Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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With a minimum of discussion, the Lake Wales City Commission this week unanimously approved a Special Exception Use Permit to allow a multi-family Planned Development Project for the redevelopment of the aging 120-unit Grove Manor public housing project. "We've been working on this a long time," said Mayor Jack Hilligoss as he called for a vote. The long-awaited project is the first phase of a multi-phased Master Plan which will take place on 24.74 acres of land that...
Lake Wales Mayor Jack Hilligoss won an easy reelection victory Tuesday, turning back a challenge from former city commissioner Curtis Gibson in a race that saw record amounts spent, primarily by outside groups. Hilligoss received 1390 votes, or 60.96 percent of the vote, while Gibson took 890 votes, or 39.04 percent. Hilligoss will be sworn in to serve a new three-year term as chair of the five-person commission. Voters also approved a charter amendment that will require...
What has undoubtedly been the ugliest Lake Wales municipal election campaign in memory is coming to a conclusion on April 1, when voters will have a last chance to help select a mayor who will serve a new three-year term. Incumbent Mayor Jack Hilligoss is being challenged by former city commissioner Curtis Gibson. The campaign has been marked by a series of attacks using both direct mail and text messages funded by a "dark-money" political action committee based in Tampa. The...
Two candidates have qualified for the Lake Wales mayoral election slated for April 1, 2025. Incumbent Mayor Jack Hilligoss will face a challenge from former city commissioner Curtis Gibson. Hilligoss is the pastor of High Point Church in Lake Wales, while Gibson is the manager of the Eagle Ridge Mall. The election will also feature a referendum on future elections that, if approved, will require a run-off vote in the case of multiple-candidate races where no one receives a...
An attractive renovation of the historic Crystal Lake Apartments was unveiled in Lake Wales Tuesday, showcasing a development which will contribute to ongoing efforts to increase residential uses in the city's downtown area. The two-story building at 282 East Park Avenue offers eight fully-remodeled one and two-bedroom apartments. Officers and directors of the Lake Wales Care Center hosted some 100 guests who toured the like-new facility and enjoyed refreshments following the...
A proposal by Lake Wales Deputy Mayor Robin Gibson would appoint at "sergeant at arms" to monitor comments made by the public during city commission meetings. During the commission's Wednesday agenda workshop Gibson cited what he called "personal attacks" that have "driven off good people" as his reasoning behind the proposal. The city has suffered the resignation of several officials during the past two years, but most have simply returned to work at the city as...
The newly-bricked and landscaped Park Avenue served as the backdrop for a recent ribbon cutting marking the official start of service by the new downtown shuttle known as The Squeeze. A happy crowd of citizens and officials representing Lake Wales Main Street, the Citrus Connection, the City of Lake Wales, and the Community Redevelopment agency shared the moment, celebrating the rapid changes coming to the city. The service is already earning great reviews from shoppers and lu...
Lake Wales business incubator CFO Charles Young Jr. was released Friday from Polk County Jail after posting bond on two first-degree felony charges. Young was arrested last Saturday morning at a residence in Lithia in Hillsborough County following an investigation of a complaint filed last year by his business partners. Young was a partner in Florida Development Corp LLC, which entered into a $1.2 million no-recourse contract with the City of Lake Wales in 2022 for the...
An affidavit released by Lake Wales Police and the District State Attorney’s office Monday afternoon contains new details in the case that has resulted in the arrest of Charles Young, CEO of BizLinc, a city-funded business incubator in Lake Wales. Young was arrested on two felony counts by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Deputies at a Lithia residence on Saturday, to be transferred to Polk to face the charges. Young was a partner in Florida Development Corporation. FDC rec...
Charles Young, the chief financial officer of the BizLinc business incubator in Lake Wales, has been arrested at a residence in Lithia in Hillsborough County on an active Polk County warrant, Lake Wales News has confirmed through multiple sources. Available online information shows that Young has been charged with grand theft of $100,000 or more, and a second count of obtaining property by fraud, grand theft, $50,000. After his arrest on Saturday morning, he was transferred...
A proposal that some city commissioners and staff saw as the best opportunity so far to implement the Lake Wales Envisioned plan died Tuesday night on a 3-2 vote. The concept of a 24-unit single-family community on a 1.46 acre parcel generated intense opposition from residents of the neighborhood, located around the 3.566 acre Lake Alta Park. Commissioners received a letter signed by two dozen of them asking that the proposal be denied, and multiple speakers had criticized the...
A one-vote margin in a Lake Wales election between incumbent Commissioner Daniel Williams and challenger Brandon Alvarado has cast a bright light upon the processes required in the situation by city ordinance and Florida statutes that Deputy Mayor Robin Gibson called "unbelievably complicated." The three-way race for a new three-year term on the District 2 seat of the city commission ended Tuesday with Williams and Alvarado as the top two vote-getters collecting 939 and 938...
Four voters who had provided incomplete information when voting on election day were able to "cure" their ballots through contact with the Supervisor of Elections ahead of Thursday's canvassing board meeting. Their effort has moved the needle in the District 2 city commission election between incumbent commissioner Daniel Williams and challenger Brandon Alvarado, but not enough to avoid a machine recount, which will take place today (Friday, April 5). The canvassing board,...
Three challengers seeking two seat on the Lake Wales City Commission held the stage at a Monday evening candidates forum after both incumbents failed to show up for the 90-minute event. The election is four weeks away, slated for Tuesday, April 2. Carol Gillespie, seeking seat 4 on the five-person commission, along with Brandon Alvarado and Crystal Higbee, both seeking seat 2, shared their ideas and responded to questions from the audience at the forum sponsored by the...
Government is complicated. Elected officials, even those responsible for leading a city such as Lake Wales with its hundred-million-dollar budget, face a multitude of questions and issues. It is certainly not within the capacity of any one individual to have total awareness of every matter that must be decided. The role of the press as a watchdog over government is a long-established principle, one that has for nearly 250 years of American history served to keep politicians...
A "business incubator" operating under a three-year, $1.2 million contract approved by the Lake Wales City Commission appears to be operating in violation of several laws, a five-month-long LakeWalesNews.net investigation has determined. Among questionable practices identified within a web of interconnected businesses are business activity lacking county and city occupational permits, apparent violations of Florida's registered agent law, plagiarism, faked testimonials, and a...
Business owners lined up at the beginning of the Lake Wales City Commission meeting Tuesday evening to explain to commissioners the various ways they are working to enhance the Lake Wales economy and the Northwest Neighborhood. They joined Florida Development Corp, Inc. COO Derrick Blue and CEO Frank Cornier after a special presentation period was added to the commission agenda. FDC operates the BizLINC business incubator under a $1.2 million contract with the City of Lake...
A new financial disclosure requirement that has caused hundreds of municipal officials across the state to resign their offices is also having impacts in the Lake Wales area. The state law, which takes effect January 1, requires every elected official in cities, towns, and villages across the state to complete a comprehensive disclosure of income and assets that many consider draconian. The form will replace the simpler, and less invasive, Form 1 previously required. The...
In a major step toward addressing the challenge presented by an enormous wave of growth, the Lake Wales city commission voted to adopt a resolution in support of the Lake Wales Envisioned plan. Facing development proposals that would readily triple the population of the city, the board had agreed to fund the planning study in January, leading to months of effort by planners, residents, and city staff. The project included numerous public meetings, open workshops, webinars,...
A proposal to construct 64 single-family homes on 19.1 acres of land on the north side of Lake Wales was denied in a 2-2 vote in the Lake Wales City Commission. The development proposal for the tract fronting North Scenic Highway had been recommended for denial by the city's Planning and Zoning board, as well as by planning staff at the newly-renamed Growth Management Division. The site lies just south of the vast Tampa Electric solar energy project. The plan for the...
Citizens accustomed to using the Lake Wales YMCA facility can breathe a bit easier after Lake Wales City Manager James Slaton announced plans for the city to assume operations of the facility at 1001 Burns Avenue, which will become the city's "Family Recreation Center." "We're running out of time if we're going to keep the doors open," Slaton sold commissioners. "Our goal is to create a fresh, modern space for families to engage in health and wellness activities," Slaton...
Two large residential developments proposed by the same developer recently met with very different responses from the Lake Wales city commission. After unanimously approving a 930-lot single-family subdivision known as the Grove at Orchard Hills, the commission's 3-2 vote rejected a neighboring 300-unit project brought by the same developer. David Waronker of Celebration has been the developer of record for several large subdivision projects in Lake Wales, including the expans...
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include citation of a written opinion from City Attorney Chuck Galloway to city commissioners, released to the press today. April 17 - In a surprise twist, former city commissioner Kris Fitzgerald has been denied a return to her open seat on the Lake Wales City Commission despite her sudden reinstatement by Governor Ron DeSantis last week. Lake Wales City Attorney Chuck Galloway read a statement at the opening of Tuesday night's...
An effort to green a "food desert" in the Northwest Neighborhood of Lake Wales will begin next week with the creation of a community garden on a city-owned lot on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The Northwest Neighborhood, which long featured a small community grocery store, now has no market for fresh foods within a mile and a half. Members of the community are scheduled to join officials celebrate the groundbreaking of The Grove Community Garden at 315 Dr. MLK Blvd....
It was a very unhappy group of Lake Wales City Commissioners who spent more than 45 minutes discussing their generally dismal evaluations of City Attorney Chuck Galloway Wednesday. At their regular workshop meeting the commission discussed the notes they had turned in as part of an annual performance review. Galloway received a total of eight "unsatisfactory" scores from four commissioners who completed their evaluations. Commissioner Daniel Williams had not yet submitted his,...
