At last night’s City Commission meeting, the City of Winter Springs honored former Mayor Charles Lacey with a Key to the City in recognition of his many years of public service. The honor was approved unanimously by all five commissioners, reflecting broad appreciation for Lacey’s leadership and long-standing commitment to the city.
In his remarks, Lacey reflected on his years of service, expressed gratitude for a commission willing to engage in open debate and independent thought, and emphasized that the city is strongest when differing opinions are welcomed rather than silenced. He contrasted that ideal with a past period when dissent was discouraged, underscoring the importance of true representative government. Lacey concluded with a reminder that public officials should respect taxpayers by allowing citizens to keep as much of their own money as possible.
Read Former Mayor Charles Lacey’s full comments below:
So it truly was my pleasure to serve this city and to serve on all of those committees that Cade mentioned—many of which I had honestly forgotten about. I appreciate that very much.
It’s especially gratifying to receive this honor by a unanimous vote of this commission. This is a commission that is known—at least—to have a diversity of opinion, to say the least. But that’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s a very good thing.
I believe the citizens benefit when commissioners have different ideas and are not afraid to express them frankly. The city went through a very dark period when opinion was not allowed—when one person had an opinion and everyone else saluted and went along. During that time, the administration and the commission did not provide representative government. And because of that, the citizens suffered.
So the fact that this commission is willing to debate, to challenge one another, and to come up with good ideas is something we should all value.
I
’ll close with one final thought on policy. Over the years, I’ve met hundreds and hundreds of local officials. And at least 99 percent of them—regardless of whether they were Republican or Democrat—had one thing in common: they believed they knew how to spend the citizens’ money better than the [citizens themselves].
So I’ll leave you with this final thought: let the citizens keep as much of their money as you possibly can.
Thank you very much for this honor.