Summary of Q&A Forum on October 10, 2026

Thank you to everyone who came to Saturday’s Q&A session at the Club House. We had a productive discussion about the Long Range Plan (LRP) and the sales tax issue on the November ballot.

One topic drew a lot of conversation: whether to keep our contract with the Sheriff’s Office or start our own police department. Around the same time, a local Facebook user (not affiliated with the city) ran an informal survey asking residents how safe they feel in Holiday Island. The response was overwhelming: people feel safe. That’s great news, and I appreciate everyone who took part.

At the Q&A, the discussion centered on two issues: speeding, and the cost of a police department.

On a police department: I want to be clear. I said at the session that a police department has advantages, but it is very expensive. The LRP states plainly that the city will continue with the deputy contracts unless residents tell us they want something different.

On speeding: I fully agree that speeding is a problem on Holiday Island Drive and many of our other roads. But writing enough tickets to change the habits of most drivers would use up 100% of the patrol hours we contract for. Deputies I’ve talked with over the years say the same thing. The average driver goes 5–8 mph over the limit, so deputies could ticket almost everyone. Most of those drivers would be our own residents, and that approach would cause an uproar. The real danger comes from drivers going 10–20 mph over, but catching them would mean a deputy sitting for hours with no time for anything else.

Here’s a summary of what our deputies actually responded to over the past 11 months:

Category	Includes	Calls	Share
Medical / Welfare Checks	Medical emergencies and transfers, welfare checks, deceased persons, suicidal persons, drug overdoses	178	31%
Civil Process, Assists & Disputes	Harassment, follow-ups, disturbances, suspicious persons/vehicles/activity, tips, juvenile problems, special details, shots fired, threats, verbal altercations, noise, protection orders, warrants, evictions, trespassing	164	28%
Vehicles, Traffic & Accidents	Accidents, hit-and-runs, abandoned vehicles, illegal parking, reckless drivers, traffic hazards, traffic stops, motorist assists, repossessions, private property tows	122	21%
Fire, Smoke, Leaks & Alarms	Fires, smoke, gas leaks, alarms, utility outages, illegal burns, water rescues	47	8%
Crime, Theft & Assault	Theft, stolen property, breaking and entering, fraud, assault	46	8%
Animals	Stray animals, dog bites	21	4%
Total		578	100%

As you can see, most of our deputies’ time goes to medical calls, welfare checks, and helping residents, which is exactly the kind of work we want them available for.

What we plan to do: Once the city takes over all of the roads, we plan to buy several radar speed signs like those many other cities now use. These signs display each driver’s speed compared to the posted limit. The more advanced models also record the speed of every passing vehicle, giving us daily reports on traffic counts and speeds. To be clear, these are not the speed cameras that issue tickets and have been getting bad press lately. They only collect data. At a minimum, they’ll raise awareness of our speed limits.

I hope this clears up what our plans actually are. As always, if you have concerns, please give me a call. And don’t forget our next Q&A session at the Holiday Island Clubhouse on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at 10:00 a.m.