Florida Pheonix: Scary Green Monster Attacks South Florida (Politicians flee!) ...

Scary green monster attacks South Florida

By

 Julie Hauserman

 -

July 9, 2018

The “Green Monster” is back – a fluorescent toxic algae outbreak that’s been sliming Florida’s east and west coasts, sparking bad-news headlines and leaving ruined beach vacations in its wake.

Since this is political season, Florida candidates are formally expressing Grave Concern as people living in pricey waterfront homes understandably wail about their lost property values and a wrecked way of life. Paradise this is not.

You don’t want to boat, swim, paddle board or do anything aquatic around this bad-acting algae.  In the short-term, you can get respiratory and intestinal distress. In the long term, studies link toxic algae to cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s disease and ALS. Plus, it can kill your pets.

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The November Amendment-Palooza. Guest Blog by Ross Hancock

 Amendment 5 is a poison pill, crafted by Republicans to ensure that any future Democratic majority will be fiscally powerless 

Putman

Maybe it’s just me, but for all the talk of a Blue Tsunami in November, I’m more fired up to vote on 13 state constitutional amendments than most of the races for office. I’m just not feeling the Bern for Donna Shalala and Bill Nelson. And the leading Dem gubernatorial candidates have put everyone in the State to sleep.  Adam Putnam, a lightening rod attracting enormous ire, is a candidate on the Republican side who is the stuff of nightmares, not sleep. Even the race that I’m personally in, for State House 114, probably won’t set the world on fire, since there is an election for that seat every couple of months or so, and everyone knows they can always just catch the next one.

That’s why a ballot laden with a record 13 constitutional amendments has me so excited that I just can’t hide it.

Anything good that has happened in Tallahassee in the past decade has been the result of voter-approved amendments. Our electeds are mostly lobbyists and semiprofessional officeholders, and at the end of the day, we don’t have much to show for casting our votes for them. But amendment referenda have brought us smaller class sizes in schools, fairer voting districts, solar energy progress, and preservation of environmentally sensitive lands. At least in theory.

And there are a few really good, life-changing amendments this time. Tops is the voter-initiated Florida Amendment 4—the Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative. It will bring Florida in line with most other states by extending voting rights to citizens who have served their felony sentences, except for the most serious crimes.

Also, be sure to support Amendment 12 on legislative ethics. It will prevent lobbyists from being public officials, and prevent public officials from becoming lobbyists for six years. It actually used to be illegal for lobbyists to serve in the legislature. Things have only gotten worse since we let the foxes into the chicken house. Nowadays, there are many races that don’t even have non-lobbyists running. That kinda cuts out the middleman between special interests and the government.

There are so many amendments on the November ballot that some unrelated (and potentially contradictory) issues were combined into about half of them, weirdly. For example, to vote against coastal drilling (Amendment 9), a ban on workplace vaping is included in the same measure, so you have to want both. Amendment 11 combines high-speed trains, a civil rights issue, and a rule on prosecution of repealed crimes. Amendment 6 mashes up a victims’ bill of rights with increasing the retirement age for judges.

There are other examples of bundled issues. This is just nuts. Who is running this state?

So while there are 13 amendments on the ballot, there are really more than 20 issues, but it’s like a menu of combo meals that doesn’t allow substitutions.

On the ugly side, there is Amendment 5, a poison pill crafted by Republicans to ensure that any future Democratic majority will be fiscally powerless. It mandates a two-thirds vote of each chamber of the state legislature to raise any taxes or fees forever. Oddly, our local Democratic leader Rep. Kionne McGhee broke party ranks and voted to put this monstrosity on the ballot.

Still, if I have to hold my nose for a few candidates who will be the lesser of two evils, at least I am fired up about voting rights for felons, and especially for ridding the legislature of lobbyist officeholders. Be amendment-smart and study up—and plan on spending some time in the voting booth on November 6.

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The Worst Election You Never Heard Of: State House District 114. Guest Blog by Ross Hancock

Democrats are banking on Attorney Javier Fernandez

People in Florida once voted all on the same day — the first Tuesday in November — but in this crazy political era there is a special election going on someplace every month. Democrats have been winning most of them lately, as folks turn out just to keep child molesters and their ilk out of office.

For the May 1 special election for State House District 114 (which stretches from Flagami south to Cutler Bay), two lobbyists and a public school administrator, NPA Candidate Liz de las Cuevas, have raised about a half-million dollars to win bragging rights and a state paycheck — for a seat that will expire in five months. The victor won’t have the opportunity to cast any votes on bills, or to even show up for work. The seat will be up for grabs again in November. (I am personally in the November race.)

Journalists have made a lot of hay about what a waste of taxpayer money (an estimated $1.2 million) it is to hold an election for this lamest-of-all-possible-ducks seat. In addition to the full-fledged primary (that you probably didn’t notice) that look place in February, in which about 4,000 people voted, taxpayers are now paying for “general-special” election ballots to be mailed to absentee voters and military service personnel worldwide. Then a week of early voting will take place starting April 21 at four different libraries in the county. Finally, about 70 fully-staffed precincts will be open all day on May 1 for the three candidates and their “no show” office.

The three campaigns themselves may spend as much as the county — as much as 500 bucks per voter. Special interests have been very generous to the both party candidates. But they will have to pony up again when the winner and loser replay their battle, starting with an August primary a few months from now.

The bizarre history of District 114 has also been noted by the press. Since the district was drawn after the last census, both elected representatives have pleaded guilty to criminal charges. Erik Fresen, who I almost beat in this district in 2012, failed to file income taxes for the duration of his four terms in the state house, and is now a part-time resident of a federal lockup. Daisy Baez, who recently won the seat after Fresen vacated it, kept postponing her relocation into the district while her ailing mother clung to life in Baez’s home a few blocks outside the boundary. Rivals busted her when she announced her run to replace yet another disgraced legislator, Frank Artiles, who had left the state senate when it was revealed that he was hiring underwear models as staffers. That opened up the current mess for the May 1 special election to replace Baez.

Andrew Vargas

I think the Republican lobbyist is likely to beat the Democratic lobbyist in a low-turnout special election. Even though Democrats have been winning special elections all over the country, Republican lobbyist Andrew Vargas has been outworking and outspending Democratic Javier Fernandez. Plus, Fernandez got a bad start by hiring twice-convicted campaign-law violator Jeff Garcia, who positioned himself as Fernandez’s campaign manager.

And the press has been hard on Fernandez, asking why the Dems would even sponsor a candidate who has a checkered history as a lobbyist for Walmart developers and the like.

While his Republican opponent attacks him from one side, Fernandez is also being mocked as “Javi Lobby” and as a Republican donor in mailings and robocalls conducted by People for a Progressive Florida, which is run by activists who advocate for responsible land use and transit-friendly policies. They maintain an attack website.

Fernandez might be the only Democrat in the world who can’t win this district in the current “Blue Wave” climate. Although the Democratic Party labeled District 114 as “Republican” when they didn’t want to oppose Fresen, the party has been happy when candidates have been able to attract cash to 114, as Baez did with early money from the Dominican professional community. Likewise, Fernandez has been a big magnet for $1000 checks from real estate industry donors.

The best one could say about this expensive and bizarre special election is that it might be another indicator of anti-Trump sentiment. On the other hand, we will know a lot more about the true sentiment of the district’s voters on the first Tuesday in November, when most people will go to the polls to cast votes for a governor, a U.S. senator, members of Congress, a slew of state and local candidates, some very important constitutional changes, and for someone who will actually earn their pay as state representative for District 114.

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Democracy? Really? ... by guest blogger

Really? Democracy?

Hillary Clinton won the election by 2,865,000 votes. She is not President.

67% of Americans support a ban on assault weapons. There is no such ban.

68% of Americans believe climate change is being caused by human activity. Our government denies it and refuses to act.

79% of Americans believe abortion should be legal under any (50%) or some (29%) circumstances. There is no Federal protection for these services and access continues to shrink.

By similar majorities, Americans want to protect the nation's air and water and the Everglades. Our legislatures are more firmly in the hands of polluters than any time in modern history.

So, please explain how we live in a democratic country.

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