My Bio
Why We Need Change
My name is John M Fleming and I have decided its time to bring fresh leadership to the Board of County Commissioners. I will be challenging Doctor Christopher Constance in the 2026 Primary for District 2. The incumbent has served on the Board for 15 years and during that time he has achieved some positive results for the Community. But lately that has not been the case and now District 2 is losing its identity. What has been allowed to happen in the Burnt Store Area will soon happen in the rest of the County.
As Chairman of the Burnt Store Corridor Coalition (BSCC) I have witnessed first-hand how isolated many of our elected officials on the Board have become. That must change now. The role of a County Commissioner is first, and foremost, to act as a voice for their constituents. In order to effectively do this, they must take the time to be visible in the Community, to be accessible, and to be front and center when the tough choices need to be made.
As a retired NYC Police Detective with 28 years of experience I fully understand this commitment. I also believe that job has provided me the 3 most important skills needed to do the job. For a detective to be effective they must have a close relationship with those they serve. Next, they must have exceptional communication skills in order to gain the trust of the people. Finally, a detective must be confident and decisive and ready to act in a moment’s notice. That requires a great deal of time and effort. Today’s County Commissioner must be able to treat the job like a full-time commitment. Anyone who cannot do this is short changing their constituents.
The BSCC was formed in 2022 in reaction to concerns residents in the Burnt Store Area had over their changing environment. You would think a group of 6,000 constituents providing their concerns in a rational, well thought out way would be welcomed by the County Manager and elected officials. But that was not the case. Within two years the County got tired of working with our group and many of the promises they made never materialized. I will be the first to admit that staff in the County have been extraordinary in meeting the needs of residents and that fact must be stated clearly.
But much of what concerns citizens rests totally within the purview of the Board. A reluctance to hold developers accountable over the past 10 years has led to a continuous revenue shortfall. Residents are now subsidizing developers. A perfect example of this is the fees developers pay to hookup to utilities. They have not increased since 2015 while at the same time your utilities bill goes up on average 2.5% a year. Secondly developers have been allowed to destroy our wildlife corridors, pollute Charlotte Harbor, and allowed our infrastructure to collapse.
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Development itself is not always bad. What is bad is when it’s not managed properly. The entire Burnt Store Area has no commercial development, no medical facilities and an infrastructure not designed to handle 9,000 extra residents. The County is no longer affordable.
So how do we fix this? I have been a strong advocate for citizen-led government. It’s time to give residents more control over how local government functions. We need more citizen led coalitions to provide a counter balance to the influence developers have. We also must demand our commissioners be a full-time job. Any Commissioner who needs to balance his schedule between two roles will never be fully committed to those who elect him.
If elected, I will make being accessible to the residents a top priority. As Chairman of the BSCC I am routinely in our communities, asking questions, and seeing for myself how things are. My time will be your time. That will be my first commitment to you.
John M Fleming
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