Bunnell City Commissioner Jenny Crain-Brady sold her house in Bunnell and temporarily moved to a friend’s house in Palm Coast, though she was rebuilding another house in Bunnell. The move triggered a complaint about her right to serve on the commission–or to run for re-election in March–and a fellow-commissioner brought the question to the full board.
Elections 2024
Gambling’s Odds in Florida May Be Left To a Constitutional Amendment in 2014
House Speaker Will Weatherford’s new plan–to let voters decide if they should weigh in on future expansion of gambling–could provide cover for Republican House members reluctant to expand gambling as the Legislature takes up the thorny issue during the upcoming session.
Rick Scott’s $11,370-Worth of “Congratulations” Letters Blur Line Between Applause and Electioneering
Scott views the missives as a means to applaud individuals and to promote Florida. His critics say some of the messages include language that deviates into campaign talking points. Don’t expect the letter-writing campaign to slow or the questionable language to disappear from such messages.
Crist 7 Points Ahead of Scott in Latest Quinnipiac Poll; Floridians Overwhelmingly Favor Medical Marijuana
If the election for Florida governor were held today, Charlie Crist would be the likely winner over Rick Scott by a 47 to 40 percent advantage, a Quinnipiac poll released this morning found, and Scott’s negative ratings continue to weigh heavily on his chances. Florida voters support 82-16 percent allowing adults to legally use marijuana for medical use if it is prescribed by a doctor.
Charlie Crist’s Bailout Plan: Bill Nelson
Fanning the flames of uncertainty about former Gov. Charlie Crist’s viability as a gubernatorial candidate, Democrats close to U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson are letting potential supporters know the three-term senator is waiting in the wings if Crist’s campaign stumbles.
Obamacare Will Survive. Obama and Democrats, Maybe Not So Much.
The law’s rocky debut has refocused attention on whether Obama, intellectually gifted though he may be, was ready to be the country’s chief executive. It may also decide which party is in control after 2016.
As High Court Takes On Medical Marijuana Proposal in Florida, Politics Muddy Merits
The Florida Supreme Court will try to sort through the conflicting arguments between Attorney General Pam Bondi, who opposes legalization, and proponents of the measure. The court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 5, a key step in deciding whether voters will get to have their say next fall.
Crist Opens Campaign for Governor Against Scott as Both Duel in Ridicule
If Crist’s first day on the campaign trail is a harbinger of things to come, voters are in for a nasty year: Crist accused Scott of being a tea party politician who is rewarding cronies with lucrative contracts and is out of touch with middle-class Floridians. A political committee backing Scott unleashed a $500,000 television ad buy attacking Crist for being an opportunist who abandoned the state to further his own political career.
Charlie Crist Completes Conversion: He Will Run for Governor as a Democrat Against Rick Scott
Former Gov. Charlie Crist made it official Friday: He will run for his old job again in 2014, setting up a potential battle with Republican Gov. Rick Scott for the state’s highest office.
Attorney General Wants Florida Supreme Court To Bump Off Medical Marijuana Referendum
In a filing required because the group pushing the initiative has triggered an automatic review by the high court, Bondi wrote that the ballot language could deceive voters about the extent of marijuana use that would be allowed, a claim the measure’s proponents reject.
Masking Scott’s Low Approval, Republicans Launch Snide Website Ahead of Democrats’ Convention
In a new twist on rapid response, Florida Republicans today launched a tongue-in-cheek “Florida Dems” website the day before the Florida Democratic Party kicks off its annual convention in Orlando, ridiculing Democrats as the Party of No. Democrats have few answers in kind.
Florida’s U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, Immoderate Only in Longevity, Is Dead at 82
U.S. Rep. C.W. “Bill” Young of Pinellas County, the longest serving Republican in Congress, was a political icon in the Tampa Bay area and a moderate who had only announced earlier this month that he wouldn’t seek a 23rd term in Congress next year.
Florida’s Rep. Bill Young’s Exit Spurs Battle for Rare Centrist Republican Swing Seat
Bill Young, 82, announced he will not seek re-election to the Florida seat he’s held for more than 40 years. Independents make up nearly a quarter of the voters in the Pinellas County district, considered the only true toss-up, open seat thus far in next year’s congressional races.
Florida Voter Purge 2.0: More Complicated and Cautious, Less Brazenly Discriminatory
The complicated new voter-purge process comes after supervisors scrapped last year’s non-citizen purge — the brainchild of Gov. Scott — after learning that many of the voters flagged by matching the state’s voter registration database and driver’s license records were naturalized citizens. More than half of the voters on the list were minorities.
Elections Supervisor Accepts Compromise on Use of Community Center for Early Voting
The Palm Coast City Council was willing to make broad concessions to Elections Supervisor Kimberle Weeks, including either cancelling or moving one of its meetings so she could have the use of the larger Community Center room for Election Day voting, but the council stopped short of granting her that room for all 26 days she was requesting.
A Republican Abandons Rick Scott: Paula Dockery and Florida’s Fraying GOP
Democrats now look like a party united compared to the Republicans, Cary McMullen argues, as Paula Docker, one of Florida’s increasingly endangered moderate Republicans, announces her desertion of Gov. Rick Scott’s campaign for re-election.
Gov. Scott Defends Exiting Common Core Testing In Face of Criticism and Fact-Checks
Scott did not say specifically how he thought tests developed through a state-led initiative could be an instrument of federal intrusion, or cite an example of federal intrusion, as he defended his order to move Florida away from the Common Core testing consortium.
Gubernatorial Crist-al Clearing: There Will Be No Sink-Scott Rematch
Ending months of speculation, former Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink said Friday she will not run for governor against incumbent Republican Rick Scott in 2014, further fueling “will he or won’t he” chatter about Democrat Charlie Crist.
Supervisors of Election Weary of State’s Renewed Push for Voter Purges
Secretary of State Ken Detzner will go on the road next month to pitch for a revived voter scrub, but supervisors of elections, caught in the crosshairs of last year’s problematic purge, and voting-rights advocates remain skeptical.
Only in Florida: Attorney General Bondi Reschedules Execution to Avoid Conflict With Her Fundraiser
Marshall Lee Gore was to be executed the evening of Sept. 10 until Attorney General Bondi rescheduled the killing so it wouldn’t conflict with her “campaign kickoff” fundraiser in Tampa. She now says she shouldn’t have done that.
Burnishing Green Creds Ahead of Election, Gov. Scott Wants To Give Everglades a Lift
Gov. Rick Scott is proposing $90 million to help lift a section of the Tamiami Trail, which groups such as the Everglades Foundation have called “one of the most prominent dams” blocking the natural flow of the River of Grass.
Memo to Palm Coast Council: Don’t Let an Unelected Manager Dictate Democracy in the City
By letting Jim Landon’s feud with Supervisor of Elections Kim Weeks drag on at voters’ expense, the Palm Coast City Council is improperly letting its unelected city manager set early voting policy while reminding us why it bears a big share of the blame for sending election turnouts in Palm Coast tumbling to record lows for the past several cycles.
Majority of Palm Coast Council Would Forego Early Voting Fees, But Weeks Hardens Over Space
The clash between Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Weeks and Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon is not nearing resolution even as a majority of the city council would extend free use of a room at the community center for early voting, because Weeks is insisting on using a larger room, which the council won’t concede.
Data-Mining Goes Carnivore on Florida’s Public Records to Help Lobbyists and Candidates
“Contributionlink,” the brainchild of lobbyist Brecht Heuchan, gives lobbyists and candidates an edge by mining a myriad of public databases, creating profiles of current and potential donors and showing clients how their money stacks up against the competition.
Democrats’ Allie Braswell Withdraws from CFO Race as Bankruptcies Are Uncovered
Allie Braswell, who last week was rolled out as the Democrats’ first high-profile challenger for a state Cabinet post, ended his campaign Monday following revelations that he had filed for bankruptcy three times, most recently in 2008.
Palm Coast’s Landon Digs In Heels Against Elections Supervisor “Demands” For Early Voting Arrangement
The Palm Coast City Council is backing City Manager Jim Landon’s decision to charge the elections supervisor for early voting use of the Community Center on Palm Coast Parkway, while the supervisor shows equal intransigeance as she refuses to accept a smaller room Landon is ready to make available for the 13 days of early voting at the center.
Elections Supervisor Wants to Expand Early Voting to Palm Coast Community Center. City’s Response: Pay Up
Even though Palm Coast City Council candidates will be on the ballot, the city is charging the Supervisor of Elections for use of the Community Center on Palm Coast Parkway as a second early voting location in the city, raising questions about cooperation from a city that has seen its voter turnouts fall drastically over the years.
Hillary’s Movie: Spoiler Alert
The Republican temper tantrum over the nascent NBC Hillary Clinton movie tells us only one thing: The GOP is scared to death of a Hillary presidential run. How else can you explain the weeping and whining over a film that hasn’t even been scripted, and may yet be produced by Fox Television Studios?
Dispelling Rumors, Bunnell’s Armando Martinez Says He’s Not Running for Sheriff Against Manfre
Both Flagler Sheriff Jim Manfre and Bunnell Manager Armando Martinez had heard the rumor that Martinez was preparing to run against Manfre, a friend, for sheriff come 2016. After a meeting with Manfre Wednesday, Martinez categorically said that will not happen.
As Democrats Dither, Local Republicans Hail Scott’s 4th Visits to Flagler in 2 Years
It wasn’t long ago that Flagler County Republicans were an embarrassment of internecine warfare as fringes and factions threatened to tear the party apart. Dave Sullivan, chairman of the Republican Executive Committee, has kept the local party cobbled together, capping the achievement with Scott’s visit for a fund-raising dinner this evening. Meanwhile, Democrats continue to be a non-entity.
Big Sugar Goes to Work for Scott as Reelection Team Hauls $700K While Governor Does Paris
The “Let’s Get to Work” political committee posted $695,447 in contributions from 91 sources during the time Scott was highlighting the state to foreign aviation interests as part of Enterprise Florida’s June 14 to June 21 trade mission to the Paris Air Show.
Voting Rights Act Sapped as Fractured Supreme Court Defies Near-Unanimous Congress
The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, declared key parts of the Voting Rights Act invalid even though the U.S. Senate had passed the act unanimously in 2006, and the House of Representatives had passed it 390-33.
Aiming to Break GOP Stanglehold on State Offices, Democrats Look Beyond Scott in 2014
Aside from Scott, the state GOP also counts among its elected officials U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio; Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. Rubio will not be on the ballot in 2014, but all three Cabinet officers will go before voters along with Scott.
Hillary Clinton Would Easily Beat Rubio and Bush in Florida as Even Hispanics Rally Behind Her
In the latest Quinnipiac poll, Jeb Bush would beat Joe Biden in Florida, by a close margin. Marco Rubio would beat Biden by an even closer margin. But Hillary Clinton would beat both Rubio or Bush quite easily: 50 to 43 percent against Bush, 53 to 41 percent against Rubio, whose Hispanic heritage would not help him overcome the deficit.
Scott Makes Up Some Ground Against Crist and Improves Favorability to Still-Low 40%
Some 40 percent of respondents now view Scott favorably, up from 33 percent last March, with 42 percent seeing him negatively. But his best showing since becoming governor is still well below what he needs to overcome deficits against either Charlie Crist or Bill nelson in gubernatorial matchups, while only 35 percent of Floridians overall say Scott deserve a second term.
Democrats, Presuming Victory at Annual Gala, “Almost Don’t Care” Who Takes on Scott
Florida Democrats gathering for their annual fundraising dinner at the Westin Diplomat Resort on Saturday were certain of one thing: They will defeat Republican Gov. Rick Scott in a little more than a year.
Flagler School Tax Fails; “We Will Do Everything Possible to Meet Challenges,” Superintendent Says
The first batch of result, based on early-voting and absentee ballots, show the school tax referendum failing by a wide margin, with 60 percent of voters opposed and 40 percent in favor. The numbers: 4,663 against, 3,105 for, so far.
Why I’m Voting For the School Tax Referendum, Warts and All
The school district made several errors as it badly sold the school tax referendum. But it’s not about punishing the board. It’s is about warding off mediocrity in a district that managed, against odds, to maintain quality through recession and state and federal cutbacks. That quality is in jeopardy without a Yes to the referendum.
Flagler Middle & High School Principals Plead With Voters: Give Us Back Those 45 Minutes
Flagler County’s four secondary-school principals say restoring 45 minutes to the school day, or the equivalent of a month’s worth education, is indispensable if the district’s students are to excel consistently.
Property Appraiser Gardner: Correcting the Record on School Taxes and the Referendum
In an endorsement of the half-mill school tax levy, Flagler County Property Appraiser James Gardner responds to claims that the school district has “continually increased our taxes. Based upon factual information, this is simply not true.” He shows why.
Sheriff Manfre Declares in Favor of June 7 School Tax Referendum
Citing the benefits of a longer school day and deputies in elementary schools, Flagler County Sheriff Jim Manfre issued a statement Monday afternoon in support of the June 7 tax referendum proposing to increase property taxes to support programs in the school district.
Closing Flagler’s Alternative School: When The Classmate Next to Your Child Is a Felon
The Flagler County school, district may close Everest alternative school (formerly Pathways) if the June 7 referendum for a modest property tax increase fails. Jo Ann Nahirny, a teacher at Matanzas High School, describes the disruptions of managing a classroom with felons and sex offenders in seats alongside other students.
President Barack Aux Scandals
The Benghazi story is a bogus scandal. IRS targeting of conservative groups and the Justice Department’s hacking of reporters’ phones is not. The Obama presidency is getting derailed, and that’s without going down the path of even more serious scandals Washington and the electorate are accepting as business as usual.
Flagler’s School Tax Referendum: An Opposing View
Adding to a growing debate over the June 7 Flagler County School Board tax referendum, Brad West argues against the levy, saying the district taxes constituents enough as it is, while the “cup-of-coffee-per-month” argument is a more expensive proposition than the board claims.
Ending 3rd Budget Drag-Out in 8 Days, School Board Settles on $1.8 Million in Cuts
After 13 hours of at times harrowing debate, the Flagler County School Board by Tuesday evening settled on $1.8 million in cuts, sparing most programs but not Everest alternative school. The cuts will be restored should voters approve a tax referendum on June 7.
Andy Dance: Why I Will Vote “Yes” On the School Tax Referendum
“I will vote for the half mill, and I ask those that are on the fence or are leaning “no” to reconsider,” writes Andy Dance, the Flagler County School Board chairman, who has himself reconsidered his earlier opposition to the full .50-mill tax referendum. He explains why.
School Board Chairman’s Q&A on Flagler District’s 0.5-Mil Tax Referendum on June 7
Flagler County School Board Chairman Andy Dance has been taking and answering questions on the referendum, on June 7, proposing to raise property taxes modestly to ensure the continuation of certain academic programs. The full Q&A is published here.
Updating Facebook Status, Charlie Crist Endorses Gay Marriage in Florida
Amid speculation he will run as a Democrat for his old job, former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday said he supports allowing same-sex marriage, joining other politicians who recently have changed stances to support gay marriage, including Florida’s Bill nelson and Ohio Republican Rob Portman.
Closing Schools a Possibility With or Without Referendum as District Closes Budget Gap
The Flagler County School Board found the $1.8 million in cuts it needed to balance its books Thursday, but was also told that closing Indian Trails Middle, Wadsworth Elementary or Old Kings Elementary may become necessary by 2014-15 if enrollment declines persist.
As Gov. Scott Looks to Re-Election, Legislative Wins Have Yet to Bump Approval
Gov. Rick Scott got the teacher raise he sought, and a sales-tax exemption for manufacturing equipment in the last legislative session, but his poll numbers haven’t showed improvement as he heads into the 2014 campaign for a second term.
