Interview with candidate Diane Gonzalez about her vision of Coral Springs

Today Coral Springs, Florida, head to the polls to elect Commissioner for seat 2. A vacant left by Dan Daley. This magazine interviewed Diane Gonzalez, CPA and candidate for the seat.

– What is your vision for the city of Coral Springs?

I want to preserve what we have in Coral Springs.  Coral Springs is a great place to live, work and raise a family.  There are some things that can be improved.  I will work with my colleagues on the commission to hold the city manager accountable and work to keep our spending in check.

– You talked about to make the city more business friendly, how can you do that specifically?

A 22% increase in the tax rate is not business friendly.  It’s business hostile. 

Our sign restrictions make it difficult for businesses to be seen. We need to look at our code restrictions and make sure that they make sense for the businesses and residences.  Some of the ordinances have not been updated in many years.

– How to improve the relationship of the city with minorities such as Hispanics and new Latin American immigrants?

We have many events at the great lawn.  I would start by varying the music that is played at those events.  I would start with Latin music, Jamaican music, Haitian music as a way to interest different groups.

– What are your views respecting schools safety? You lean towards gun control or measures such as metal detectors? Have you talked to parents of the victims from both política spectrums?

People are 1^st concerned about safety in the schools and in the city.  I want to do whatever we can to eliminate gun violence.  If that means metal detectors, I am all for that.

– Crime is in the rise in Coral Springs or at least is the perception, what you suggest to solve it?

I would need to see the numbers about crime.  Our population has been increasing consistently over the years.  I would want to see if the percentage of crime is increasing as it relates to the population as a whole.  We are not the small city in the country that we used to be.

– Do you have any plan to work with churches, ministries or any other organizations that deal with youth to address problems such as drugs, suicide and so on?

I am a member of First Church of Coral Springs.  Many churches have ministries to help with homelessness, food pantry, divorce/grief, etc.Youth groups have been working to get connected and stay connected with youth for years.  I was a youth leader for many years through my church.

– Finally what are your thoughts on the importance of family?

For me, there is nothing more important than family, other than faith.  Family is not only those that we are related by blood, it includes those that we bring into our hearts as family.  The tragedy at Douglas high school on 2.14.2018 happened to all of us.  It happened to our community.