Q10: Mayor John’s Response

How important is collaboration with Highlands County organizations, chambers, and community groups in moving Lake Placid forward?  

Collaboration is not just important to moving Lake Placid forward — it is the engine that has powered virtually every significant achievement this town has accomplished during my tenure. And after 28 years of building, nurturing, and leveraging those relationships, I can tell you with absolute certainty that the depth and quality of a mayor’s regional partnerships is one of the most consequential — and most underappreciated — factors in a small town’s success.

Let me tell you why — and more importantly, let me show you what that collaboration has actually produced for the people of Lake Placid.

The nearly $40 million water and sewer infrastructure grant that is currently transforming our utility systems did not arrive because we submitted a form and got lucky. It arrived because of years of consistent engagement with state agencies, regional planning partners, and federal funding channels — relationships that were built meeting by meeting, phone call by phone call, over decades of showing up and being credible. The Central Florida Regional Planning Council has been an invaluable partner in that process, and their support of our Downtown Master Plan and strategic planning initiatives continues to bring professional expertise and regional perspective to our local decision making.

Our relationship with Highlands County is fundamental to everything we do. Lake Placid does not exist in isolation — we share infrastructure, emergency services, economic development strategy, and regional identity with every community in this county. I have invested deeply in maintaining a strong, respectful, and productive working relationship with county leadership because when Lake Placid needs something — whether it is road funding, utility support, or emergency coordination — I want our county partners at the table as allies, not strangers.

The Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce has been one of our most powerful partners in building the economic identity of this town. Their tireless work showcasing Lake Placid to visitors, supporting local businesses, and marketing our unique identity as the Town of Murals and the Caladium Capital of the World directly feeds the tourism economy that keeps our Main Street alive. Our partnership with the Chamber is not ceremonial — it is strategic, active, and producing real results every single day.

I am proud to serve on the Economic Development Council — because economic development in a community like ours is inherently regional. When Amazon chose Lake Placid for a distribution center, that decision was influenced by the regional economic environment that our collective partnerships helped create. No single town builds that kind of investment climate alone. It takes a network of credible, aligned partners all pulling in the same direction — and after 28 years I have helped build exactly that network.

Leadership Highlands has been another important part of how I stay connected to the broader community fabric of our region — understanding the challenges, opportunities, and priorities that our neighbors are facing and finding ways that Lake Placid can both contribute to and benefit from regional progress.

And right here at home — our partnerships with the Lake Placid Mural Society, the Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA, our faith based organizations, and our neighborhood groups are what give Lake Placid its community soul. These are not organizations that exist separately from town government — they are extensions of it. When Dal Hall opens as a community programming hub in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club and the YMCA, that is not just a facility opening. That is a community ecosystem delivering services that no single organization could provide alone.

Here is what I want people to understand about collaboration at the local government level. It is easy to talk about teamwork in the abstract. It is much harder to actually build the relationships, maintain the trust, and show up consistently enough over years and decades that when you need something for your community — when you need a grant approved, an investment attracted, a partnership activated — the people on the other end of that phone call already know your name, trust your word, and want to help.

That kind of relational capital cannot be built in two years. It cannot be inherited. It cannot be faked. It is earned — one meeting, one handshake, one delivered commitment at a time.

After 28 years of building those relationships for Lake Placid — I am just hitting my stride.