MEET THE CANDIDATES
SEAT 4 – DAVID ISRAEL
David Israel
87 Calumet Avenue
Ponce Inlet, FL 32127
Phone Number:
904.229.6607
Email Address:
VoteDavidIsraelSeat4@outlook.com
I am married to be my beautiful wife, Cindy, and we have lived in Florida for over 25 years and have lived in Ponce Inlet over 6 years.
I have 3 adopted children.
I am a veteran and obtained the rank of staff sergeant.
I am a retired detective from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington D.C., where I served for 20 years.
I was the coordinator for the Citizen’s Watch program for Ponce Inlet for over 2 years and am currently the Vice President of the Ponce Inlet Veteran’s Memorial Association.
I am an active member of the American Legion, the Fraternal Order of Police, the Eagles and the Moose.
I am highly trained in security management, experienced in budgeting and pay negotiations.
I handled the 9/11 emergency disaster while I was the security director at the Union Station train station in Washington, D.C., which is one of the largest train stations in the United States.
I am a former small business owner of 10 years and I support our local businesses.
I have training in the following: law enforcement, investigation, police science, retail security management, and resiliency training. I am a graduate of the Institute for Elected Municipal Officials put on by the Florida League of Cities.
I was a board member of a neighborhood home association.
I attended college for Police Science.
I am an avid gardener and believe in protecting the environment.
I am an experienced Councilmember, currently Seat 4, and I believe in open communication with all the residents of Ponce Inlet.
I have dedicated my life to public service.
PONCE INLET CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE 2022
DAVID ISRAEL – SEAT 4
Why are you running for Town Council? How would you describe the responsibilities of a Town Council member? What skills and leadership qualities do you bring to the table that would make you the better candidate for this position?
My vision is to keep communicating with the residents of Ponce Inlet and being the Voice of the People and obtain their opinions before we vote on important matters. With my experience, I am qualified to make educated and considerate decisions regarding residents of the Town. I promoted sending out surveys to the residents regarding issues that were to be voted on. I will always be available for the residents at any time and as most of you know, I cruise the streets of this Town meeting people and communicating my vision for the future, which definitely includes all the residents of Ponce Inlet. When I am re-elected, I will continue to be the voice of the residents of Ponce Inlet. You will be my guiding factor in all the decisions I make. I held town meetings to gather the opinions of the residents of Ponce Inlet and consequently the Council is now holding Town Hall meetings. I also recommended that a Welcome Package be implemented for new residents and the Council voted to have that done. I will work to get the Council meetings more streamlined so that more residents will be willing to attend the meetings. I will encourage more people to run for Council to bring new ideas to the dais, and will work with the local newspapers to include more Ponce Inlet activities in their reporting. We also need our town website to be more user-friendly so I will work with the Town staff to make it more simple, if possible. I will never forget where I came from.
Residents and visitors love and appreciate Ponce Inlet for its small-town charm and beauty. What can be done to preserve our community’s character while proactively addressing our needs and enhancing our quality of life?
I deeply believe in our Town and will continue to ensure that it has the small town appeal to include no major construction, that our preserves are not disturbed, and that we have an enjoyable, quiet and serene living experience. This can be done by community education and ensuring that our Town rules and regulations are adhered to by our residents and visitors alike. Also,I will work with Volusia County to specifically help us keep Ponce Inlet a safe, clean, quiet island and that all rules will be followed also by Volusia County. Since we pay taxes to Volusia County, it is their responsibility to make improvements to the Atlantic Avenue area as needed to include traffic congestion and parking of beachgoers who do not live here which causes traffic problems on our streets. We also need to curtail run-off of fertilizers and insecticides that pollute our waterways and kill our vegetation. Education and enforcement is the answer to this issue.
The final outcomes of the Ponce Inlet Resiliency sessions conducted over the past few years have been presented and reviewed at Town Council meetings. What should our long-term strategy be to address these issues?
The Town of Ponce Inlet may experience impacts from flooding, rising tides and storm surge by or before 2040. Some of this flooding could include natural disasters, disease outbreaks, infrastructure failures such as water and sewer being disrupted, major power failures, public service buildings, ie. police department, fire department, town hall, being destroyed, as well as homelessness and poverty caused by flooding. My strategy would be site development techniques that would reduce losses and claims, such as reducing the amount of concrete non-permeable materials used in construction, using more grass swales in lieu of concrete swales, and allow for more Florida user-friendly yards. Also retrofitting adaptions to existing structures and features to accommodate water flow and retreat. Work with Volusia County to ensure the beach dunes are kept at proper height with vegetation to assist in the non-erosion of the dunes. Also work with the county to ensure the Atlantic Avenue corridor is structurally ready for flooding. Seawalls should be allowed only when nature-based solutions are found not to be sufficient. Continue working on septic-to-sewer conversions which will eliminate septic run-off in flooded areas. Also we need to ensure our public service buildings have back-up generators to assist in communications during any flooding disasters. Ensure that Volusia County has a plan to protect the bridges so that our residents are not trapped on the island. In closing, the Town should allocate funding to address the vulnerability of existing roadways and other public infrastructure from flood conditions, the Town shall seek federal and state funding to aid in the protection of private property from current and future flood sea level rise conditions. The Town should invest in pumps for high flood events to remove water in high flood prone areas.
Our Council members are often asked to represent Ponce Inlet interests at the County and State levels. Are you willing to assume those roles and additional responsibilities? If so, why would you be a better representative of our community than your opponent?
Yes I am willing to assume the role and additional responsibility. I feel I would be a better representative for the following reasons: I lived and worked in Washington, DC, and as an elected union representative for a major police department and had interactions with senators and congress people and city officials and am confident I can represent our Town in a professional manner and bring back information that is crucial for the running of our Town. Further, I was on a negotation committee that won a substantial pay raise for our police force after negotiating with the top city officials. I am the better representative for our Town because I have been a Councilmember for almost 2 years and know the workings of our Town and am aware of how to move our Town to the next level.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page 1 – Citizens for Ponce Inlet (CFPI)
Page 2 – Candidates Forum, Ponce Inlet Election 2022
Page 3 – Meet the Candidates – Seat 2 – Bill Milano
Page 4 – Meet the Candidates – Seat 4 – David Israel
Page 5 – Meet the Candidates – Seat 4 – Joe Villanella