Marihelen Wheeler: An advocate for children, the environment on Alachua County Commission
I often tell people that Alachua County is my hometown. Over the past four years of my work as a county commissioner, I have had the opportunity to build strong relationships with the citizens and leaders of our Alachua County municipalities and move easily from town to town, feeling very much at home.
As a retired teacher of 36 years, with my last 22 years at Westwood Middle School, I have interacted with schools in our communities and know of the inequities that have contributed to the education gaps our School Board, with county support, is trying to address.
My work with environmental groups advocating for water protections goes back 20 years. Many trips to Tallahassee promoting educational and environmental solutions made me a familiar face to state leaders, where I often asked that our springs be nominated as a World Heritage Site.
It is this background of advocacy for children and families and the environment that led me to political action 10 years ago. My experience in public and private education and juvenile justice programs is a unique strength and insight that I offer our County Commission. My commitment to preserving and conserving our natural resources, while urgently responding to the local effects of global warming, makes retaining my seat on the commission crucial.
I am grateful to the voters of Alachua County who elected me to the County Commission in 2018. I am proud to serve with a board that embodies a character of courage and care for the community and is willing to listen and learn from local citizens to build stronger communities.
Micanopy and Archer citizens successfully organized to advocate for their best interests and convinced the County Commission to support them. High Springs, Newberry and Alachua are seeing growth that highlights the need for road improvements.
Waldo and Hawthorne are working together to attract the attention they need for traffic safety and infrastructure as they grow along U.S. 301. Newberry has made great efforts to include Archer and High Springs for important wastewater treatment.
Alachua County and Gainesville are addressing affordable housing shortages that require creative solutions for land use and infrastructure. LaCrosse, Melrose, Island Grove, Windsor, Santa Fe and Copeland citizens continue their requests for road improvements with expectations that those needs will be addressed by a responsive County Commission and county staff.
I am convinced that the additional surtax funds we hope to collect will provide resources needed for the county to collaborate with these municipalities to meet their goals and promote self-sufficiency and the unique identity of each community.
A second term to this board will provide me the opportunity to complete the commitment I have made to address housing shortages, environmental protections, flooding and road improvements, and physical and mental health needs. New job opportunities will come with the anticipated openings of the Event Center, Central Receiving Facility, Eastside Clinic and Army Reserve Compound.
Our workforce and the way we work is transformed by COVID. I will promote public private partnerships, both economic and academic, that will offer equitable opportunities for that workforce. I will continue my commitment to Cuscowilla Nature and Retreat Center and our numerous county parks and will advocate for their expanded use by our children and the citizens who fund them through Wild Spaces and Public Places.
I ask for your vote to re-elect Marihelen Wheeler, District 2, Nov. 8. I urge you to vote "yes” for Wild Spaces Public Places/Surtax. Vote "no” on single-member districts so that I can continue to serve our citizens countywide with four other commissioners who can claim Alachua County as “OUR hometown.”
Marihelen Wheeler is running for Alachua County Commission, District 2. This piece is part of a series of opinion columns written by candidates for office that are being published before November's election.
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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Marihelen Wheeler: A County Commission advocate for kids, environment
