Lake County lawmakers decry 'virtue signaling' as Mount Dora joins 'Safe Place Program'

Apr 26, 2024

Mount Dora Police Department is on tap to become the 377th law enforcement agency engaged in a “Safe Place Program” — but the Lake County legislative delegation is urging the city to turn back now before it makes the city unsafe.

The City Council approved the program last week, which includes displaying a rainbow sticker on buildings around the city. Some Republican lawmakers are concerned that could make the city the next to feel the same wrath that’s tanked sales of Bud Light and made rainbow T-shirts at Target a target.

That’s according to a Monday letter on the Lake County legislative delegation’s letterhead that decried Mount Dora’s “virtue signaling.”

“We won’t stand for any policy that leads to divisive and unsafe conditions for the residents of our great county,” says the letter, which lists Republicans Sen. Dennis Baxley and Republican Reps. Keith Truenow, Taylor Yarkosky and Stan McClain as signatories.

That reaction to the program has Mount Dora Mayor Crissy Stile thinking there’s been a misunderstanding.

“This Safe Place initiative is to protect anyone — it’s not biased by gender, sexual preference, whatever age, or race,” she said. She noted that there’s been some distortion of the program on social media. “It’s all inclusive. … The stickers would bring awareness to the fact that we’re a safe place to be.”

The delegation asked a member of the City Council to appear at the delegation meeting on Tuesday. Stile said she couldn’t go due to another event honoring the city as Florida Greenways and Trails location.

Bud Light and Target have both become the focus of anger because of campaigns reaching out to the LGBTQ community. A transgender influencer endorsed Bud Light in an online campaign. And a Pride month display at Target had apparel decorated with rainbows.

McClain was the sponsor of a bill (HB 1069) that was seen as an extension of last year’s Parental Rights in Education Law. It more tightly regulated the use of personal pronouns at school and expanded book-challenging ability. McClain is now running for Senate.

Yarkosky responded with a written statement Wednesday saying that he thought Mount Dora’s participation “seeking to force Seattle style political mandates on our small businesses” was sending the wrong message.

“We should be weary of deceptive and coercive mandates administered by local government that could have an opposite effect on public safety as well and put our small businesses at risk,” he wrote, calling the city and the county, “very welcoming and inclusive communities.”

The eight-year-old Safe Place program is run through the Seattle Police Department and seeks to encourage awareness of hate crimes and encourage reporting of crimes. The go-ahead from the Mount Dora City Council means that the city’s police department will be applying to be “Safe Place” approved, through the Global Safe Place initiative.

It involves reviewing Mount Dora’s policies and procedures to ensure that best practices are being used for crime reporting. Businesses can apply to display the decal indicating they are participating.

The memo accompanying the resolution says the initiative is to provide the “LGBTQ community with easily accessible safety information and safe places throughout the city they can turn to.” But the presentation at last week’s Council meeting emphasized how it could improve police relations with “marginalized groups” who may be distrustful of law enforcement.

“This is a positive program, there is not one ounce of negativity in it,” interim Mount Dora Police Chief Michael Gibson told the Council.

That’s not how the legislative delegation members see it, though, according to the letter that Baxley’s office confirmed.

“You are picking winners and losers in your city with this program and alienating otherwise friendly businesses and residents from one another on the basis of their participating or lack thereof in this virtue signaling program,” the letter reads. “We believe that you are, in fact, creating a less safe environment in Mount Dora, contrary to the intentions you claim.”

Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani posted the letter on social media and ridiculed the “weird” letter. “So much manufactured panic from the right. Meanwhile families can’t even afford to live in Florida. Focus on that instead,” she said.

Evan Power, Republican Party of Florida Vice Chairman, responded, “It’s not weird, we just refuse to bend the knee to your rabble rousing anymore.”