Sumter County Commissioner Don Wiley declared Thursday that the Community Development District 7 Board of Supervisors is “obsessed with sticking it to the Developer.”
Wiley, a former chairman of the Project Wide Advisory Committee, made the claim during the Community Development District 10 Board of Supervisors meeting at SeaBreeze Recreation Center. Wiley is also a former chairman of the CDD 10 board and a current candidate for the Sumter County Commission, to which he was appointed earlier this year.
“It’s ridiculous they have taken this approach,” Wiley said of CDD 7.
Frustration was expressed by numerous supervisors during a rehash of the contentious Aug. 11 Florida Chapter 164 conflict resolution meeting at Everglades Recreation Center.
Earlier that morning, CDD 7’s independent attorney Michael Eckert offered his unvarnished assessment of the Aug. 11 meeting.
“It was very obvious that the other board members were instructed not to talk during that meeting. It was embarrassing. It’s like they all got the same memo,” Eckert said.
CDD 10 Supervisor Christine Bradshaw said she thought CDD 7 “made some valid points” and it might be worthwhile to give the conflict resolution process another chance. She suggested mediation.
However, CDD 10 followed the lead of the CDD 11 and CDD 9 boards which earlier in the day voted to withdraw from the conflict resolution process, which originally had been initiated by Community Development District 6.
“They (CDD 7) are making themselves out as the champion of the people and making us look bad,” said CDD 10 Board Chairman John Miller.
Bradshaw cast the lone dissenting vote in opposition to the withdrawal from the conflict resolution process.
CDD 9 supervisors, also expressing frustration with the process, voted unanimously to wash their hands of it, too.
“It makes sense to withdraw and be done with that portion of it,” said CDD 9 Supervisor Steve Brown.