Accomplishments
Under Tom Wenham’s steadfast leadership Wellington has improved and prospered. A first rate Parks & Recreation program has added a second gymnasium, fifteen ball fields, four tennis courts and the sprayground and slides at the Aquatics Complex. Roads have been expanded and extensive landscaping done to keep our Village beautiful. The Veteran’s Memorial was completed and Peace Park dedicated. Land on State Road 7 has been committed for an assisted living facility and the Bink’s Forest golf course is green and open for business. Perhaps most importantly, we combined environmental preservation with sound fiscal management, saving more than $18 million through an agreement with the State to re-plumb Basin B. We saved the Big Blue Nature Preserve and Wellington became a national leader in Everglade’s preservation, earning a $21.5 million grant for the Everglades Environmental Education Center.

Many Years of Steadfast Service
I’ve been in public service in this area longer than Wellington has been a Village. I was a Supervisor of the Acme Improvement District during the time period when we were laying the ground work and doing the planning for what would one day become the Village of Wellington. There is no other candidate in this race with a more comprehensive understand of where we’ve come from and all the steps along the way. There is no other candidate with the institutional knowledge necessary to lead us into the future while also staying true to our founding values – preservation of the natural beauty around us, protection of the environment and an unequaled level of resident services provided in an efficient, cost effective way.

Experience Needed to Choose Next Administrator
The Village has been blessed with top notch professional administration for the past 11 years under City Manager Charlie Lynn. We have also been blessed with a tremendously stable staff of great department heads. As we all know Charlie has decided to move on and we are entering a phase of interim management and what will be a very thorough search for the perfect public administrator for the Village. This is the time for our elected officials to provide consistency and steadfast leadership and bring to bear all their experience and knowledge in selecting our next administrator.

Not Time for On the Job Training
The learning curve for municipal officials is tremendous. I’m fortunate that when I was first elected I had already had many years of supervising the district under my belt. But, even then, really understanding the complications of a multi-million dollar budget, the planning process so crucial to controlling growth and the operations of water, sewer, public works, public safety – the list goes on and on. The next couple of years will entail the selection of the next Village Manager and the transition to a new administration. Now is not the time for “On the Job Training.” Now is the time for steady leadership the people of Wellington know they can count on.