Hot Button Campaign Issues in West Palm Beach Florida

In an election year when the economy is on the fore front of everyone's mind and more homes are entering foreclosure than ever before, Florida must stand out and make a choice one way or the other for itself.

In January 2008, the voters of Florida went to the polls and voted for Amendment 1 which was aimed at cutting property taxes. This cut was expected to cut property taxes by a record 94 billion dollars in five years. While this seemed like a triumph to many Floridians, who have been buried deep in the mire of mortgages, property taxes and home owners insurance, there is another side to this amendment that is now becoming a reality.

The truth is that we have made an awful trade and the after effects may be more damaging than the prospect of saving money. The end result of amendment 1 is that county workers, city workers, police and fire departments are being forced to cut back. In this situation, job loss is not the only concern; the truth is that we have been placed in a position where we have had to choose between our homes and our safety.

While it is true that we had our public services before the ballooned property taxes and we had survived then, it is also true that we have never had so many unoccupied homes waiting to be vandalized. With the development of so many new properties there is a need for more police, teachers and other public workers. Parents are worried about our schools and as hard as it is to retain quality teachers, we are now worrying about losing them to other states. After all the hurricanes and now a reduction in services, Florida is not so appealing to tourists and others anymore.

When Floridians go to the polls this fall, we will be thinking about what will be done to help us to get back to a level of stability. Major concerns will be around our situation in real estate and how we will get back our homes. We will also be thinking about the lack of jobs and prosperity. For those of us in the public sector, the fear of job loss is a terrible possibility and with each job cut we take quickened breaths.

There are many problems in Florida and the hope is that this time we will be able to make a clear enough selection that will at least make us hopeful that these problems will be addressed.