Right Angle Men's Club January Speaker's Meeting

The Right Angle Men's Club met on January 15, 2015 to enjoy comradery, a terrific buffet lunch and to listen to Charlotte Miller from Florida Power and Light. Ms. Miller is FPL’s Manager of External Affairs for Southwest Florida. Ninety one (91) members including several guests attended the meeting in Vanderbilt Country Club’s wonderful, new Vista Room.

The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance, a 50/50 raffle and opening remarks by Paul L’Esperance.  Bill Cooper introduced Ms Miller, our guest speaker who provided an overview of FPL and FPL’s parent company Next Era Energy. She discussed:  

1)      The regulated and un-regulated parts of the business

2)      FPL’s power generation facilities

3)      Smart grid initiatives from a consumer perspective   

Some of the key points from her discussion were:

The regulated side of FPL’s business provides electricity to approximately half of the state of Florida serving 4.7M customers in 35 counties. FPL is the lowest cost electricity provider in the state of Florida of all of the 55 utilities covering the state. Most of the electricity is generated from gas and nuclear energy. FPL has two nuclear power plants in Florida at Turkey Point and Stewart Island.

Using Smart grid initiatives and FPL’s Next Generation Energy Centers, FPL has significantly cut the cost to generate electricity for the customers FPL serves. Solar energy is beginning to grow with pilot projects underway. The challenges continue to be the amount of space needed for solar and battery backup. FPL is driving additional use of solar with a facility in DeSoto County.

 

Approximately 46M homes in the United States have smart meters which is about 40% coverage. Using automated, two way wireless encrypted transmission, FPL can provide additional capabilities to consumers as compared to the older, electro-mechanical meters. These capabilities include outage assistance and restoration, monitoring and metering usage real time and an energy dashboard where customers can watch usage by hour. 

  

Ms. Miller answered many questions and addressed concerns from our members.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 1:30 with Paul L’Esperance announcing the next meeting date and speaker.  

RIGHT ANGLE MEN'S CLUB NOVEMBER MEETING

                                                                                                                The Right Angle Men's Club kicked off the 2014/2015 season with a successful meeting in the beautiful and recently renovated VCC Clubhouse.  Seventy four (74) members attended the meeting to enjoy comradery, a wonderful lunch buffet and a very informative speaker.

The meeting kicked off with Lyle Carter presenting a check to VCC General Manager John Laliberte for the new clubhouse podium. After the pledge of allegiance and member welcoming, our guest speaker, Collier County Commissioner Mr. Tim Nance discussed:  

1)      Economic development (roads and building) in Collier County

2)      Steps being taken to make Collier County run more efficiently

3)      Encouraging business development in Collier County   

Some of the key points from his discussion were:

Collier County contains roughly 1.3M acres of which approximately 80% or 1M are already in “preservation” status.  Nearly 15% of the county is already built and only 5% of the 1.3M acres is in discussion for future development.  Much of the building will occur near VCC with planned communities similar to Vanderbilt Country Club. The surrounding roadways, including CR 951, are being expanded to accommodate the anticipated additional traffic. 

In addition to the roadway and building discussion, Mr. Nance  also talked about the ways that he is making Collier County Government more efficient. He has established a 1^st Hearing Examiner position to approve non-controversial items as well as eliminating several “Executive Director” positions in order to flatten his organization structure.  He also discussed 55 action items that are being assessed to either simplify the operation of Collier County or to help reduce regulation. He recognizes the need to streamline Collier County government and is taking steps toward that goal.

Taxes in Collier County, and all other counties in the United States, are used predominantly for providing residential services. Business taxes provide a way to help offset the disproportionate cost of providing these services. Mr. Nance also discussed what is being done to encourage business development in Collier County. The Partnership for Collier’s Future Economy was established to identify opportunities for “courting” business. “Opportunity Naples” is a 3 year strategy that was put together to help addresses the issues of business growth and business development in Collier County.  

Commissioner Nance answered many questions and concerns from our members.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 1:30 with the group looking forward to a continuation of a strong lineup of speakers for the 2014-2015 season, now that our fabulous club house has reopened. 

                             Lyle Carter presented the check to John Laliberte for the new podium.

Tarren Bragdon, The Foundation for Government Accountability

Tarren Bragdon with members of the Right Angle Board.

This highly informative speaker's meeting provided insight on Medicaid, what it is today and where Medicaid Reform is headed. Tarren Bragdon, formerly from Maine, is President and CEO of The Foundation for Government Accountability for Florida. He and his family now live in Collier County. He is nationally recognized expert on health reform issues with a specialty in Medicaid Reform.

Mr. Bragdon gained some early political experience in Maine, being elected to the House of Representatives at the age of 21. He has advised various federal and state officials, including Governor Rick Scott, on Medicaid Reform and its implications. Mr. Bragdon presented us with a comparison of how actual costs have dramatically exceeded the estimates of projected costs in those states that implemented expanded Medicaid. Two states in his case study eventually were forced to reduce the coverage or the eligibility or both.

In the Q&A period, it was suggested that more Medicaid creates higher health costs for the general population since hospitals have to make up their losses. Another comment made was since Medicaid patients don't have co-pay obligations they are less apt to manage their healthcare usage.

Mr. Bragdon's PowerPoint charts were clear and his entire presentation was very well received by the club members.

Today, Jack Bream was recognized for his service to the Right Angle Men's Club since its founding. Jack provided many of our speakers and brought the AVID program to VCC. We are grateful for all he has done.

Dr. Wilson G. Bradshaw, President Florida Gulf Coast University

President Bradshaw spoke at VCC Right Angle Men's Club on Feb. 14,2013. He gave an overview of FGCU-its history, expansive growth and future plans. Presently, FGCU has an enrollment of 13,500 students and has grown from 4 to 95 buildings over the last 16 years. Dr. Bradshaw explained that students gain a full learning experience not limited to 15 hours of classroom time. He also said that online classroom time is expanding rapidly. All decisions are made with environmental sustainability in mind. FGCU networks with heads of other universities and colleges as well as county representatives. FGCU students enjoy relatively low tuition rates and are near the top in job placement. Everyone enjoyed his pleasant delivery and good humor. He urged everyone to visit the campus and to support the University's athletic teams.

Superintendent Dan Kimball

Our January Speaker was Dan Kimball, Superintendent of Everglades and Dry Tortugas National Parks. Mr. Kimball began with a history of water management in South Florida from Lake Okeechobee down to the Everglades. There had been a loss of many plant and animal species prior to the Everglades being designated a National Park. Dan then gave us a lenghtly Burmese Python report. He and his crew are inventing solutions as they go to deal with this problem. This million and a half acre park is susceptible to a number of other threats such as hurricanes, careless boating and climate change. Scientists predict an increased sea levels by as much as three feet this century, the park is barely above sea level now. A Nike Missile site from the Cold War era has been opened to tourism. The missile site is one of the best preserved of all Nike sites. Also guided tours and educational seminars are readily available. A near record number of Right Angle members and guests enjoyed a well delivered talk spiced with humor. We are fortunate to have such high profile speakers as Dan Kimball. New Right Angle members were introduced, thirteen in all. We now have 150 members on our list and if any member knows of someone who would be interested in joining, please email us, rightangleofvcc@aol.com.

Naples Philharmonic CEO Kathleen van Bergen

The Right Angle men's Club's first speaker of the new season was Kathleen van Bergen. Her leadership as CEO of the Naples Philharmonic Center for the arts began 14 months ago when she succeeded Myra Daniels, founder and CEO for the previous 27 years.

Ms van Bergen began with her family background growing up in new jersey and playing violin from the age of 4.. She was fortunate to have supportive parents and studied music and performance under some of the best teachers.

In her performing career, Ms van Bergen played in large symphonies and has toured the world in that capacity. Several years back she developed an interest in the business and management aspects of classical music. She has held management positions in the St. Louis Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra and most recently before coming to Naples, she was managing Director of the prestigious 130 year old Schubert Club in St. Paul MN.  Over the years she has added a degree in Visual arts and Business management to her credentials and has studied Museum Management as well.

Speaking about her first year in Naples with the Orchestra and the facility, she has begun engaging other groups in the Naples Art Community. We learned a little about the hiring of musicians and how Ms van Bergen plans to make The Phil more appealing and available to everyone. She has already begun to make changes to the Museum.

Kathleen answered questions from our members and took time to speak with many after our meeting concluded. We enjoyed having such an articulate and gracious speaker.

Dr. L Dennis Smith, About Stem Cells

Dr. Dennis Smith did well explaining a complex area of science regarding Stem Cell Research. His presentation was orderly and well delivered with the aid of Power Point slides. He detailed what stem cells are as well as their function of replacing cells in the body every moment of our lives. He went on to show how they can differentiate into other cells and the future practical uses of this process in healing.

Smith agrees with the FDA go-slow policy in their trials with humans. Some doctors have already treated patients with stem cells but the results are inconclusive at best. Since stem cells and cancer cells have a commonality in rapid replication, it would be wise to wait until the science progresses further before risking wide scale human applications.

We enjoyed a very large attendance for this program and all who attended went away much better informed on the topic.