A mostly fiscally conservative Board of County Commissioners, opposed to any moves that would increase tax revenues, retards the renovation of older communities in Orange County. That’s how Commissioner Tiffany Moore Russell, who has served seven-and-a-half years on the Board and running to become the next Orange County Clerk of Courts, sums up the dilemma between limited government funding on the one hand and the outdated infrastructure that characterizes much of Orange County’s urban core, on the other.
Acknowledging the relatively high cost of rehabilitating older communities, Moore Russell said, one of her frustrations is the “very conservative board” on which she serves where no one wants to raise taxes for infrastructure improvements.
“I would say the County has to do a better job of caring for our urban core that’s older; there’s outdated infrastructure and the only way to do that is to pay for it. And we don’t want to pay for it,” said Moore Russell, who spoke exclusively with West Orlando News Online. “We don’t want to increase taxes. I will say that was one of the biggest disappointments for me in my eight years, not being able to get the support needed to pull it off. It takes three other votes.”
She believes this will be the biggest challenge any incoming commissioner will face.
“How do you get three more votes to vote with you and agree to have the county pay. Then, if you do it for Pine Hills, Commissioner Clark will say, “Hey, what about Azalea Park?” And they are going to say what about Bithlo and Christmas, what about South Apopka? You don’t realize how many communities are still on septic; many communities considered urban remain on septic,” she added.
Moore Russell, who holds a Juris Doctorate from Florida State University College of Law, also discussed her bid for Orange County Clerk of Courts and the pro-active agenda she would like to implement, if elected. Her priorities are to improve on customer service, enhance the Clerk of Court website, making it user-friendly and increase access to the courts, particularly for low-income residents.
Commenting specifically on advocating for low-income families, Moore Russell said:
“I was a legal services attorney before I got elected as County Commissioner, and my clientele was low-income families, people who could not afford an attorney. One of the things that I’ve noticed – and we’ve moved away from this – we used to be able to waive the fees to access the court system. Currently, you have to pay – $400 to file for a divorce and $400 to file a small claims matter – and you’re pricing people out of our court system. So, I want to advocate, particularly for low-income families, on this issue.”
“….As you know, one of our fundamental constitutional rights is access to the court system,” she added.
Read the whole interview with Tiffany Moore Russell here.
