John Hall has self-declared himself as a Constitutionalist, he has already served for two terms on the County Commission and currently serves on the Southwest Florida Water Management District board.
Hall lost his bid for a third consecutive term in 2020. Neil Combee got 53.6% of the vote following a bruising campaign
A constitutionalist is a person who supports constitutionalism, which is a set of ideas, attitudes, and behaviors that emphasize the idea that a government’s authority comes from and is limited by a fundamental law.
Hall is a cattle rancher and is the owner of Polk Community Association Management, a property management company.
Hall has major issues with the Morgan Creek, Wedgewood Golf Course, and Carpenters Crest Developments — lies, threats, missing money, attempted fraud, levies of water and sewer, and even misappropriation of property. Things that Hall refuses to talk about. Why? What is he hiding?
The Lakeland Gazette has tried to reach Hall by phone but his voicemail is full and emailed Hall twice and still no response.
Records show Hall lives on Loop Road in Auburndale.
Hall said on a recent forum “Ethics is high on my list of things you need to have,” and said transparency in government is important.
Hall cannot be transparent with his business dealings how is he going to be transparent as a Commissioner again?
A lot of people on social media criticized both Hall’s work as the owner of a property management company and his role, alongside his son Jonathan Hall, as a consultant to the company that is building an “infill development project” on the site of the former Wedgewood Golf Course. Who torched the clubhouse Wedgewood Golf Course, Mr. Hall?
Hall owns Polk Community Association Management Inc., which manages about 20 homeowner and condominium associations. He said he was hired by the developer of Morgan Creek Preserve to manage the community association. What happened to tract F at Morgan Creek Preserve, Mr. Hall? Possible misappropriation of property? The relationship between the residents and developer was confrontational and there were allegations of conflict of interest and mishandling of funds, as well as lawsuits.
————————————————————————————————————
Disclaimer: The newspaper does not necessarily agree with the opinions, ideas, beliefs, or viewpoints expressed in the letters and op-ed pieces the newspaper publishes. The newspaper does not endorse the pieces, nor do they reflect the newspaper’s viewpoints or official policies. The newspaper publishes the pieces as a public service to further public commentary and debate as space allows.
Mission Statement
Lakeland Gazette “Where local always matter’s”
Our mission is to publish a distinguished and profitable community newspaper. Among our overall goals are:
To publish a community newspaper whose focus will be excellence in terms of news and advertising content, reproduction, and customer service.
To maximize profits consistent with product quality, but in no case less than required to assure long-term growth and our editorial independence.
To be fundamentalists in our support of the public right to know; and the right of free speech and press.
And to provide aggressive and visionary leadership.
This mission will be accomplished through the teamwork of professionals who are dedicated to truth, integrity, loyalty, quality, and hard work. We believe that a community must first know about itself in order to act in its own best interest.
We believe that a strong newspaper builds a strong community
The principles that the staff, editorial board, and corporation of the Lakeland Gazette should operate on are:
- To assertively seek content that has high interest, impacts the reader, provokes discussion, and advances the reader’s knowledge.
- To react quickly to any newsworthy events, around Lakeland or in another part of the world (if it impacts our readers).
- To make the products as relevant to readers as possible by knowing what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen in the news and our community.
- To create a product that is a reflection of the diversity of the backgrounds, goals and interests of the readers and the community.
- To consistently adhere to the highest ethical guidelines and foster the most professional environment possible at all levels.
- To develop and promote student journalists through a school mentoring program.