Commissioner Kanjian Addresses The Voters Coalition

Commissioner Kanjian

Commissioner Bob Kanjian recently spoke at a monthly meeting of the Voters Coalition on a wide range of topics.  Coalition members and attendees wanted to hear about his experiences as a newly appointed County Commissioner and what issues he sees ahead in the coming year.

Speaking about the passage of the Amendment One constitutional referendum, he said that he noted his support of the Amendment and congratulated the Voters Coalition on its endorsement of the referendum.  He noted that the "portability" aspect would make the market much more efficient and hopefully restore life to the housing market by allowing people to relocate to other homes and take with them a portion of their Save Our Homes tax cap savings.  He also discussed efforts to achieve affordable housing within the County.

One question was asked about the discretionary funds afforded to all commissioners and Commissioner Kanjian was pleased to note that he had returned all of the non-allocated District III discretionary monies to the County's general operating fund.  He is opposed to taxpayer money being used in a highly discretionary and selective manner, controlled by an individual commissioner.

Commissioner Kanjian and audience

Another point that he made was his attempt toward a nonpartisan County Commission.  He believes that nonparty affiliated voters, that is voters not registered as Democrats or Republicans are disenfranchised in Florida's primary elections and this represents about 25 percent of Palm Beach County voters.  With a nonpartisan County Commission, voters would have greater voice in their government.

Other topics included water issues, budget cuts, financially assisted agencies with high staff overhead costs, subsidized transportation, such as Tri-Rail and Palm Tran, and setting of evaluation goals for all services paid for by county government spending..