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The Martin County

  Defender

The e-newsletter for aware citizens – No. 76

Local Democrat activists want Ramos as  candidate instead of Mahoney

As Martin County Democratic party leaders sit frozen, deer-in-the-headlights style, local rank-and-file members have begun pushing for disgraced Congressman Tim Mahoney to step aside. They want the Florida Democratic Party to name Bill Ramos as candidate in Mahoney’s place.

It’s too late to change the printed ballots, but if a switch were made, votes cast for Mahoney could be credited to Ramos or another replacement candidate. Ramos  recently lost the state rep primary because of huge Palm Beach contributions and St. Lucie votes garnered by his opponent. However, Ramos did win the vote in Martin County, where he lives and works.

Representative of the effort to replace Mahoney is the following e-mail being sent by Democratic activists to Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman (email@fladems.com):

Please remove Tim Mahoney from the ballot and designate Bill Ramos to run in his place.  We will work very hard in District 16 to let the voters know that a vote for Mahoney on the ballot is REALLY a vote for Bill Ramos, an intelligent, dedicated, well-known, honest, moral politician. We do not want Mr. Mahoney’s recent record to prevent our local Democratic candidates from winning their elections in Martin County.

Mahoney should recognize that he is a politically walking deadman, same as Foley was two years ago. He should step aside, but so far he’s hanging tough, It’s a good day for Republican Tom Rooney.

WE’RE GETTING (UNWANTED) NATIONAL ATTENTION

The sight of another elected official dragooning his wife to sit - Spitzer-like -  in pitiful silence as her husband tries to weasel word excuses, combined with the coincidence of Mahoney’s sex scandal immediately following one by former Congressman Mark Foley, seems to be too delicious for the national media to ignore.

In commenting on the situation in Florida’s 16^th Congressional District, Fox’s Greta Van Susteren wryly observed: “It must be something in the water down there.” Over at NBC, Jay Leno heaped some scathing humor on Mahoney.

Hearings on legality of two pro-sprawl amendments to the Comp Plan

The majority on the County Commission passed two amendments to the Comprehensive Plan that were favored by developer interests. One is the so-called Valliere Rural Cluster Amendment that allows cluster housing development in agricultural areas. The other is an amendment allowing the extension of public utilities outside the primary Urban Services Boundary. Both undermine the protections of the Comp Plan, and are likely to foster the kind of sprawl that has been so harmful to other counties.

The Martin County Conservation Alliance and the 1000 Friends of Florida have filed legal challenges to the two amendments noted. According to the Conservation Alliance, hearings will be held next month. The first, on Nov. 17, 2008, will be held in the workshop meeting room, fourth floor of the County Administration Building, at 1:00 pm. The next two hearings will be in the Armstrong Room of the Blake Library on Nov. 18 & 19. The final two are scheduled back at the workshop meeting room on Nov. 20 & 21. Meetings are open to the public.

The hearings could become moot if the commission candidates supported by the DEFENDER are elected on Nov. 4 because they are committed to rescinding the Valliere Amendment, and may also do so for the utility extension amendment. The preferred quality-of-life candidates are: Joan Wilcox (District 1), Martha Bennett (District 3), and John Patteson (District 5).

Recapturing the Commission by electing these three best commission candidates is achievable if slow growth advocates don’t split the vote.

•••NO MORE 2004•••

Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment ready for 2010 ballot

Despite the incompetence or obstruction of election officials in other counties, the not-me irresponsibility of the Florida Secretary of State, and unsavory tactics by the state’s developer growth machine, the petition drive for the Florida Hometown Democracy (FHD) Amendment has gathered the required signatures to be on the ballot in 2010.

To get on the ballot, the petition drive requires 611,009 verified signatures statewide. FHD submitted some 850,000. Furthermore, the law requires that the petition include 8% of registered voters voting in the last presidential election in at least 13 of the state’s 25 congressional districts. Over 611,009 signatures have already been verified. Small additions may be needed, depending on the upcoming Nov. 4 election.

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  Al Forman
  mc_defender@fastmail.net

  Defender

The e-newsletter for aware citizens – No. 75

A prediction contest for you to become

2008 Political Seer of the Year 

The DEFENDER  is sponsoring a contest to find the Martin citizens able to predict who will be victorious – and by how much - in the three 2008 County Commission   elections. In addition to being awarded a plaque commemorating their clairvoyant skills, and gaining public recognition, top contest winners will receive the following prizes: 

First Prize: $75 Cash

Second Prize: $25 gift certificate to Manero’s Restaurant, Palm City

Third Prize: $20 gift certificate to Carrabbas Italian Grill, Stuart 

It’s easy to enter. Here is all you need to do: 

1 – Click on REPLY. 

2 - Fill in your name, and mark “X” next to “I have voted or will vote….”  (   ) 

3 – Next to one candidate in each District, Mark “X” for the one you think, not hope, will win. Then fill in the percent of votes for that District which you guess your chosen candidate will receive. Example: 

Candidate John Doe ( X ) – percent of District vote (  56% ) 

4 – Click on SEND. 

Type in  →

                           Last Name,     First Name

“I have voted or will vote in the 2008 election”  - Mark here → (     ) 

Candidates listed alphabetically by district 

DISTRICT 1 (Choose one) 

Tom Fullman (    ) – percent of District vote (    %)

Doug Smith (    ) – percent of District vote (    %)

Joan Wilcox (    ) – percent of District vote (    %) 

DISTRICT 3 (Choose one) 

Martha Bennett (    ) – percent of District vote (    %)

Patrick Hayes (    ) – percent of District vote (    %) 

DISTRICT 5 (Choose one) 

Ed Ciampi (    ) – percent of District vote (    %)

Linda Green (    ) – percent of District vote (    %)

John Patteson (    ) – percent of District vote (    %) 

Winners will be chosen based on predicting all three successful candidates correctly. The ranking of the top contest winners will depend on who guesses most closely the percent of total votes for that District that were cast for the victor. 

Only one entry allowed per individual or e-mail address. Contest open only to voters registered in Martin County. Deadline is Nov. 2, 2008 

The “2008 Political Seer of the Year” contest is part of the DEFENDER’S effort to encourage citizens to vote, and to enjoy the process. 

NOTE: Early voting starts Oct. 20. Questions? Call Election Center: 772-288-5637.

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For a free subscription to The Martin County Defender, send request with “Subscribe” in the subject line to: mcdefender@gmail.com

Comments and requests to unsubscribe may be sent to this same address.

Al

Al Forman, Editor                                  10/15/08

The Martin County Defender is published and Copyright 2008 by WordsmithAmerica,

All previous issues of the Defender are archived at our website:

www.MartinCountyDefender.com

--
  Al Forman
  mc_defender@fastmail.net

The Martin County

Defender

The e-newsletter for aware citizens – No. 70

PARAPHRASING SENATOR JOE LIEBERMAN:

“County matters more than party!”

A strong two-party system provides stability nationally. However, in local matters, political parties do not play such an important role. After all, what social, cultural, economic and philosophical differences are there about fixing a pothole? That is why many communities across the nation have made elections non-partisan.

Rather than voting for a local candidate just because of his or her party label, it makes better sense to vote for the person on the basis of record, character and qualifications, as well as position on issues. The worst reasons to vote for a candidate are the non-binding promises to do this and improve that.

When we vote for one of the 100 senators and 435 congressional representatives, we are voting for 0.019% of the legislative body. When we vote for a county commissioner, we are voting for 20% of that body. So it pays to focus on the individual at election time.

After considerable thought and examination, I have chosen the candidates in Commission Districts 1 and 3 whom I’ll vote for. It was not an easily made choice, because the race is not between an angel and a devil. It’s between well-intentioned individuals - not necessarily equally desirable individuals - vying for both the power and the opportunity to serve.

DISTRICT 1 CHOICE

In District 1, I will vote for Joan Wilcox , a long time Republican running as a No Party Affiliation (NPA) candidate. The primary reason for this decision is that the county is desperately in need of experienced financial management experience. Her credentials in this regard are far superior to those of her opponents.

Ms. Wilcox has a fair chance to win if the almost 50% of Republicans who voted in the primary for Copeland (Wilcox and Copeland positions on issues are essentially the same) are joined by more of the 21% of voters who are Independents. Furthermore, realistic Democrats who recognize that the Democratic candidate has little chance to win, may wish to vote for Wilcox rather than split the vote to allow the fast-growth, pro-cluster incumbent to be re-elected. Only Wilcox has a chance to win against Smith.

DISTRICT 3 CHOICE

In District 3, I will vote for Martha Bennett, a Democrat. The main reason is that line-in-the-sand issue: The Valliere Rural Cluster Amendment. Bennett will work to rescind it, while her opponent will support it.

Ms. Bennett has a fair chance to win if she can gain the votes, not only of Democrats and Independents, but those same Republicans who supported Copeland in District 1.

ELECTION CONSEQUENCES

Unlike the Primary Election, the November General Election is open. Any voter can vote for any candidate, irrespective of party affiliation or lack thereof. A vote for Wilcox and Bennett is a vote for change. Why do we need change? Well, consider what the present Commission has caused or failed to anticipate: The closing of parks; the reduced library hours; the staff layoffs; negatively impacted residential neighborhoods; the eroded Comp Plan; and developers poised to sprawl into western county as soon as the real estate market turns up. Change for the better is vitally needed ….. and it’s achievable if we recognize that “County matters more than party.”

GRIM IRONY DEPARTMENT: Some pro-Fullman slow growth advocates did not raise a finger to increase the vote foo Henry Copeland when he could have beaten Smith (Copeland lost the Republican District 1 Commission primary by only 188 votes). Now they are hand-wringing, crying because they can’t muster enough support for their candidate. Well, boo hoo!

Nasty shenanigans by Commission majority

Lovely Peck Lake Park would be closed for want of $10,000/yr to operate it. The park is located in District 4, represented by Sarah Heard.  All commissioners have a reserve, funded by a district tax. How to spend this reserve is at the commissioner’s discretion, subject to Commission approval. Heard has retained almost $2 million.

So some people, including a Stuart News scribbler and Commissioner Weberman, more or less accused Heard of unreasonably withholding the money that would keep the park open. Here’s what really happened previously: To embarrass Heard, Commissioners DiTerlizzi, Weberman and Valliere initially prevented her reserve money from being spent on two other District 4 parks. Their hollow argument was that she wouldn’t be the district commissioner forever.  Yep, it’s the same bunch that does not let Heard rotate to the chairmanship.

This story still has a good ending in spite of the political shenanigans. Finally, because of adverse publicity, the Commission voted to allow Heard to allot $20,000 to keep the Peck Lake Park running for the next two years. Separately, instead of using her district reserve as a tool for political influence, Heard has allocated $200,000 for work on an apartment building to house 40 homeless and working poor women, and up to 80 homeless children.

Is 2% the magic number for growth?

Mr. H, one of our critical but friendly readers, has been asking me some reasonable questions: Why are we always urging slower growth? Isn’t our recent 2% annual rate slow enough? Do I have some other growth rate in mind? And implied: Why not be more receptive to faster development? Here is our answer:

Perhaps you think a 2% growth rate should immunize fast growthers from criticism. Not so. Broward once had a low growth rate. The issue is what are influential fast growth forces poised to do if we give them the opportunity. We’ve seen the home building overstock in anticipation of faster growth. We’ve seen public utilities going west to accommodate developers. We’ve seen clustering to induce sprawl and higher taxpayer infrastructure cost. We’ve seen reduced Level of Service traffic to accommodate more construction. We’ve seen zoning and land use regs changed to benefit you-know-who. We’ve seen residential neighborhoods punished for being close to where industry wants to build. We’ve seen commissioners saying yes yes yes to the Comp Plan eroding growth machine that feeds their campaign treasuries.

If you want to stave off the damage of an impending hurricane, you don’t start taking action when the winds hit. You start as soon as you see the direction the storm is heading. Our Comp Plan provides for the kind of growth that will not ruin our quality of life, whatever the growth percentage.

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For a free subscription to The Martin County Defender, send request with “Subscribe” in the subject line to: mcdefender@gmail.com

Comments and requests to unsubscribe may be sent to this same address.

Al

Al Forman, Editor                                  9//13/08

The Martin County Defender is published and Copyright 2008 by WordsmithAmerica, Box 1828, Palm City, FL 34991. All rights reserved. No part of this issue may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording for public or private use, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. NOTICE:  All correspondence not bearing legal copyright notice which is sent to the Defender or its editor is subject to being edited and published.

All previous issues of the Defender are archived at our website:

www.MartinCountyDefender.com