The school board is an important entity and would think the people of Clay would be very interested in who is elected to the school board.
Think again.
The school board serves for 4 year terms. This year seats 1 and 5 are in play. How many people do you think voted for seats 1 and 5 in the 2006 election? At the time there were 112,134 registered voters in Clay. Considering the importance of the school board, how many people do you think took the interest and time to cast a vote on these seats?
Answer: About 16,000. That's it. In a county wide race only about 15% of the voters cast a ballot and so elected candidates to a four year term in which they are charged with educating our children and stewarding our tax dollars. 15%
The district 2 county commission seat is up this year. Same candidates as last time, Ronnie Coleman against Doug Conkey. It is a smaller voter pool because it is only a district race, but how many people do you think decided who would spend 4 years as a county commission, making ordinances, setting tax rates, etc?
3199. Thats all. Conkey beat Coleman by about 900 votes.
I call the Mid-term primary the "sleepy election" because hardly anyone takes an interest or bothers to cast a vote.
WAKE UP CLAY COUNTY!
Ignore election to your own peril. You might think that it is only a primary, but in regards to our local government the primary is where the action happens. The winner of school board seat 5 will be determined in August; wait until November and you don't to vote for it. School board seat 1 is little more tricky because there are 4 candidates. There will be an election during the primary, but unless one candidate gets a majority of votes the top 2 will square off in November. As for the Republican primary for county commission district 2, either Conkey or Coleman will go up against a Democratic challenger in the November general election.
Oh no, not a Democrat! I'm sure a great many of the interested Republicans are shaking at the thought of a Democrat on the county commission, and now are trying to man-up, close the ranks, and pour all the money they can into the Conkey campaign. Schmucks. Clay hasn't put a Democrat in office in 20 years. Don't fall for the fear-driven fundraising, your next county commissioner will be elected in August.
If you want your vote have any effect on local government you have to vote in this primary. The school board is non-partisan so everyone can vote. You do have to be a Republican in order to vote in the district 2 primary.
Don't spend another election asleep, get out there and vote. Research the candidates and cast an informed vote. It's your government and your taxes, go and cast a good vote for good government. Most of the candidates have web sites, and if you look at clayballot.blogspot.com you can find every candidate on the August ballot
Check out the Republican Liberty Caucus of Northeast Florida at www.rlcnef.org. Join the Republican Liberty Caucus of Clay County at http://www.meetup.com/Republican-Liberty-Caucus-of-Clay-County/
Showing posts with label primary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label primary. Show all posts
Monday, July 19, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Eric Jaffe, Clay School Board District 1
Eric Jaffe, Clay School Board District 1
Competitors, Lynn Martin, Alesia Ford-Burse, Janice Kerekes
ERIC JAFFE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT ONE
RUNNING AGAINST ALESIA FORD-BURSE, JANICE KEREKES, AND LYNN MARTIN
NOTE: There is a comment to this post from Mr. Jaffe which explains some of his views from his perspective.
This is a four-way, non-partisan, at large race. This means all voters will be able to vote on every open seat on the school board, regardless of that voter/s party or what district they live in. The first vote will take place during the August primary, and unless one candidate get 50% of the vote, the top two will be in a run-off in the general election in November. All four of these candidates are very accomplished and well spoken people, it is difficult to choose between them.
Jaffe is quite impressive and probably the most accomplished and well-rounded candidate for the district 1 seat. The slogan from his campaign leaflet is "A QUALIFIED LEADER WITH A HEART FOR THE COMMUNITY, THE NEXT GENERATION, AND OUR SCHOOLS." As you can see below he has had a corporate and small business background, a ministerial background, and leadership involvement in a number of social projects.
From clayelections.com
As a businessman with 20 years in an ever changing world of cutting edge technology, Eric Jaffe went from Jacksonville’s largest law firm “Rogers Towers” to owning Integrity Consulting. With a growing company employing leading edge people locally, Jaffe believes technology lies at the heart of our future education system. In addition to the experience Jaffe brings to the School Board, he also possesses a range of leadership abilities that make him uniquely qualified to serve our families and homeowners. As informed parents of 3 children (Matthew, Miranda and Molly) Eric and his wife of 21 years Mary Jo, are passionate supporters of public education. The Family’s devotion to ministry work has been a central part of the success of Journey Church. Jaffe’s education includes a Degree in Business Management from Florida International University (1993) and civic leadership programs such as Leadership Clay (2006 Graduate) and NE Florida Regional Leadership Program (2008 Graduate). In 2009 Jaffe was nominated Business Person of the Year by the Clay County Chamber of Commerce.
In addition, Jaffe's campaign pamphlet says that he was on the board of directors and a founding member of Clay County Victim's Services.
There are two things which make me leery of Jaffe. One is that he reminds me of past candidate for the county commission. This person is the founder of a local political/religious organization, as one of her supporters is Jaffe's treasurer, and her and Jaffe both utilized Reliant Advisors as their political consultants. It seems to be pretty much the same group of highly religious and Republicans; this makes me nervous because I consider such people to be highly anti-liberty and to believe in authoritarian government as long as the policies of such government coincide with their religious values.
The other aspect of Jaffe I question is that he has the endorsements of the realtor and builder associations. These are the lobbying/trade organizations of the local growth industry. They operate for their own profit, and as organizations and individuals they can throw a great deal of money into a campaign. Judging by the last election, in most cases the growth industry candidate is the winner and after the election they govern in a pro-growth manner. In reference to the county commission, this means eliminating transportation impact fees (this makes new construction cheaper), giving preferential treatment to home sellers in the sign ordinance, being favorable to growth in zoning and comprehensive plan changes, and some believe the construction of the First Coast Outer Beltway is also a builder scheme in that it will make areas of Clay more accesible for building.
In regards to the school board, the only reason I think the builders and realtors would support a candidate would be for the removal of education impact fees. This is a fee of several thousand dollars levied on new construction, the fees of course going with the education property taxes to fund the county schools. While eliminating the education impact fee would make it considerably cheaper to build and therefore create jobs and eventually ad valorum tax revenue, growth is a thorny issue that is not openly addressed in Clay County. Simply, the growth industry is very influential. They have great influence in the Chamber of Commerce, to differing extents every member of the county commission is pro-growth, and this industry has great influence in the local Republican Party. You do not get elected to office in Clay County by being anti-growth because you are unlikely to receive much money and you receive no support from the Clay Republicans. I was quite surprised at a recent school board candidate debate that most seemed supportive of new growth because it would create a larger tax base; that is insane. Somehow they were able to skate around the fact that a part of the reason our school budget has been decimated was rapid growth over the last several years has resulted in the costly construction of several new schools. At one point it was even mentioned that no school construction is planned for the next 5 years, giving the budget a break that would allow repairs to existing schools. As far as the growth industry is concerned, the problem is also the solution to all politicians, you just can't identify it as a problem or you will not be elected.
The big problem with growth is that it is taxpayer funded. There are infrastructure costs associated with new construction, some of which used to be funded by transportation impact fees. The cost to the county is still there, but the expense related to new construction is now spread out to existing property owners. The same applies to the education impact fee. The school cost will still be there, it will just be spread out to everyone else.
Here are some of Jaffe's statements and answers from a school board debate.
School funding from the state has been reduced. What are your plans to meet the cuts and balance the budget? Jaffe: Lobby Tallahassee and get creative with collective bargaining.
How will you bring old schools up to date? Jaffe: Partner with churches and businesses
Would you consider cutting one administrator at each school and at Green Cove Springs? Jaffe: Yes, and would cut school board salary.
Would you continue the zero tolerance drug use policy, the current penalty being a 10 day suspension? Jaffe: Try to help the individual.
How would you improve the graduation rate? Jaffe: Staffing
Jaffe webistes
Integrity Consulting http://www.integritycsg.com/
Executive Director of Impact Clay http://www.impactclay.org/
Director God First Business Network http://www.godfirstbusiness.com/
Pastor at Journey Church
facebook page http://www.facebook.com/electjaffe
campaign website http://www.electjaffe.com/
Check out the Republican Liberty Caucus of Northeast Florida at www.rlcnef.org. Join the Republican Liberty Caucus of Clay County at http://www.meetup.com/Republican-Liberty-Caucus-of-Clay-County/
Competitors, Lynn Martin, Alesia Ford-Burse, Janice Kerekes
ERIC JAFFE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT ONE
RUNNING AGAINST ALESIA FORD-BURSE, JANICE KEREKES, AND LYNN MARTIN
NOTE: There is a comment to this post from Mr. Jaffe which explains some of his views from his perspective.
This is a four-way, non-partisan, at large race. This means all voters will be able to vote on every open seat on the school board, regardless of that voter/s party or what district they live in. The first vote will take place during the August primary, and unless one candidate get 50% of the vote, the top two will be in a run-off in the general election in November. All four of these candidates are very accomplished and well spoken people, it is difficult to choose between them.
Jaffe is quite impressive and probably the most accomplished and well-rounded candidate for the district 1 seat. The slogan from his campaign leaflet is "A QUALIFIED LEADER WITH A HEART FOR THE COMMUNITY, THE NEXT GENERATION, AND OUR SCHOOLS." As you can see below he has had a corporate and small business background, a ministerial background, and leadership involvement in a number of social projects.
From clayelections.com
As a businessman with 20 years in an ever changing world of cutting edge technology, Eric Jaffe went from Jacksonville’s largest law firm “Rogers Towers” to owning Integrity Consulting. With a growing company employing leading edge people locally, Jaffe believes technology lies at the heart of our future education system. In addition to the experience Jaffe brings to the School Board, he also possesses a range of leadership abilities that make him uniquely qualified to serve our families and homeowners. As informed parents of 3 children (Matthew, Miranda and Molly) Eric and his wife of 21 years Mary Jo, are passionate supporters of public education. The Family’s devotion to ministry work has been a central part of the success of Journey Church. Jaffe’s education includes a Degree in Business Management from Florida International University (1993) and civic leadership programs such as Leadership Clay (2006 Graduate) and NE Florida Regional Leadership Program (2008 Graduate). In 2009 Jaffe was nominated Business Person of the Year by the Clay County Chamber of Commerce.
In addition, Jaffe's campaign pamphlet says that he was on the board of directors and a founding member of Clay County Victim's Services.
There are two things which make me leery of Jaffe. One is that he reminds me of past candidate for the county commission. This person is the founder of a local political/religious organization, as one of her supporters is Jaffe's treasurer, and her and Jaffe both utilized Reliant Advisors as their political consultants. It seems to be pretty much the same group of highly religious and Republicans; this makes me nervous because I consider such people to be highly anti-liberty and to believe in authoritarian government as long as the policies of such government coincide with their religious values.
The other aspect of Jaffe I question is that he has the endorsements of the realtor and builder associations. These are the lobbying/trade organizations of the local growth industry. They operate for their own profit, and as organizations and individuals they can throw a great deal of money into a campaign. Judging by the last election, in most cases the growth industry candidate is the winner and after the election they govern in a pro-growth manner. In reference to the county commission, this means eliminating transportation impact fees (this makes new construction cheaper), giving preferential treatment to home sellers in the sign ordinance, being favorable to growth in zoning and comprehensive plan changes, and some believe the construction of the First Coast Outer Beltway is also a builder scheme in that it will make areas of Clay more accesible for building.
In regards to the school board, the only reason I think the builders and realtors would support a candidate would be for the removal of education impact fees. This is a fee of several thousand dollars levied on new construction, the fees of course going with the education property taxes to fund the county schools. While eliminating the education impact fee would make it considerably cheaper to build and therefore create jobs and eventually ad valorum tax revenue, growth is a thorny issue that is not openly addressed in Clay County. Simply, the growth industry is very influential. They have great influence in the Chamber of Commerce, to differing extents every member of the county commission is pro-growth, and this industry has great influence in the local Republican Party. You do not get elected to office in Clay County by being anti-growth because you are unlikely to receive much money and you receive no support from the Clay Republicans. I was quite surprised at a recent school board candidate debate that most seemed supportive of new growth because it would create a larger tax base; that is insane. Somehow they were able to skate around the fact that a part of the reason our school budget has been decimated was rapid growth over the last several years has resulted in the costly construction of several new schools. At one point it was even mentioned that no school construction is planned for the next 5 years, giving the budget a break that would allow repairs to existing schools. As far as the growth industry is concerned, the problem is also the solution to all politicians, you just can't identify it as a problem or you will not be elected.
The big problem with growth is that it is taxpayer funded. There are infrastructure costs associated with new construction, some of which used to be funded by transportation impact fees. The cost to the county is still there, but the expense related to new construction is now spread out to existing property owners. The same applies to the education impact fee. The school cost will still be there, it will just be spread out to everyone else.
Here are some of Jaffe's statements and answers from a school board debate.
School funding from the state has been reduced. What are your plans to meet the cuts and balance the budget? Jaffe: Lobby Tallahassee and get creative with collective bargaining.
How will you bring old schools up to date? Jaffe: Partner with churches and businesses
Would you consider cutting one administrator at each school and at Green Cove Springs? Jaffe: Yes, and would cut school board salary.
Would you continue the zero tolerance drug use policy, the current penalty being a 10 day suspension? Jaffe: Try to help the individual.
How would you improve the graduation rate? Jaffe: Staffing
Jaffe webistes
Integrity Consulting http://www.integritycsg.com/
Executive Director of Impact Clay http://www.impactclay.org/
Director God First Business Network http://www.godfirstbusiness.com/
Pastor at Journey Church
facebook page http://www.facebook.com/electjaffe
campaign website http://www.electjaffe.com/
Check out the Republican Liberty Caucus of Northeast Florida at www.rlcnef.org. Join the Republican Liberty Caucus of Clay County at http://www.meetup.com/Republican-Liberty-Caucus-of-Clay-County/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)