Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight. My name is Buddy Helland and I am your neighbor here in The City of Oakland Park, along with my wife and two daughters that are 11 & 3 years old.

    My Mom and Dad were here when Commercial Boulevard was just a dirt road, so we have been here for awhile! My parents were active in The North Andrews Neighborhood Association or NANA, that I am now honored to be serving as a Board Member.  As a kid, I have attended North Andrews Gardens Elementary, Rickards Middle School, and graduated from North East High School, where I’m proud to say Brent Jett, the commander of two space shuttle missions, also graduated. I have also served on the K-12 Team for Broward Days alongside Linda Drake at Motorola in 2000 and also worked with the Broward Alliance to promote job growth.

I have introduced myself in this manner, just to let you know that I am a part of this city in ways that are like family. I care about the people here and how we are represented locally and across the state of Florida.

I watched the City Commission Meeting on May 19^th, on the internet, for the 1^st time, out of pure curiosity, to see how our elected officials were representing the Majority of Oakland Park. I was able to see that you all work very hard to find ways to help as many of our residents as possible … and we do appreciate your efforts!

     I noticed that when you stand at the beginning of each meeting you each put your hand on your heart and Pledge Allegiance to the Flag, Under God, with sincerity. I have a copy of The Great Seal of The State of Florida which reflects in bold lettering “In God We Trust” and when we look closely at the money in our wallets, we can still see “In God We Trust” written on it! These are reminders of our American Heritage of being a nation based on God’s word and His definitions.

    As an American Citizen, I also Trust In God, in His authority and how he defines the things that he has created. When you began to consider redefining the family in the housing code while stating your personal agenda, I realized how inappropriate that was. How troubling to think that a handful of commissioners can decide a moral issue without the consultation of “We The People”!  As George Washington said, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible”.

The Traditional Family is an important cornerstone, to the majority of Americans, and is seen as a God given institution of One Man and One Woman in Holy Matrimony and through blood or adoption. The fact that 3 unrelated people were already listed in the code to begin with, would seem satisfactory in covering extended family.  

    That said, there is a world of difference between a person who chooses to go against God's created order of what a family “is” and a government entity enforcing these rebellious choices against God's created order. The choice made by Individuals that affect them personally, is and will always be, in a Free United States of America, between them and God. The choices made by Individuals that infringe on the rights and freedoms of the majority, in an attempt to force the majority to agree with them, should never be permitted in law.  Political Correctness has gone too far and created a false image of politeness where tolerance is retooled to suit its author.

    It’s important to understand that I am here solely to defend the definitions of Family and Marriage in Love and in Truth. I asked a friend of mine how to approach a group of people and express to them an unconditional love that was genuine, while still sharing the honest truth. His answer was to make sure that I tell the truth, no matter how controversial. You cannot have Love without truth.

George Washington said, “There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily”

 The truth is that for the purposes of making opinion become law, Vice Mayor Suzanne Boisvenue pointed out a Judge that backed her and former commissioner Niedwieck’s thoughts on the redefinition of family. I took the time to look up Judge Carlos Mareno, who was the only judge dissenting in a 6-1 decision upholding Proposition 8 in California, where the majority of citizens had already made their choice. In 2000, Proposition 22 defined marriage as being exclusively between one man and one woman; the initiative passed by an overwhelming margin!

    Here is an example of someone that is using his position to forward an unpopular agenda against the express wishes of The United States Citizenry.  His comments were that "Majority rule is nice in concept, but I think there has to be some kind of restraint on that to fulfill the larger purpose of our democracy." Moreno said he had considered the possibility of a conflict of interest.  Despite the judge’s opinion, In the United States of America, the Majority Rules and is not a concept. As Abraham Lincoln stated, Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people.

    In closing, Discriminating against the great majority of families, in trying to retrofit a definition to match personal choices  sounds less like a concern about Housing, or even four elderly  ladies living together for financial purposes, and more like a specific agenda shrouded to look like city business.  The odd thing is that the code is not enforced, because you cannot visit each home each day to do it, which turns this into a symbolic act. Practically speaking, a change would also open up our neighborhood homes to a large number of people calling themselves family that would create flop houses and other problems into and around the City of Oakland Park. Margate Commissioner Pam Donovan said, “We were having problems with flop houses”, “There were six, seven people living in a house, there were cars everywhere.”

Again, we thank you for all that you do and encourage you to leave the family definition as it is and continue to focus on the business of our city.  Thank You for your time and patience.

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Additional Notes:

Under Oakland Park City Housing DEFINITIONS (36)   Family:  One (1) or more persons residing together in a dwelling unit as a housekeeping unit which shall not include more than three (3) individuals unrelated by blood, marriage, or adoption and shall not include any paying guests. 

John Adams: June 21, 1776
"Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand."

"The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People in a greater Measure, than they have it now, they may change their Rulers and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty.

Marriage:

Mark 10:9 NKJ

Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."

Truth in Love:

1 Peter 1:22 NKJ

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,

2 John 1:3 NKJ

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

Ephesians 4:15 NIV
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.