PRIMARY · AUG 18, 2026

WHERE WE STAND

Positions With a Paper Trail Behind Them

HOW WE TAKE A POSITION

Three Steps, Every Time

A position without a source is just an opinion with confidence. Before anything goes on this page, it clears the same three steps.

Read the Record

The ordinance, the staff report, the budget line, the bill text. Not the press release and not the coverage of it.

Ask the Decider

We put the question to the commissioner, the department, or the candidate, and we publish the answer or the refusal.

Publish the Source

Our summary sits next to the document it came from, so you can check our work instead of trusting it.

THE ISSUES

Six Fights Shaping Charlotte County

Filter by what you care about. Every card names what is at stake, where it currently sits, and the next date that matters.

CC-01

Growth & Land Use

At Stake

Large developments are reshaping the county faster than the road and drainage plans behind them. Residents deserve the maps, the traffic study, and the concurrency numbers before a vote, not in the minutes afterward.

Position

Full notice, published studies, and a public hearing before any land use amendment clears first reading.

Comprehensive plan amendments and rezonings on the BCC agenda

CC-02

Property Rights

At Stake

Code enforcement, impact fees, and special assessments decide what a person can do with their own lot. When the rules shift case by case, only the people with a lawyer keep up.

Position

Rules published in plain language, applied identically, and changed only in the open.

Impact fee schedule updates and code enforcement board decisions

CC-03

Election Integrity

At Stake

Confidence in a result comes from a process people can watch. That means clean rolls, canvassing anyone can attend, and poll watchers who actually know what they are allowed to do.

Position

Transparent canvassing, published procedures, and trained observers in every precinct.

Primary, August 18, 2026

CC-04

Budget Transparency

At Stake

The county budget runs into the hundreds of millions, and the millage rate on your TRIM notice is the part you actually pay. Almost nobody reads the document that sets it.

Position

A plain-English breakdown of every major line, published before the rate is adopted.

TRIM notices and the budget adoption hearings each fall

CC-05

Health Freedom

At Stake

Informed consent means a real choice, made with real information, without a mandate attached to your job, your school, or your ability to see a doctor.

Position

No local mandate that conditions employment, enrollment, or access to care on a medical decision.

County health policy and related bills in Tallahassee

CC-06

Public Safety

At Stake

Backing the people who answer the call, while keeping the oversight real. Trafficking prevention and awareness stay a standing priority in this county.

Position

Fund the agencies, publish the outcomes, and keep prevention education available to families.

Sheriff budget requests and county prevention programs

CC-04

Budget Transparency

At Stake

The county budget runs into the hundreds of millions, and the millage rate on your TRIM notice is the part you actually pay. Almost nobody reads the document that sets it.

Position

A plain-English breakdown of every major line, published before the rate is adopted.

TRIM notices and the budget adoption hearings each fall

CC-01

Growth & Land Use

At Stake

Position

Full notice, published studies, and a public hearing before any land use amendment clears first reading.

Comprehensive plan amendments and rezonings on the BCC agenda

CC-02

Property Rights

At Stake

Code enforcement, impact fees, and special assessments decide what a person can do with their own lot. When the rules shift case by case, only the people with a lawyer keep up.

Position

Rules published in plain language, applied identically, and changed only in the open.

Impact fee schedule updates and code enforcement board decisions

CC-03

Election Integrity

At Stake

Confidence in a result comes from a process people can watch. That means clean rolls, canvassing anyone can attend, and poll watchers who actually know what they are allowed to do.

Position

Transparent canvassing, published procedures, and trained observers in every precinct.

Primary, August 18, 2026

CC-05

Health Freedom

At Stake

Informed consent means a real choice, made with real information, without a mandate attached to your job, your school, or your ability to see a doctor.

Position

No local mandate that conditions employment, enrollment, or access to care on a medical decision.

County health policy and related bills in Tallahassee

CC-06

Public Safety

At Stake

Backing the people who answer the call, while keeping the oversight real. Trafficking prevention and awareness stay a standing priority in this county.

Position

Fund the agencies, publish the outcomes, and keep prevention education available to families.

Sheriff budget requests and county prevention programs

No issues in that category yet.

A NOTE ON DISAGREEMENT

You Do Not Have to Agree With Us

We take positions and we say so plainly. We also publish the underlying document every time, which means you can read the same page we read and reach a different conclusion.

That is the point. A resident who disagrees with us after reading the ordinance is worth ten who agree with us after reading a headline.

“If a position on this page cannot survive you reading the source, it does not deserve to be on this page.”

MAKE IT COUNT

How to Weigh In Before the Vote

Public comment is not decoration. Commissioners count the room. Here is the whole process, start to finish.

Find Your District

Charlotte County has five commission districts. Know which commissioner answers to your address before you write to all five.

Pull the Agenda

Agendas post ahead of every regular meeting with the backup documents attached. The backup is where the real detail lives.

Sign Up to Speak

Fill out a speaker card before the item is called. You typically get three minutes, so lead with your ask and your address.

Bring People

One speaker is a comment. Fifteen speakers on the same item is a signal. Tell your neighbors the date.

Bring People

One speaker is a comment. Fifteen speakers on the same item is a signal. Tell your neighbors the date.

2019

Serving Charlotte County

12+

Meetings covered monthly

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