Janet Long breaks Florida’s campaign financing law for 2nd time this year

Tampa, Fl 
From: Tampa Bay Guardian

Edited by: Tom Rask

Posted by TBG2016onOCTOBER 2, 2020

Voters received a mailer from Pinellas County Commissioner Janet Long yesterday. It was a typical mailer, but one thing stuck out like a sore thumb to one of our readers because of the absence of the “paid political advertisement disclaimer” on Long’s mailer. That disclaimer is required by Florida’s campaign financing law.

Long and her campaign should have known to include that disclaimer since they earlier this year six times failed to include the required disclaimer in her campaign e-mails. Long is the subject of a Florida Elections Commissions complaint as a result of those violations earlier this year. Also, the disclaimer requirement is the very first thing that Florida’s campaign financing law talks about, indicating that the Florida Legislature thought it was important.

The Guardian contacted Janet Long via e-mail and asked: how can voters trust you to follow the law when this is the second time this year you fail to adhere to Florida’s campaign financing law? We also said that if she had any comments for publication, we’d be happy to receive them.

We did not receive from Long by the time deadline we provided her, so we contacted her opponent for comment instead.

Larry Ahern

“I would ask the people of Pinellas County what they think of this campaign law violation,” said former State Representative Larry Ahern in an e-mail to the Guardian. “The people trust that their elected officials follow the law at all times, even during campaign season.”

Ahern, an Air Force veteran and small business owner, served in the Florida Legislature from 2010 to 2018 before having to step aside due to Florida’s term limit.  Coincidentally, Ahern won that seat by defeating Janet Long in 2010.

Ahern is running against Janet Long again, this time for county-wide seat 1 on the Pinellas County Commission. Long has held that seat since 2012.

In 2013, the Florida Ethics Commission determined that Long broke Florida Ethics Laws and violated the Florida Constitution by filing an incorrect required financial disclosure form during her 2012 run.

In 2016, Long incorrectly claimed that the Pinellas County hotel tax that is used for tourist development “can be used for transit.”  Florida law does not permit it to be used that way.  Long is a long-time supporter of transit, even though transit use has been steadily declining across the nation for years, and even more rapidly during the virus.

Janet Long

In 2017, Long made provably false allegations during an interview with SaintPetersBlog.Com. In that same interview, Long also called the work of a local transportation agency “bullshit.”

Later in 2017, while serving on the PSTA board, Long called a bus route decision “insane,” even though she has herself voted for it two years earlier. Long did so without acknowledging her previous support for that decision.

Long will turn 76 three days after election day, Ahern is 65. Given Long’s erratic behavior, should her age be a consideration?

As always….the Guardian reports and our readers decide. Like our Facebook page to find out when we publish articles.

 

READ THIS POST AT: Tampa Bay Guardian

This post is contributed by the Tampa Bay Guardian. The views expressed in this post are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher of Bay Post Internet or any publications, blogs or social media pages where it may appear.

Cross Posted with permission from: Tampa Bay Guardian

 

School Board Elections One of The Most Important Votes You'll Cast

 Tampa Bay, Fl 

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD

As those ballots are showing up, and you're considering who you're going to vote for be sure you don't miss your local school board elections.

In fact, these candidates may be the ones you know the least about with the possible exception of the Judges that appear on the Florida ballot.

Actually, school board members are some of the most important elected public officials in your County. They control the school systems both from a business an academic perspective; they pick who the school superintendent will be; and they also hear your grievances,, complaints, requests, and criticisms of the schools and the people who manage them teach in them and operate them.

It would be a very good idea to go to your local newspaper and check the candidate recommended list and see who they are recommending for your local school board members. In addition, it would be an even better idea if you spend some time actually researching the candidates for your local school board.

These elections for school board members are generally nonpartisan but these days no election is really nonpartisan.

There are also a lot of people with special interests desiring to elect a voice that echoes their sentiments and feelings as it comes to the school board and dealing with what are going to be very difficult issues in the future such as financing, budget cuts, and requests for property tax increases.

That last item, property tax increases, is going to come front and center right after November third (3).

If you've been following the news, you may have already seen some of the school superintendents in some of the larger districts such as Hillsborough and Pinellas County beginning to lay the groundwork to request for a property tax increase to fund the public school system.

You should find out how potential candidates and incumbents feel about the funding challenges that their specific school boards are going to be facing in 2021 and 2022.

Be a bit careful when you're picking a candidate for school board to vote for in regard to who endorses them such as the teachers union that supports them and what their actual reason for running for the school board may be.

Many people run for school board out of a grievance perspective where they are either unhappy with something that's happened to one of their children in the school system, or they're just generally opposed to the whole prospect of charter schools or public education or some other one issue. These people rarely do a good functional job serving for multiple years on the school board.

Even though the presidential race or your local, state or US House of Representative race or a Senate race may be your passion as it evolves in this particular election cycle, don't give a passing vote to a school board candidate that you don't know anything about .

There is way too much at stake.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.

See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.  

Disclosures:

Please comment below.

 

 

Florida 2020 Ballot Referendums – What Do They Do

Tampa Bay, Fl 

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD

LISTEN TO THIS POST

There are six statewide referendum amendments on this years' Florida ballot. 

Below is each referendum by Title and a brief summary.

My comments are in italics.

Amendment 1
States in the state Constitution that only U.S. citizens who are 18 years old or older can vote in federal, state, local, or school elections.

This amendment would prohibit non US citizens from voting in federal, state, local, or school elections. Residents, holding a work visa, education visa, or work permit or any other form of documentation allowing them to be in the United States would be prohibited from voting in Florida.

A 60 percent supermajority vote is required for the approval of Amendment 1.

Amendment 2
Increases the state minimum wage to $15 by 2026.

The Second Amendment increases the state minimum wage to $15 by 2026. This amendment is being challenged by those who claim it would cause employers to reduce the amount of hiring going forward toward the 2026 deadline. There is no empirical data that would show there is any validity to this argument.

Basically, being fought by hospitality and low-income employers, their objective is to hold down labor costs going forward.

A 60 percent supermajority is required for the approval of Amendment 2.

Amendment 3
Establishes a top-two open primary system for state office primary elections.

Supports establishing a top-two open primary system for primary elections for state legislators, the governor, and cabinet (attorney general, chief financial officer, and commissioner of agriculture) in Florida.

Amendment 3, establishes a top-two open primary system for state offices in the primary elections. What this means is in primary elections for the governor, the legislators and the Florida cabinet consisting of the attorney general, chief financial officer, and commissioner of agriculture, every registered voter could vote for any candidate. Currently, these primaries are closed by political party meaning that Democrats can vote for the Democrats, Republicans can vote for Republicans; independents can vote for the independent candidates if there are any.

Under this amendment in the primaries, the elections would be wide-open  anyone registered of any party could vote for any candidate of any party, and the top two vote getters would go onto the general election.

As more and more people prefer to register as independent voters not revealing or taking a political party, this Amendment would open up Florida’s primaries to a more reasonable rational selection of candidates for top state offices. 

A 60 percent supermajority vote is required for the approval of Amendment 3.

Amendment 4
Requires voter-approved constitutional amendments to be approved by voters at a second general election.

Amendment 4 would simply require that constitutional amendments put on the ballot by citizens or legislators following the proper process, would require two votes before they became an amendment to the Florida Constitution.

In a world where things move as fast as they do today this amendment could put multiple years delay in important changes to the Florida constitution to deal with immediate concerns.  

This amendment was driven significantly by the push to legalize marijuana, and the current effort related to Amendment 2 raising the Florida minimum wage. A number of people, including some very powerful politicians feel the process to generate amendments and get them placed on the ballot is now too easy to accomplish and are attempting to slow down the process with this amendment.

Amendment 4 is bad politics and bad government it really deserves your no vote.

A 60 percent supermajority vote is required for the approval of Amendment 4.

Amendment 5
Increases the period during which a person may transfer "Save Our Homes" benefits to a new homestead property from two years to three years.

Amendment 5 is a clean up amendment that helps prevent people from losing their save our homes benefits, which are essentially property tax credits if the time from the sale of an existing home to a new home takes longer than two years.

A 60 percent supermajority vote is required for the approval of Amendment 5.

Amendment 6
Allows a homestead property tax discount to be transferred to the surviving spouse of a deceased veteran.

Amendment 6 provides for the transfer of homestead property tax discount credits to the surviving spouse of a deceased veteran. Currently, those benefits are terminated following a veterans’ death.

A 60 percent supermajority vote is required for the approval of Amendment 6.

60 percent supermajority vote: A supermajority requirement is a requirement in some votes and elections where more than a simple majority of those voting must vote in favor of a proposal in order for it to be considered to have been approved.

As you can see, every vote on the referendums is extremely important.

Information above taken from Ballotpedia

On your local ballot, there may be additional referendums depending on the County and City you live in. If you have a question about a local referendum, check with the local newspaper, or major television station web site. You can find good information on GOOGLE, just put the referendum Title and County/City in the search box.

All of these referendums are important.  Carefully note that the referendums appear on the back of the first page of your ballot and on the front and back of the second page of your

ballot.

Be sure to vote for all the offices on the Ballot as well as all the referendums.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.

See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.  

Disclosures:

Please comment below.

 

Whose Driving the Presidential Train????

 Tampa Bay, Fl  
Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD

LISTEN TO THIS POST

Mail in ballots in Florida will soon be showing up in your mailbox. Keep your eye out for them follow the instructions, vote, get it in the Mail and set back and enjoy the show.

The issue in this post is what happens after the election after the lawsuits after the ballot counting after the Supreme Court decides who's going to be the next president?

The question is: who will be driving the presidential train?

This presidential election will have vast ramifications on the direction our country will go.

There are a number of scenarios that can play out here.

The Democrats can sweep the House, the Senate and the Presidency.

Democrats can win the Presidency lose the Senate and retain the House.

The Republicans can win the Presidency and retain the Senate.

The Republicans can win the Presidency and lose the Senate and the House.

Each scenario presents a unique opportunity.

Let’s look at two of the more interesting scenarios.

The Democrats sweep the House, the Senate and the Presidency.

First, there is little doubt that should Joe Biden win the presidency, he will be just slightly more than a figurehead president. The liberal left wing of the Democratic Party is so well positioned that Biden will be left with little choice but to follow a liberal left policy approach. Kamala Harris will be given much broader authority as the vice president, and the presidential inner circle will be heavily populated with far-left liberal people.

In this scenario, the United States begins a slow but steady drift into Socialism. Obamacare is expanded into Medicare for all; social welfare programs are expanded, taxes on the middle upper-middle class and wealthy are increased significantly as investment falters and the equity markets gradually decline.

The Republicans win the Presidency and lose the Senate and the House.

In this scenario, Trump must immediately go on defense. With the Democrats in control of both houses of Congress, Trump's impeachment is almost a given. The interesting question here is will Trump stand and fight or will he cut a deal with the Democrats that provides for either a full pardon or absolute immunity from further prosecution. Trump is not nearly as interested in his presidential legacy as he is in his future freedom. Look for a deal.

If Mike Pence assumes the presidency, we should be in for two years of incessant wrangling between Congress and the White House, followed by midterm elections where the Democrats lose one or both houses of Congress. Things will get back to normal or something close to it.

The socialist agenda will be delt a serious blow. 

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.

See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.  

Disclosures:

Please comment below.

 

 

Florida School Districts Facing Major Hurdles

 Hillsborough County School Superintendent Ready to Trim Staff

Tampa Bay, Fl 

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD

There is no doubt that Florida's school districts are facing major challenges. A lot of it is being laid at the feet of the coronavirus; however, the problems with Florida's school districts have been growing literally for decades.

One of the major issues with school districts in Florida and elsewhere in the United States, is the fact that they tend to grow their administrative staff as fast or faster in some cases than the actual teaching staff.

With an overlaying layer of administrators’ assistant administrators and other non-teaching positions, school district budgets have climbed exponentially over the last few years.

Taking the case of Hillsborough County, here is a quote from Superintendent of Schools Addison Davis: "We've got to have the conversation about where we are potentially overstaffed and whether that's at the district-level or the school-based level and figure out a compromise of where we come back in line in order to be efficient."

For some additional insight, take a look at this article from the Tampa Bay Times by MARLENE SOKOL Education reporter: Hillsborough public schools brace for workforce cuts.

What I find interesting about the Hillsborough case, and in almost all other cases of school boards in financial difficulty is they start looking in the lowest corners of the organization to make reductions and staffing cuts.

In the Hillsborough County case, I think Superintendent Davis could have gained a lot of traction if one of his first moves were  to take a personal 20% salary cut and a comparable cut of all of his senior administrators and hold off on bringing in some of his “former” employees from his previous school district.

In Hillsborough County, as in most school districts, there's a lot more bloat at the top than there is at the bottom.

While these conversations almost always begin with hints, threats and maybe even some actual budget cuts and layoffs, the real effort, here is often to begin driving the political narrative and preparing the school board for a big request for a large budget increase. Take a look at my post: Florida’s Most Dysfunctional Government Body School Boards.

When you start seeing things like we're going to cut special services, reduce arts and sports, what you're really seeing is an attempt to influence public input and put pressure on the elected school board to somehow figure out a way to either raise school board property taxes or generate other sources of revenue.

Addison has made a big issue out of the Hillsborough district's tendency to acquire grants, hire staff to fulfill the grants and when the grants have expired not eliminating the staff since there is no longer funding to support them while making them part of the budget.

That's not a teaching problem, that's a management problem. Any staffer there that can be traced back to a funded grant that is no longer in place should just simply be terminated. I don't care what they're doing right now.

Then there are all those athletic coaches their assistants, their assistance assistants, the football guy who wipes the footballs, the equipment guy, and so on and so on for every sport that a high school or a school system engages in. You know we just got to win at all costs. Some cutting here would be a great start.

Now there are some programs like special needs, that you will see brought to the chopping block if it begins to look like the school board is not going to go along with expanding revenue.

That's the oldest ploy in the book because it stirs up the most emotion among the parents, especially parents of special-needs children. School board members, particularly Hillsborough County school board members, should be on the look for that one and nip it in the bud just as fast as they can. Those programs need to be off the table no exceptions.

So, if you have a child in a school system that is starting the “we need more money arguments" be alert. The dance by most school superintendents and their high-level staff is well choreographed. Well-planned and designed to have as little impact on them as it possibly can.

Before you jump on the phone and start screaming at your school board member, think about this, there's a lot of fluff and a lot of bloat and almost every school system in Florida. And while Hillsborough County says they are looking for it; the school board needs to be sure they are looking in all the right places.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.

See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.  

Disclosures:

Please comment below.

 

Tampa Bay Bucs – Two Games on the Field

 

Tampa Bay, Fl 

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD

 There could be trouble brewing at One Buc place. 

It's starting to look like, although it's still early in the season, there may be a clash of the Titans foaming up between the new Tampa Bay All Star quarterback Tom Brady and the seasoned old coach Bruce Arians.

It's really a battle of old-school football and new-school football. Bruce Arians is the old-school football coach. He's the guy who still believes football is all about hurting someone. To Arians, players are cogs in the wheel, should do their job, keep their mouth shut, and follow his orders.
 
Tom Brady, on the other hand, is new-school football. One who believes players are really people and people matter. Brady sees football as the game of chess, while Arians sees football as a game of checkers.
 

For a look at how all of this is playing out in the football world check out this piece from CBS SPORTS.COM By  John Breech Sept 17, 2020: Tom Brady gets called out by Bruce Arians: Here's why Brett Favre thinks that could lead to problems in Tampa.
 
From the CBS SPORTS Post: “Now, maybe they had a mutual truce going into the game, going into the season, 'Hey, I'm going to be hard on you. I want the guys to know we're going to treat you the same even though technically I'm not, so are you OK with it?' If they have that truce, great. If not, I think you are barking up the wrong tree." If the two don't have an understanding, Favre said Arians' public criticisms could quickly lead to problems in Tampa Bay. 
 
For Brady’s response check out this from CBS SPORTS By Tyler Sullivan Sep 17, 2020
Tom Brady responds to Bruce Arians' criticism of him in Buccaneers opening loss to Saints
 
Arians said, "Tom and I are fine. I don't really care what other people think. So it's just what he and I think," Arians said. "We left the stadium fine. We showed up today fine. There ain't nothin' to talk about."
 
Could be. 

But if the Bucs should lose again this week, and God forbid the following week; the Glazers may have some serious soul-searching to do.
 
Having played for Bill Belichick, Brady's not particularly thin skinned but the issue, here isn't so much how Brady feels as it is about how the fan base may begin to react if open warfare erupts between Arians and Tom Brady.
 
For now, it may be time for Bruce Arians to get out of his famous golf cart, mingle with his players, help develop a little camaraderie, and promote a winning spirit. Not exactly Arians’ cup of tea, but better to drink this one than the really bitter one that might follow.

 
E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.
See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.  
Disclosures:
Please comment below.