Estates Civic Association to vote on voting change

After months of discord on voting procedures, the Golden Gate Estates Area Civic Association will vote to change its by-laws, June 21, to allow absentee voting. The meeting will take place at 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 21, at the University of Florida Extension Services Center, 14700 Immokalee Road.

"Remember that this type of voting would be used on key issue votes only," says association president Mark Teaters. "If everyone that is a paid member cannot vote on key issues affecting the Estates, this association will lose the respect that has been earned over the years." The move to change the by-laws reflects a rift among club members regarding the direction the 27-year-old association should take on road projects in the community.

Teaters says the use of absentee voting will be more inclusive of the entire association membership.

"Our county commissioners are well aware that special interests try to dominate the agenda at our meetings. They have seen it in person," he says. "There are many more difficult issues to be voted on in the near future. We shouldn't let the few make decisions for the many."

Those opposed to the change say the association's current practice of posting the item to be voted on in the group's newsletter and then putting the matter to those who attend the meeting is sufficient.

The June 21 vote will be to move forward with a committee to organize the process for changing the by-laws. If approved, the committee will then bring their recommendations to the board of directors who will present it to the membership for a final vote.

Also on the evening's agenda will be a representative of Ave Maria University, who will update the group on that project.

"This will be our first opportunity to meet our new neighbors," Teaters says. "It should be an exciting meeting."

Some association members opposed to Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension have maintained the roadway is being built to accommodate the town of Ave Maria and other developers in the special districts outside the Estates area. County transportation officials say that is untrue and the roadway is vital to accommodate population growth in the Estates.

The association's meetings have regularly been held at the Estates Fire Station 71. To provide additional space for members, the meeting was moved to the extension center, located in front of the county fairgrounds, just north of Waterways and Oil Well Road.

For more information on the meeting, call 304-1817.