Orlando City Commissioner Daisy Lynum Lied at City Council

Orlando City Commissioner Daisy Lynum defended the gentrification of historic Parramore saying, “It will not be minority for long. We’re going to guarantee that!”

Orlando City Commissioner Daisy Lynum insults residents and dismisses public comments during Orlando City Council meetings on a regular basis. That’s nothing new. But Commissioner Lynum also blatantly lied about contaminated land in Parramore, claiming she has no knowledge of such things despite millions of dollars already spent by the City and public records detailing the rampant contamination downtown.

“If there is contaminated land, I would be the first to know. And I will absolutely take care of my constituents,” Lynum said during her rambling comments at City Council on October 7, 2013. This of course is a complete lie as the land for Creative Village and the proposed MLS soccer stadium (to name a few) are toxic and contaminated. In fact, the City of Orlando knows this well as they have already spent over $600,000 cleaning up those two sites with EPA funding and they are about to receive additional EPA grants for those locations.

Worse, her statement was made to also put down residents and constituents who were concerned about health risks and contamination in their neighborhood. Sure, Lynum may be ignorant, and maybe Buddy Dyer doesn’t tell her anything. If so, she really shouldn’t be commenting on it at all, she should be demanding answers from the City and Mayor. More major environmental justice information regarding contamination throughout downtown Orlando and historic Parramore will be made public over the next several weeks.

But will Daisy really take care of her constituents? Of course not. Lynum has been responsible for the gentrification and destruction of housing in Parramore and the failure to invest in the people of the community. Daisy Lynum even took credit for doing this:

“It will not be minority for long. We’re going to guarantee that! You give me three years and there will not be — never mind. Over 5,000 people in Parramore have left. We want some people to come back and they are not going to be the 5,000 that left, and that’s ok,” Lynum stated during a previous City Council meeting.

Don’t forget, Commissioner Lynum is up for re-election on April 8, 2014. It’s time for Daisy to go.

Here’s the full clip of Daisy claiming she has no knowledge of any contamination: