ELECTION 2010: Lakewood Ranch CDD 4 Seat 3

In Lakewood Ranch’s Community Development Districts, all three of CDD 4’s supervisor seats are contested. Meet CDD 4 Seat 4 candidates Gordon J. Norquay and Joseph F. Sidiski.

CDD 4 SEAT 4

Gordon J. Norquay
Age: 63
Family: Married to Carole with two children, John and Rene
Hometown: Levittown, N.Y.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University
Career: 35 years at IBM, Digital Equipment Corp. and Johnson & Johnson (semi-retired). Today, Norquay owns and operates a store on eBay.

Why are you running for a CDD seat?
My family and I enjoy living in Lakewood Ranch. It is a beautiful, safe community and a wonderful place to either raise a family or retire in. We love the lifestyle here and want to make sure that it continues to be both attractive and affordable.

What is your prior experience as a community leader?
When we moved to Lakewood Ranch in 2004, I was one of the first people to volunteer in the Vistas as a representative on the Neighborhood committee. I was also one of the initial members of the Greenbrook Modifications committee, where I served for almost four years and continue to fill in as needed. I am a member of the Civic Action Forum and a board member of the Lakewood Ranch Community Coalition. In 2006, I was elected to CDD 4, and have served in that position as treasurer. In the last year, I have represented the CDD on the IDA Board.

What changes would you make in the CDD leadership in Lakewood Ranch?
I have been and will continue to be an outspoken representative of the community. I have been an advocate in the past in improving facilities for families through efforts like the Open Space Plan in Adventure Park, supporting efforts to improve the condition and maintenance of the trails, pressuring Town Hall to open on Friday and working with Town Hall to reduce costs without reducing the quality of services that we receive.

What is your opinion on the transparency of the CDDs and Lakewood Ranch Town Hall?
CDDs, in general, are already transparent to the public. The monthly meetings are open to the public, although there is very little community participation for many of them. We follow Florida’s Sunshine Laws to be as transparent as possible to the community.

What do you feel currently are the biggest challenges facing Lakewood Ranch residents and the CDD board?
One of the biggest challenges today concerns the tight economic environment that we find ourselves in. Many homes are in foreclosure, and there are a number of empty lots in some neighborhoods. Keeping the overall look and feel of Lakewood Ranch up to standards and improving services — while at the same time controlling costs — is probably the biggest challenge we face today.

As a board member, what would you do to increase resident involvement in the affairs of the CDD or the community overall?
I believe to increase resident involvement, you need to have more open communications. I have been a supporter of using Digital Village to disseminate more information to the community and the use of a newsletter to keep residents aware of what is happening in the neighborhood.

Joseph F. Sidiski
Age: 63
Family: Married, two sons, one granddaughter
Hometown: Syosset, N.Y.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in computer science
Career: Sidiski is a retired managing engineer who worked for Con Edison in New York City for more than 30 years.

Why are you running for a CDD seat?
I decided to become a candidate for the CDD board because of my dissatisfaction with the appearance of the common areas in Greenbrook and with the ever-increasing taxes that the CDD has levied for maintaining those areas.

What is your prior experience as a community leader?
I am a member of the Greenbrook Village Homeowner’s Association Board of Directors (currently vice president), the chair of its Restrictions Revisions Committee and am its current representative to both the CDD and IDA. My past involvement with the community includes membership in the Digital Village Advisory Committee and the GBVA Landscape Committee, chairing the GBVA Modifications Committee and administration of the Vistas page on the Digital Village.

What changes would you make in the CDD leadership in Lakewood Ranch?
I hope to work with the other board members toward bringing higher levels of fiscal responsibility and responsiveness to the CDD board. Additionally, my experience in running a maintenance organization could add some insight to a board that needs to be more proactive in inspecting and maintaining Greenbrook while keeping our standards high and costs low.

What is your opinion on the transparency of the CDDs and Lakewood Ranch Town Hall?
The current level of transparency of both the CDD and Town Hall is fully compliant with Florida’s Sunshine Laws. As such, all discussions and decisions of the CDD are performed in public sessions with advance notice of those meetings provided to the community. Records are kept for all CDD meetings and actions. Those records are available to citizens upon request, even if the individual requesting information does not provide a reason for the request or supply their identity.

What do you feel currently are the biggest challenges facing Lakewood Ranch residents and the CDD board?
The economy continues to be a driving factor in all of our lives. There has been a drop in home values, minimal raises and even lost jobs for many in Greenbrook. This, coupled with a continued high cost of living, has led to many foreclosures in our area. The CDD is challenged with keeping landscape standards high while controlling (and hopefully lowering) costs.

As a board member, what would you do to increase resident involvement in the affairs of the CDD or the community overall?
Increased communication is one of the few available paths toward gaining greater resident involvement in community affairs. Information that is pertinent, timely and interesting must be disseminated to the community. Use of local media and periodic newsletters may be the most effective tools to accomplish this goal. Additionally, there must be a mechanism for residents to make their feelings known to the CDD in a convenient manner.