Thursday, January 14, 2016

Pick up this week's issue of The Lake Worth Herald: The Commission Update from Shelly Vana

In this week's issue of The Lake Worth Herald is the Palm Beach County Commission Update from Commissioner Shelly Vana. Here are two excerpts:
     In the next few months I will be writing about Palm Beach County and the issues government leaders and staff work on to provide for the health, safety and general welfare for our constituents. Palm Beach County is a Charter County and because of this the Commission has more freedom to enact ordinances as long as they do not conflict with the Florida Constitution, or the action is not specifically prohibited to do so by statute.
     You may have heard the term ‘Home Rule’ which means that our county can enact specific ordinances without going to the state legislature for a local bill. In reality, the legislature can preempt county governments from enacting ordinances for some issues. For example, the ban on smoking in buildings was an action by the legislature to preempt local control of the issue. This action made the regulation of cigarette smoking uniform throughout the state.
     In the 2016 Legislative Session, the legislature may preempt local government’s ability to regulate vehicle for hire companies such as Uber and Lyft. The Board of County Commission has not taken final action on the issues of ride sharing because it is awaiting the decision of the legislature. Hopefully they will act because it will be much more efficient to have one uniform rule across the state.
[and. . .]
     Palm Beach County is a good place to live and do business. In the coming weeks I will demystify the workings of what some may say is a huge bureaucracy, but in reality it is a huge family that is working to make sure that you have a great environment in which to live, work and play. 
Respectfully, Commissioner Shelley Vana