Orlando Sentinel
Our panel of 100 influential leaders discusses the most
important issues affecting you.
Tom Dyer, attorney, founder of Watermark
Looking ahead: Florida Democrats and progressives were discouraged when Republican Ron DeSantis was elected governor in November. But he has surprised many by bucking conservative positions and distancing himself from his predecessor, Gov. Rick Scott. DeSantis wants to legalize smokable marijuana. He’s called for money in the Sadowski Fund be used for its intended purpose – affordable housing. He’s promised to boost funding of the Gardiner Scholarship, which will pay education costs for 1,900 struggling or special needs students currently wait-listed. And his 2019 budget includes increases for environmental and education spending, no decreases to health care funding and no corporate tax cuts.
Shelley W. Lauten, CEO, Central Florida Commission on Homelessness
Last week: We learned this week that the Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded our region with a grant of nearly $8 million to expand affordable housing stock and battle homelessness. This increase in funding is, in large part, due to a commitment our regional leaders made back in 2014 to change the way we work together to address homelessness. No more are agencies funded who aren’t committed to being part of a coordinated network of services that focus on housing people first, then providing the services needed to keep people in their homes. It’s working!! While many organizations are engaged, special kudos go to the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida for leading this massive community effort!
Looking ahead: I applaud Gov. Ron DeSantis for fully funding the Sadowski Housing trust fund in his 2018-2019 budget proposal. This is a welcome change from prior administrations which have swept nearly $2.1 billion from the Housing Trust…this could have been 94,000 units of desperately needed housing for residents across our state . To provide some context, Central Florida (Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties) currently has a deficit of approximately 118,000 units of housing needed for households making less than $35,000. Hopefully, the legislature takes the recommendation of the governor and fully funds Sadowski so we can begin pulling ourselves out of this housing deficit.
Jeffrey Miller, shareholder, SiefertMiller LLC
Last week: The latest report from the United Ways of Florida shows almost half of Orange County residents are considered to be “working poor.” This represents a decline since the last survey and report were issued. In other words, half of Central Florida households struggle from paycheck to paycheck to make the most essential ends meet. These statistics are unacceptable. The good news is our community leaders are paying attention with a focus on affordable housing, transportation, access to healthcare and funding for childhood education. And we must stop the cycle of low-paying jobs. Our “booming” region deserves better.
Khalid Muneer, broker/owner Jupiter Properties Central Florida
Last week: Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy took credit for bringing $20 million to Central Florida to help the homeless and address the affordable housing crisi, with Orlando receiving approximately $7.4 million, Orange County $9.7 million and Seminole County $2.8 million. Housing the homeless and increasing access to affordable housing by using these grant programs are critically important to our community. It’s now very important that every cent of this money is spent responsibly and for the purpose it is allocated. Central Florida has seen enormous growth and stagnant wages and as pointed out in the United Way report this week, despite the tourism and construction boom the number of households struggling in Central Florida to cover the basic necessities grew between 2010 and 2016 to half the population
Joseph F. Pennisi, founding executive director, Florida Policy Institute
Last week: As if we needed another reminder of how many Central Floridians are struggling to get by, the United Way just released their updated ALICE report. ALICE stands for “asset limited, income constrained, employed”. The report quantifies just how hard it is for working families to make ends meet in our state by comparing their income to a “survival budget.” By this standard, 46 percent of Central Florida residents are living on the edge. Another report shows the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Orlando has risen to $1,270. With costs rising faster than incomes, this problem will only get worse if policymakers don’t act soon.
Joanie Schirm, GEC founding president; World Cup Orlando 1994 Committee chairman
Last week: Say you’re employed to safely build a university campus to handle an unanticipated, enormous student growth using woefully underfunded resources from the state government budget. Without any malfeasance or ill intent, you move funds from one related building fund to another. The state should slap your hands, adjust the rule and provide more funding. Compare that action to the mandated Sadowski trust fund set up to ensure Florida affordable housing to low and moderate incomes. Over the last 15 years, to balance the budget, the State Legislature raided over $1.7 billion. That fund comes from locally collected doc stamps on real estate sales transactions. Who do you ‘trust’?
Rick Singh, property appraiser, Orange County
Last week: Governor DeSantis and Lt. Governor Nunez were in Orange County last week to host “Deregathon.” Aimed at finding ways to strengthen the economy through cutting regulations required for certain licenses, the event was attended by members of Florida’s professional licensing boards. As I shared with the group that day, there has been a steep decline in real estate appraiser trainees, which will lead to a scarcity of state-certified appraisers. This will negatively impact real estate transactions and cause unlicensed valuation activity. A closer review of the strict standards for certification and appraisal work will hopefully lead to renewed interest in pursuing the highly specialized field of real estate appraisal.
Looking ahead: Central Florida is outpacing the national average in apartment rents. A one-bedroom unit in Orlando is over $1,000 per month, and rent in Maitland has jumped 6.8 percent over last year. Complicating this issue is the surge in population growth because the low unemployment rate makes the region an attractive place to move. Hopefully, the area’s population of renters will avoid being squeezed out of housing as nearly 20,000 new rental units have opened or will open in 2019. It’s no wonder that Orlando was recently named one of the best areas in the country to get a roommate.
David D. Swanson, senior pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Orlando
Looking ahead: For the first time in years, the governor’s budget does not take a penny from the affordable housing fund known as the Sadowski Fund. The constant sweeping of that account over the years has left Florida woefully behind in building affordable housing, including Orlando. It is now up to the legislature to approve that budget, or at least the part that leaves the fund alone. Here’s hoping they make the right decision that will allow us to start providing for our low-income families.
John Thedford, entrepreneur, founder of SMART Financial
Last week: Metro Orlando ranks 3rd in the nation for its lack of affordable housing. The state of Florida has the third-largest state prison system in the U.S. Why not follow the lead of states such as South Dakota, Iowa, Kentucky and Michigan that are utilizing prison labor to construct affordable homes for low-income families? As a result of such programs, prisoners gain marketable skills they can utilize to become employed and be productive members of society upon their release. Former prisoners who become employed may be less likely to return to prison and those needing housing are more likely to be accommodated.
Daryl Tol, president/CEO, AdventHealth’s Central Florida Division
Looking ahead: Central Florida received great news with the announcement by U.S. Reps. Stephanie Murphy and Darren Soto that the region will receive about $8 million in federal grants to fight homelessness and build affordable housing. Since 2014, our region has made great strides in reducing the number of Central Floridians who are chronically homeless. But there’s more work that needs to be done. This funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is a great step in our collective effort to ensure our neighbors have safe, permanent housing.
Carol Wick, principal, Convergent Nonprofit Solutions
Last week: This past week the White House announced the Global Women’s Development and Prosperity Initiative. This first-of-its-kind government wide initiative seeks to affect 50 million women by 2025 empowering them to grow small businesses and entrepreneurship across the globe. We know that when women are empowered communities prosper, violence is decreased and everyone wins. This public – private partnership, if successful could change the global economy for the better especially in areas where poverty, violence and unemployment are highest. It’s important that we ensure this initiative remains bipartisan and is given a chance to succeed on its own merits for all our sakes.
Article last accessed here on February 12, 2019. A print-ready version is available here.