OKEECHOBEE --  Glenn Attaway is a candidate for Okeechobee County Commission District 5.

Attaway is a graduate of Okeechobee High School. He attended Indian River State College and Jacksonville State University.

He served as president and general manager for Attaway Lumber for 25 years and was with Central Florida Truss for 8 years.

Attaway was a program specialist with Okeechobee County Recreation Department for 5 years, working with youth soccer, youth basketball, adult softball and adult flag football.

He has 15 years experience as a substitute teacher with the Okeechobee school board. He also worked as an ESE Aide at OHS, Truancy Officer/Homeless Avocate and ISS teacher at Yearling Middle School and Osceola Middle School.

He coached for Okeechobee High School 1981-1094, 1993-2002 and 2012-2019. He coached at Bartow High School 2002-2009 and at Webber International University 2010-2012.

“As a community, we have gotten away from having a place where teens can gather to socialize and enjoy activities without someone looking over their shoulder,” explained Attaway. “During my 30 years experience coaching and teaching teenagers, I have found that giving them the opportunity to handle responsibilities, even if they make some mistakes, is much better than trying to make rules for every situation and end up with something that no one can enjoy.’

He said the county should have a teen center. “This county and community, time and time again, has come together and solved whatever problems that have arisen. This problem is no different. We need to decide on a plan that involves input from every sector, find a venue and work the details out as a community,” he explained.

How would he address the lack of affordable rental housing?

“Affordable housing shouldn’t always mean block housing,” Attaway stated. “We should work harder to develop a countywide, or even bigger plan that incorporates roadways, neighborhoods, water and sewage problems as well as power concerns into the comprehensive plan,” he continued. “This would help ensure that any development would still fit our overall vision for how we want our community to grow.”

Attaway said he would like to keep the “small town” atmosphere in Okeechobee. “We need to stick with a plan to promote and entice local businesses,” he stated. “I thought a few years back, it had been decided to really enhance the small town feel by keeping our downtown area local and quaint. I don’t quite understand where big chain businesses fit in there, especially if they are not willing to alter their business designs to fit into the surrounding business district. We need to recruit more local businesses by helping them to get set up and breaks for using some of the old architecture that is in place. Permitting, zoning issues could be evaluated individually in order to facilitate the process.”