debris.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer has stated that the amount of debris to be collected from Irma is equal to 4½ years of debris that his city would normally collect. And that is probably true for most of our local governments.
Each of your mayors and other local elected officials have individuals they work with on a regular basis to make things happen, and I know they have spent countless hours to make sure you had power returned as quickly as possible.
I personally received hundreds of emails, texts and phone calls asking for information, as did my fellow mayors across the state. I know there will always be a lot of criticism of what happened, what could have been done better, what went wrong and what went right.
State government has an ongoing effort to take away your local government’s ability for self-rule. The state believes it should decide what businesses can operate in your municipality. The state wants to tell you when your local elections should be held, how long our terms should be and how long we can serve. But when the power is gone, when our streets are dark and our people need leadership, whom do our residents call? I really don’t think they call their state legislators.
All elected officials can relate to specific instances in which they had to visit a resident to work with their issues. In Windermere, I had one area where, nine days after the storm, eight houses still did not have full power. Those residents could not run their air conditioners, water heaters or well pumps.
As it turned out, one power line had been knocked down, and by walking the backyards, it was discovered. We could pinpoint the recovery effort needed.
Residents contact their mayors, commissioners and council members because they respond. Your local elected officials are your neighbors. They are your friends. They are the people you see when you’re shopping, and they are the people you know you can talk to personally.
And they know your communities. They don’t do this work for money or the accolades. They do it to give back to their communities. Take some time to thank your local elected officials and your local municipal employees and say, “Job well done.”
Your local elected officials are your neighbors. They are your friends. They are the people you can talk to personally.