Page 8
March 7 - March 13, 2014
The Town-Crier
www.gotowncrier.com
ELECTION 2014: WELLINGTON VILLAGE COUNCIL, SEAT 2
Gerwig Believes Different Viewpoints Are Crucial On The Council
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Councilwoman Anne Gerwig believes that she brings a unique and important viewpoint to the Wellington Village Council and hopes voters return her for a second term on Tuesday, March 11. Gerwig faces a challenge from political newcomer and seniors advocate Sharon Lascola. Gerwig has lived in Wellington for more than 24 years, and in Palm Beach County almost all her life. “This is my stomping grounds,” she said, pointing out that she used to ride horses in the area of Okeeheelee Park before Wellington even existed. She graduated from North Shore High School and took courses at North Technical Educational Center, receiving certification in architectural drafting. This led to her to a career in engineering. Gerwig has worked in engineering and land surveying firms all of her adult life. “My first job was working for a residential designer,” she recalled. “I eventually designed my own home in 2001 in Paddock Park.” Active in the community for many years, she was elected to a four-year term on the council in 2010. While her top personal accomplishment is the success of her children, two of whom are in college and another a sophomore in high school, Gerwig feels her top accomplishment on the council has been dealing with challenging budget years. “We’ve had an economic downturn that devastated the real estate market,” she said. “Seeing the budget go significantly down while continuing to provide a high level of service, I think that is our biggest accomplishment.” Her favorite accomplishment was the rebuilding of the playground at Tiger Shark Cove Park two years ago. “It was getting a little aged, and we rebuilt the whole park pretty much from the ground up,” Gerwig noted.
Gerwig believes that she is the best person to serve on the council for the next four years because of her strong record. “I’ve taken sensible approaches to what’s presented to the council,” she said. “I don’t play favorites. I don’t have a team that I’m on. I treat everyone who comes before us, whatever their issue is, in a fair manner.” Her top goals for the next four years include the pursuit of a local performing arts center. “We have so many talented kids and young adults who love theater and productions,” she said, explaining that the Wellington Amphitheater is great, but not a facility for high-quality productions. “I’d really like us to have a mini-Kravis Center, and I like that civic site at the mall.” Gerwig would also like to see drainage issues resolved in a manner that will please the people who want to preserve the palm trees along Aero Club Drive. She would like to have a public discussion on the issue before further action is taken. But there are similar drainage issues around the village that also need action. She pointed out that after recent storms, Forest Hill Blvd. was submerged for a longer period of time than it was designed to withstand. “It’s not just the drainage issue; it’s safety,” Gerwig said. “People couldn’t get out, and the entire Equestrian Preserve Area was pretty much landlocked.” Gerwig also believes civility continues to be a big issue for council members. “I think we have come a long way, and we are working together,” she said. “I think the community realizes that it has been a difficult time. When your team isn’t working together, it affects everyone, at least from a perception issue. I want to get the team back functioning.” She said her opponent’s solution would be to side with the three council members who are usually in the majority, but Gerwig thinks that’s not healthy. “I think we all have opinions, and we bring something different to the table,” she said. “When we are passionate about
the way we feel, it can be divisive, but it’s also getting all the points out.” Gerwig would like to get the Wellington Community Center rebuilt without moving the Wellington Tennis Center — and she voted that way twice in early 2013 when the issue first came up. “I think we have the synergy of that facility,” she said. “I know it’s crowded. The seniors have a conflict with parking when they are there for their lunch day, but in the redesign process, I just think we could do better and not move tennis.” Asked about her view on the current structure of village government, Gerwig said, “We have an incredible staff of talented people, and I feel the loss of some of the upper-level staff has been an immediate issue.” Asked how she rates the job Village Manager Paul Schofield is doing, she said she’d give him a 7 on a scale of 10, but added that he is being asked to do a near-impossible job. “That’s a job I can’t believe we can get anyone to do because you have a fiveheaded boss, and you could be fired every other week,” she said. “I think he does it as well as anyone could. He’s very, very smart.” Gerwig said the village’s work to improve troubled neighborhoods has been expensive, but important. She noted that it is often difficult to get residents on the same page regarding solutions. For example, Gerwig said the village made several proposals in the Yarmouth area, and residents complained about the village’s proposed solutions. “We had some neighborhood meetings,” she said, “And now we’ve put it back to the residents for their ideas.” She thinks the village’s medical arts district proposal is a great idea, but Wellington cannot control private property. “All we can do is help them in the planning process, but the owners of the property are ultimately going to decide,” Gerwig said. She pointed out that the Lake Erie
College of Osteopathic Medicine, which has 44 residents training at Wellington Regional Medical Center, would like to expand, and she feels Wellington should help them do so. She also supports the idea of a hospitality house for patients receiving treatment and a campus where hospital employees, such as the residents, could live. Over the past year, the council’s relationship with Wellington Equestrian Partners CEO Mark Bellissimo has improved, and lawsuits between WEP and the village are in hiatus for the time being. She pointed out that Wellington is caught in the middle of a feud among equestrians. “Hopefully, all the lawsuits can come to an end, but it’s going to be difficult,” she said, explaining that Bellissimo’s horse show model is different than the horse show model of the past. “No one ever looked at it as if it was going to be a business. It was something people enjoyed doing. The concept of Mark Bellissimo looking at it as a business is quite different, and I can understand why some people wouldn’t be happy with that.” The Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics and the Office of Inspector General has weighed in on several issues in Wellington. Asked whether she thinks the office is being abused, she said that Inspector General Sheryl Steckler has told her that the office makes an effort to determine which cases are genuine concerns and which are motivated by politics. “That’s difficult to do, and I think we have gone through a learning curve in the process,” Gerwig said. “I think it is getting to where the office has an idea when someone comes in whether it’s a true concern from the community.” Asked what she sees for the village’s K-Park land on State Road 7, she said the village has come to realize it cannot support an additional 67 acres of recreation, but maybe it can keep a portion of it. “Maybe we can sell off the commercial
Anne Gerwig portion and let that fund whatever recreation we still think we need,” Gerwig said. “We still have a need for open-field play. We always will as long as we are a growing community.” Wellington Christian School recently announced its pending closure, and the site could come before the council for a zoning change. Asked what type of uses she would accept, Gerwig said she’s hearing that the proposal is for a charter school. “That would not be a significant difference, but it would require land use changes,” she said. The council recently voted to halt fluoridation of the village’s water — a change Gerwig did not support. She said some information presented by fluoridation opponents was misleading, and she based her support on conversations with medical professionals, including her dentist, pediatrician and internist. Gerwig said the perception that she is aligned in a slate with Vice Mayor Howard See GERWIG, page 23
“I think we all have opinions, and we bring something different to the table,” Gerwig said. “It can be divisive, but it’s also getting all the points out.”
Lascola Puts Focus On Senior Issues, ‘Civility’ On The Council
By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report Sharon Lascola hopes Wellington residents recognize her passion and drive to help others, and choose her Tuesday, March 11 for a four-year term in Seat 2 on the Wellington Village Council. Lascola is challenging incumbent Councilwoman Anne Gerwig in her bid for the seat. Seat 3, currently held by incumbent Vice Mayor Howard Coates, is being sought by Matt Kurit. A New York native, Lascola bought a home in Wellington in 1980 with her late husband, August. She ran a hair salon for 13 years in Amherst, N.Y., and also worked in marketing. When her husband was diagnosed with cancer, Lascola sold the business so they could move to Florida full-time. “We loved the peaceful, small-town atmosphere,” she said. “We were snowflakes at first, before we decided to move permanently. We joined Wellington Club East in 1991 and the old Wellington Golf Club when it first became a golf course.” Lascola was active in the golf community and would rate golf courses with other local residents. Lascola’s husband died in 1993, and in 2005, she moved to Central Florida, where she did promotional work. However, she missed Wellington during her time away. “I knew I had made a mistake leaving Wellington,” she said. In 2012, Lascola retired and returned to Wellington to care for her elderly mother. Lascola now lives in the Mayfair community. She is involved with the Wellington Seniors Club and the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans. Among her top accomplishments, Lascola lists managing her own business for 13 years. “I kept the same people working for me,” she said. Although she has not been in politics before, Lascola said she was spurred to
run after seeking an adult daycare setting for her mother. “There wasn’t anything in Wellington,” she said. “That’s how this started. When I was asked to run, I started looking at my opponent’s record. I feel we have different visions for Wellington.” If elected, Lascola said she would put a focus on seniors, vote against large commercial development and push for civility on the dais. “My main objective would be to stop large commercial development,” she said. “I’m an independent thinker. I don’t have any developers telling me what to do. I’m not going to be bought by anybody.” The tension on the current council was a large reason Lascola decided to run, she said. “It goes back to the bickering,” she said. “They spent money to have a counselor come in, and it’s still not resolved.” Regarding senior issues, Lascola said the village needs to put more emphasis on its aging population. “We have parks for kids, recreational fields, which is wonderful, but what do we have for seniors?” she asked. “We have nothing but a meeting once a month. We have no place for seniors to gather. We’re a community. As we get older, we need something for ourselves. Wellington should be a total community.” Lascola also wants more transparency in Wellington’s government. “I was trying to see how much we paid for [the Wellington Municipal Complex],” she said. “I couldn’t find it.” Speaking of the municipal complex, she opposed that project. “I don’t like it,” she said. “It’s too big. I think it’s a waste of space inside. I think we could have done more with that money.” Nevertheless, Lascola believes that Village Manager Paul Schofield is doing a good job as manager. “It’s hard to be a
manager,” she said. “I think he’s done a decent job. I don’t have a problem with him.” Lascola said Wellington still has work to do to clean up some of its transitional neighborhoods. “There is still a lot of blight in some of our neighborhoods,” she said. “I think we have a ways to go to clean it up. We’d have to look at the cost and what we can do about it.” Although she would support a medical school, Lascola said she believes the proposed medical arts district project is too big. “When I first heard about the project, I heard they were going to put a vet school or medical school along with hotels and other things,” she said. “I thought, ‘They have to be out of their minds.’ State Road 7 can hardly take what it’s at.” A veterinary school in the area would be a good idea, Lascola said. “I think it’s a decent idea,” she said. “But I can’t see putting hotels and stuff back there.” In recent years, the work of the council has been dominated by its often stormy relationship with horse show promoter Mark Bellissimo. Lascola said she did not know what Wellington’s future relationship with Bellissimo will look like. “When I moved here, I knew nothing about what was going on,” she said. “I think someone is going to have to be a grown-up and give on certain issues. I don’t know how I would resolve things.” Lascola said the K-Park property on State Road 7 is one of Wellington’s last opportunities for economic development. “I think we need something that coincides with Wellington’s small-town atmosphere,” she said. “I would not like to see a park there. I’d like to see something for the local economy that would create some jobs.” Lascola is fully in support for rebuild-
ing the Wellington Community Center as soon as possible. “I think the current building has seen its days,” she said. “It’s a convoluted issue. I’d like to see 12 [tennis] courts stay. We could run those courts as pay-to-play and fund the community center.” But it’s imperative that seniors have a place to gather, she said. “I believe in helping the seniors have a place,” Lascola said. “Right now, the Wellington Seniors Club has to go in, eat and leave. My vision would be a place where seniors can congregate and enjoy coffee or refreshments, talk and have a place to call their own.” She said that even if the tennis center is moved, some of the courts should remain. On a related topic, Lascola said she was against the purchase of the Lake Wellington Professional Centre. With Wellington Presbyterian Church’s recent decision to close its school and sell its land, Lascola said there might be some opportunities for senior housing on the site. “It might be a nice site for senior housing,” she said. “Not Century Village senior housing, but $120,000 to $150,000 affordable housing. If you sell your home in Wellington because it’s too big and you want to downsize, you have to move away to find affordable housing.” Wellington recently decided to stop fluoridating its water, a decision Lascola said she does not agree with. “I think we should keep it in the water,” she said. “I grew up with fluoride in the water. I don’t think it hurts.” Though some have alleged Lascola is aligned on a slate with Kurit, she said that is not the case. “He’s more about the young, and I’m more about the old,” she said. “We both are the same in that we don’t want large commercial development.” Lascola has been strongly backed by the
Sharon Lascola Democratic Party, and she pointed out that Republican Party is backing her opponent. “I don’t like outside money in anything,” she said. “But I haven’t been on the council for four years. I don’t have a record to run on. I’d rather have a grassroots campaign.” Though some have criticized Lascola’s lack of involvement in government, she said her life experience will be valuable on the council. “I have a lot of common sense,” she said. “You don’t have to be involved in every organization. I have years of experience, and I think I can do a good job.” Lascola said voters should choose her because she has a strength of character that will make her an honest, outspoken advocate for residents. “I don’t back down to anyone,” she said. “I’m just that type of person. I’m nice, honest and I’ll be straightforward with you. What more can you want?”
“I have a lot of common sense,” Lascola said. “You don’t have to be involved in every organization. I have years of experience, and I think I can do a good job.”