Unidentified city speaker urges Winter Haven residents to read budget, attend commission meetings

An unidentified speaker urged Winter Haven City residents to review the annual budget, subscribe to city commission agendas and attend meetings to get accurate information and press for continued funding of community services.

"If you want the truth, if you want the facts, come to the city and let us give you those," the unidentified speaker said, calling out what they described as "a whole lot of misinformation" circulating on social media and urging residents not to rely on sources that did not come from the city.

The speaker encouraged residents to "subscribe and read" the agendas for the city commission and to attend the budget meeting, saying the five commissioners "would love to see you." The speaker mentioned staff members MJ, John Murphy and Vanessa as regular participants in commission work and repeated a call for citizens to advocate at the state and federal levels to protect funding for community services.

There was no formal motion, vote or policy decision recorded in the transcript. The remarks were framed as an appeal for civic engagement and information access; the speaker emphasized attendance at the budget meeting as a practical way for residents to learn about spending priorities and to influence officials.

The city did not provide dates, dollar amounts, or a contact in the transcript; those details were not specified.