Name: Marlon Luis

Campaign website: marlonluis.com

Date and place of birth: Miami, Florida  June 11th 1956

In your opinion, is your city generally on the right track or wrong track, and why or why not? 
Davie is on the right track when we protect what people moved here for. It gets off track when we treat the western end of town like leftover land for the next project.

This is still a town with horses, trails, real neighborhoods, and a western character you cannot rebuild once it is gone. Growth is going to happen. The question is whether it fits.

I support businesses and good projects. I vote no when a site plan dumps traffic onto a two-lane street or boxes in a neighborhood. Public safety stays funded. The budget stays tight. Davie has a AAA bond rating because we do not play games with other people’s money.

Right track means smart growth, not growth for a ribbon-cutting.

List in order of importance the three most important issues in the city and briefly explain what you would do about each.
1. Protect neighborhoods from over development.

District 4 still looks like Davie. I will keep voting that way. If a project does not fit the street it sits on, it does not get my vote. Growth should pay for the roads, drainage, and services it creates.

2. Public safety.

Police, fire, and emergency responses come first. I am a former auxiliary police officer. I have the endorsement of the FOP and the Davie firefighters. That is not a slogan. That is how I vote.

3. Keep Davie from turning into everywhere else.

Preserve the western heritage, the trails, and the unique lifestyle. Hold the line on the budget so we keep the AAA rating. Do the unglamorous work: drainage, cut-through traffic, code issues.

Do you support or oppose Amendment 3, and why?
I oppose Amendment 3 as written.

People who live in their homes are tired of watching the tax bill climb. I get that. Homestead relief is a real issue. This amendment is not a clean tax cut. It blows a hole in city and county budgets, including public safety, and it asks local governments to figure it out later.

Statewide, firefighters have opposed it. I will not vote for a plan that puts Davie police and fire on the chopping block so Tallahassee can hold a press conference.

If voters pass it anyway, my job does not change. Protect core services first. Do not raid public safety. Cut waste. Make development pay its own way. Keep the AAA rating.

School taxes are left alone under the amendment. Town services are not. That is the problem.

If you are elected and Amendment 3 passes, you will have to reduce services or raise other fees. Can you cite a specific city program or service that is wasteful or unnecessary? 
I will not start by naming a neighborhood park or a fire engine.

If the amendment passes, the first cuts are not police, fire, or the services people call about when a street floods. The first look is vendor contracts, repeat consultant studies, and projects that do not pay for the infrastructure they create.

Davie does not have a money problem because we fund police and firefighters. We get in trouble when growth is approved without making the applicant cover the traffic and drainage they generate.

I will not invent a “wasteful” program to satisfy a questionnaire. I will protect core services and make every dollar defend itself.

How would you assess your city’s ability to manage growth, development and related issues such as traffic, noise, pollution and demands on city infrastructure?
Uneven. When we stick to the neighborhood and make the project fit the street, we do fine. When we approve something because it looks good on a rendering, District 4 pays for it in traffic and flooding.

Davie is the largest town in Broward by land. That is a gift and a target. Developers will always want the next piece of the western area.

My standard is simple. Does it protect the neighborhood? Does it pay for the roads and drainage it needs? Does it leave Davie looking like Davie? If the answer is no, I vote no.

Infrastructure has to come before the ribbon. Noise, cut-through traffic, and overloaded two-lane roads are not “quality of life” language. They are the file I already work.

What single factor most distinguishes you from your opponent and why?

List in reverse chronological order colleges or universities attended with years of attendance and degrees.
My education is as follows.

I attended Broward College. In the last 40 years as the owner of a large construction company I have taken many classes on structural restoration, Building codes, Coatings and accounting classes. I also have the highest general contractors license that the State of Florida issues.

List in reverse chronological order your work history for the past 15 years.
Town of Davie, Town Council, District 4, 2007 to present. Also I currently serve as Vice Chair of the Community Redevelopment Agency.

Business owner, state-certified general contractor. I have owned and run my company for more than 40 years ; My company specializes in high rise structural restoration, as well as water proofing and painting.

Before Council I served on the Davie School Advisory Board, Child Safety Task Force, Planning and Zoning Board, and Economic Development Council. I am a former auxiliary police officer.

Have you ever been a party to a lawsuit, including bankruptcy or foreclosure? If so, provide details of the case and disposition.
No

Have you ever been charged or convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, including an adjudication of guilt withheld? If so, provide charges, dates and terms of sentence.
No

Why should voters elect you instead of your opponent(s)?
Because District 4 does not need on-the-job training.

I pick up the phone. I vote to protect neighborhoods, western character, and smart growth.

I have the backing of the people who run toward the fire and the people who keep the streets safe: Davie firefighters and the FOP. Also the Broward County AFL-CIO and the Realtors Association.

Residents want a Council member who already knows the difference between a good project and a bad one, and who will say no when it counts. That is the job. I am asking to keep doing it.