Once again The Villages Daily Sun, the Developer's daily newspaper, put its spin on candidates running for Sumter County Commission Districts 1, 3 and 5 in an article on April 15. The Sun positioned its favored candidates as supportive of the local Republican Party's agenda of low taxes and business growth. They paint incumbent District 3 Commissioner Craig Estep and District 3 Candidate Deb Butterfield as anti-business, tax and spend candidates.
The facts are that in word and deed, Mr. Estep has helped lead the county back to its lowest millage rate in history after the Developer's former Board of Commissioners had implemented a 25% increase in the millage rate in 2019. The increase was necessary in order to make the first payment to the Developer for the $40 million road deal he inked with the Commission to build new roads south of SR 44, and to keep up with the deteriorating repairs needed on Buena Vista Blvd.
Ms. Butterfield was a long-time Chamber of Commerce executive and economic development professional, hardly the credentials of an anti-business candidate. The Sun even "incorrectly" attributed a campaign donation to a Democratic candidate for State Representative in Indiana in a feeble attempt to paint her as a Democrat or closely tied to those principles. The correction ran two days later, buried under the lottery numbers.
The challenger to Mr. Estep in the District 3 race is a longtime business ally of the Developer. There is even a video circulating in which he declares his loyalty to The Villages Developer and says he considers them family.
The challenger to Ms. Butterfield for District 1 has been in The Villages since 2017. Kudos to the Developer for finding a female with a political background to run. Each of these candidates filed the day after the cutoff for the first quarter financial reporting, so voters won't know their contributors until June.
Voters are encouraged to carefully understand what the Sun will be reporting in the weeks to come. Verify is the word for this campaign season!
Voters need to do their due diligence in researching candidates and NOT depend on the Daily Sun. Whether it is unintentional or not, it is highly unlikely, the Sun can be relied on for any factual/non biased information.
James B Smith, Jr., MD, PhD