Matthew Falconer

From 1995 to 2005 over 1,000,000 people moved to Florida to pursue the American Dream. In 2003 the Florida economy ranked first in the nation, as people invested in new business and unemployment dropped to 3%. From 2002 to 2006 local and state government spending increased from $93 billion to $151 billion. Our “leaders” taxed all of the disposable income from consumers and turned the American Dream into the Florida nightmare. Florida’s economy now ranks 47th in the nation and we are losing population as retirees, second homeowners and small businesses are moving to other states with a lower tax burden.

There is a way to revive the American Dream in Florida. Quite simply, it is to return Florida to a healthy business environment by lowering taxes, tolls and fees. We can achieve this by reducing waste in government and by focusing tax revenues on the core functions of government. That is why I am running for Orange County Mayor. I want to revive the American Dream in Florida, save small business, and put people back to work. Below is a link to my Five Point Plan to bring Florida back to prosperity.

My opponents increased the Orange County budget from $2.2 billion in 2002 to $3.5 billion in 2008. My opponents gave a billionaire $600 million in taxpayer money for a sports arena; they gave $300 million in corporate welfare to one company to bring 150 jobs to Orlando; and they approved a rail project that will cost central Florida taxpayers $1.5 billion without knowing where the money will come from.

The election for Orange County Mayor will be the most important in Orange County history. It will determine if we continue to raise taxes and spend billions on corporate welfare and rail projects, or lower taxes and focus our resources on education and public safety. I have three opponents that have virtually identical voting (spending) records. I can and I will win but I need your help.

This past Saturday we had 25 volunteers in Winter Park gathering petitions and getting our message out. It was great fun and good therapy for people unhappy with government as usual. Please join us Feb. 6th at 9:30 a.m. in Apopka. Send me an email if you can attend.

Please donate to Matthew Falconer for Orange County Mayor and ask your friends to donate as well. Please consider hosting a meet and greet or a fundraiser for the only fiscal conservative running for Orange County Mayor.

http://www.matthewfalconer.com/contribute.htm.

With your help I will restore the American Dream in Orange County.

Thank you.

Matthew Falconer
www.MatthewFalconer.com

– Matt Falconer is currently running in Orange County for the Mayor post.  I support Matt and will be bringing his campaign message over to my readers.

Rich Crotty

Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty said Wednesday that he has avoided working with the anti-poverty group ACORN on a housing foreclosure campaign, and does not expect to work with them in obtaining an accurate 2010 headcount for the U.S. Census effort he’s helping lead in Florida.

The advocacy group, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is in hot water because ofsecretly-taped interviews appearing to show multiple organizers condoning or encouraging prostitution and the laundering of earnings from it. The group responded with reform proposals today.

Crotty said he specifically made it clear during a senior staff meeting months ago that the group should not be included in any plans Orange crafted to spend $28 million in neighborhood stabilization funds to deal with foreclosures. “In a very out-loud voice, I said I didn’t want that word [ACORN] to come up,” Crotty said.

Crotty also discussed the fact that U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson has been one of the group’s most prominent supporters, and that any Republican who ran against the freshman Democrat next year could point out that Grayson is often referred to as the “Congressman from ACORN.”

“It’s always been an arrow in the quiver,” said Crotty, who for several months has flirted with the possibility of challenging Grayson. To that question, Crotty said an answer should come soon.

Crotty pointed to the start of the next federal campaign donation reporting period, which begins in October, and said “that’s when serious candidates get serious.”

So is he the one?

“I’m not saying anything,” Crotty said. “But I expect Congressman Grayson to have a Republican opponent in the next fund raising period, and a strong one at that.”

Original Post

Matthew Falconer

An email went out today from the Matthew Falconer campaign.  Below is the email.   Falconer has announced that he will be running for Orange County mayor. —————-

I have determined our public policy has decimated our local economy and jeopardized our future. I have seen high taxes, fees and regulations put thousands of small businesses out of business.  They in turn have laid off one million Floridians. Without structural reforms to the way we govern I see no short term improvement in our economy and way of life.

For these reasons I have decided to run for and be the next Orange County Mayor. I plan to take the reforms outlined in our Orange County Taxpayer Budget Review Board report (www.TaxpayerBudgetReviewBoard.org) and reform local government. Quite simply I plan to rebuild local government.

A leader today needs to have the basic belief that government as usual is not sustainable. Our local government has the same business model as General Motors, and our economy shares the same fate. Change is never easy, and reform is even more difficult. But I believe I was born for this storm. I have dedicated a thousand hours to research and I have a plan, not a dream.

I will put principle over politics, taxpayers over special interests, and help bring our local economy back to health one job, one small business at a time. If we push aside the social issues that divide the taxpayers on a federal level, we all share the same struggles and dreams. In local politics, it is no longer left versus right. It is taxpayer versus government. And the government is winning.

I have a plan to correct this injustice, but I will need all of the help I can get. Please visit my web site, www.MatthewFalconer.com and see my plan. Please email me your ideas, suggestions, and encouragement. I am taking this step to ensure the future of my children and yours. Let’s fix our broken government together and give our children the same chance we had at the American Dream.

Join the fight to save your job, your business, and your future. Please join me at my annoucement party July 1st, 5:30 p.m. at the former Village Tavern on Conroy Road next to Friday’s.