Help as a necessity
Centennial student bagging supplies
A8
Cultural music exploration IRSC chorale musically tripping
B1
Making a difference Dyer award goes to pets
B14
ST. LUCIE WEST • TRADITION
YourVoiceWeekly.com VOL. 4/ISSUE 3
YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015
Mayor reflects Dance for food on first year Patrick McCallister STAFF WRITER
pmccallister@YourVoiceWeekly.com
PORT ST. LUCIE — Mayor Greg Oravec speaks like a cheerleader. He calls the city, “Port St. Lucky.” He also speaks like a businessman who calls residents “customers” and said he ran for mayor because, “I thought (the city was) only scratching the surface of our potential.” He said Port St. Lucie is an easy sell, because, “We still have what makes Florida Florida, and we offer it at a price no one can match.” Oravec speaks like a pragmatic philosopher painfully aware of his share in the human condition. “We all have a blind spot for our own BS,” he said. “Our job is to make that blind spot as small as
possible.” The mayor is a complex man, but isn’t complicated. He takes visible pride in being a part — he emphasizes he’s only a small part — of city government. This week, Mayor Oravec celebrated his first year in office. He was elected by a wide margin in 2014, beating out the then incumbent: JoAnn Faiella. Oravec said he doesn’t like dwelling on negative pasts, but it’s hard to ignore that he made the unusual step from being the city manager to becoming its mayor. Oravec had been the city manager for about a year. Before then he’d worked for the city since 2002, starting as its community redevelopment director. Most, if not all, city managers serve at
See MAYOR page A24
Environmental groups appealing court decision to keep Crosstown Bridge route Bruno Moore
FOR YOUR VOICE NEWS & VIEWS
ST. LUCIE COUNTY — A lawsuit jointly filed by The Indian Riverkeeper and Conservation Alliance of St. Lucie County which contested the proposed route of a new Crosstown Parkway bridge to link I-95 and US-1 was struck down by a federal judge earlier this month. Proponents of the new bridge
project say it would provide a much needed third route over the St. Lucie River. Port St. Lucie, for decades, has been plagued with traffic backups along Port St. Lucie Blvd. and Prima Vista Blvd., the only two East-West routes that cross the river. This third route is designed to alleviate that congestion. Opponents say there are better routes that would save
See CROSSTOWN page A28
Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographer Gina Marie Prisco of St. Lucie West danced in front of Jasmine Bishop and Victoria Lord with the Anna Preston Contemporary Dance Theater for the annual Dance for Food benefitting the Treasure Coast Food Bank. The performance took place Sunday, Nov. 15 at Martin County High School. Dance for Food will perform one last time this season on Sunday, Nov. 22 at the Kane Center in Stuart.
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