Lee Commission Chair Roland challenged by former judge Wheaton

LEESBURG — Current Lee County Commission Chairman Dennis Roland will go head-to-head with former Probate Court Judge John Wheaton in the May 22 Republican primary for the right to represent District 1 on the commission for the next four years.

District 1 covers the north and northeastern part of Lee County, including the city of Smithville.

Roland has served on the Board of Commissioners for 12 years, while Wheaton served as Lee County’s Probate Court judge for 32 years.

Both candidates cite their love for working with people as their motivation for seeking the office.

Both say they want to fix the roads in their district, which they contend have been neglected by the county.

Another point of focus for the candidates is the lack of fire and emergency support in the large but sparsely populated district. During Roland’s term on the commission, a fire station was built in Smithville before the district lines changed. There are currently only five hybrid fire/emergency stations that serve Lee County.

Wheaton said he feels that there are not enough stations to serve the county and that District 1 suffers from lack of emergency access. Unfortunately, according to Roland, the county has problems finding people willing to work in these stations to keep them running even with a salary increase.

“You have to be realistic; the population in our district is of course a lot smaller than it is in Leesburg, but it still remains a fact that we have the same needs as anyone else,” Wheaton said, while decrying Smithville’s lack of support from the county.

As commissioner, Roland said he helped the city of Leesburg obtain $5 million to build a needed wastewater treatment plant. The commission also purchased 100 acres of land to build a new recreational complex. In 12 years, the incumbent said, the fund balance has increased to $19 million, with $4 million reserve.

The planned 60-bed hospital in the county will dip into that money for the infrastructure, but in turn, will award around 300 jobs in Lee County, Roland said.

“We came through some of the worst economic times there through the transition from Bush to Obama and when all that Bernie Madoff and all crashed the market,” Roland said. “And we did all that without raising taxes.”

The County has raised taxes only one time since Roland’s been in office, and he said he voted against it.

Wheaton said he feels that the efforts of Lee commissioners have not reached out to Smithville and the rest of the district.

“The people I’ve talked to, and I’ve been to nearly every house in Smithville, Leesburg and the people of this county, they seem to be dissatisfied by the representation they have at this time,” Wheaton said.

According to Wheaton, his experience as a judge gives him a better insight in how a county is run. Roland, though, said he believes that his experience as a commissioner gives him the better insight on how Lee County is run.

“My theory is, if it’s working well why do you want to change who’s running the show?” the incumbent commissioner said.

File PhotoGypsy Crow