Sunday, November 4, 2012
McKinnon not ready for Clay School Board
This was written by someone who attends forums and knows the candidates, so read if you want to know what is going on and pass it on if you want other people to know.
We have two candidates for Clay School Board district 4. One is Frank Farrell. I’ve known Frank for several years and consider him to be a hard worker with an impressive background who has demonstrated patience and judgement on the school board, has demonstrated an ability to work with others even in disagreement, and has demonstrated the work-ethic and desire to understand complex financial and administrative duties of the school board. He is a veteran with a long history of involvement in the welfare of children, he has an impressive professional background, holds a board position with the Florida School Board Association and has advocated on behalf of Clay Schools to our elected officials in Tallahassee. There should be no question in anyone’s mind that Frank Farrell should be reelected to the school board.
The other candidate is Johnna McKinnon. I have serious concerns about her ability to adequately perform and do not believe she is anywhere near ready to hold a seat on the Clay School Board. My specific concerns are her demonstrated lack of knowledge, her demonstrated lack of vision, the probability that she will inadequately represent her constitutents, the effect her inexperience would have on the school board, and the fact that she is a single-issue, “flagpole prayer” candidate who has no chance of accomplishing her single issue.
LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
In a recent candidate forum Mrs. McKinnon conceded that she did not know as much about the school budget as did Mr. Farrell, but more alarming was her confusing a state mandate with a federal mandate.
Keep in mind that at this point Mrs. McKinnon has been campaigning for close to a year. You would think that after a year’s time she would know the difference between a federal program and a state program. You would also think she would know a little about the school budget. What has she been doing?
LACK OF VISION
During that same forum Mrs. McKinnon was asked to name 3 specific items she would change in the school district. What followed about 10 seconds of “deer in the headlights” silence followed by a story about the movie Apollo 13. (This part of the forum has been posted to you tube.) This was followed by the admission that she had nothing specific that she wanted to change.
???!
How in the world can you campaign for the better part of a year, assuring everyone you meet that you are the person who will move Clay Schools forward, soliciting people for money to get you elected, but have no idea what to change if you do get elected? It’s absurd. You can’t make the schools better if you neither understand the business of the schools or have even a general idea of what needs to be changed. A leader cannot be considered to have vision if they don’t know what to do.
LACK OF REPRESENTATION
By way of example, Ted Yoho recently won the Republican primary for Congress, people I know said the reason he won was because he campaigned EVERYWHERE. That is what you do when you are running for office, you talk to as many people as possible; I believe this is a good thing because not only are you getting your message out you are also hearing the concerns of their potential future constituents.
We sometimes forget is that elected officials REPRESENT us. They don’t have to agree with everyone and have a responsibility to their principles, but they nevertheless represent every one of their constituents and at the very least have a responsibility to listen to their concerns.
What do you think of a candidate who ducks forums? If elected, do you think they will represent their constituents if they are unwilling to meet with them during the campaign? I don’t.
I know of three important forums that Mrs. McKinnon failed to attend. One of these was hosted by the Clay Education Association, the teacher’s union. While I’m not exactly buddy-buddy with the union, the fact is that the teachers are school employees and the educators of our children, I think a candidate for school board would need to hear their concerns in order to their job. I guess Mrs. McKinnon doesn’t think so.
The other two forums were at St. James AME Church in Orange Park. The reason why these forums were significant is because St. James is highly representative of the Grove Park area and Grove Park Elementary. Grove Park Elementary is a low scoring school and a cause for concern. I know that Frank Farrell has been working for greater community involvement in Grove Park Elementary, but what about Mrs. McKinnon? How can she solve the problems of that particular school if she misses not one, but two forums hosted by a community that has children in that school? At what point does she start meeting and listening to the people she wants to represent?
I also consider it extremely odd that Mrs. McKinnon would miss two forums hosted at a church. She has been running as a “more Christian that you” candidate, you would think a forum would be a place she would want to be. Guess not.
THE EFFECT OF INEXPERIENCE
We have a new Superintendent of Schools, Charlie Van Zant. Mr. Van Zant has been taking a lot of hits lately, but I am completely confident that he will be a fine Superintendent, I believe that Superintendent will remain an elected position and it is my hope that four years from now Mr. Van Zant will be reelected in an open election. With 14 years of School Board experience behind him Mr. Van Zant has extensive knowledge of the schools, but there will nonetheless be a learning curve while he takes on the particular duties of the Superintendent. I believe that Frank Farrell has worked very well with Van Zant on the School Board and will continue to work with him as Superintendent; Farrell has also demonstrated an ability to work with other members of the School Board. My concern is that Mrs. McKinnon would seriously detract from the workings of the School Board because she doesn’t know anything, a situation that is highly undesirable when you also have a new superintendent. Neither do I feel she will work well with the other School Board members. I fail to see any reason to believe that Mrs. McKinnon’s election to the Board would improve the schools in any way, and many reason to believe she would detract from our schools.
FLAGPOLE PRAYER
Flagpole prayer has been an incredibly bitter and drawn-out issue for our schools. Mrs. McKinnon is in favor of changing the policy on that issue to allow organizations to hold prayers closer to the begining of the school day. I believe that many of her supporters are single-issue voters who are willing to overlook her failings in exchange for her stance on that particular item.
Do the math, it isn’t going to happen. The current school board policy was passed 3 yes and 2 no. One of the no votes was Charlie Van Zant and he is no longer on the School Board. My opinion in which I am certain is that neither of the candidates contending for that open seat will re-open that issue. If McKinnon is elected it will still be 3-2 for the current policy. If you are willing to overlook Mrs. McKinnon’s lack of qualifications based on nothing more that what she wants to do but will be unable to do, then cast your vote for her. It’s your vote, as an American you have the right to cast it as you choose, but in my opinion if you vote for McKinnon then you don’t care much about the schools.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Too few vote in primary elections
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/
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/
Monday, July 12, 2010
Janice Kerekes, Clay School Board District 1
Janice Kerekes, Clay School Board District 1
Competitors, Eric Jaffe, Alesia Ford-Burse, Lynn Martin
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.
I like Kerekes for school board district one because she is the only person in that election who doesn't have that "politician" feel. I was particularly impressed at a recent forum in Middleburg when she said "for me, the school is not a stepping stone to another goal, it is the goal." She has been attending school board meetings for the last 5 years, she said that in a recent meeting she realized that "she was the only person in the room who wasn't being paid to be there."
Forum answers:
Introduction: The schools need to switch from short term to long term planning and lobby Tallahasse for funding. More help for students who are not college bound. Need to preserve art and music programs. Needs to be resource officers in every high school and junior high. Endorse by the Clay Educators Association and current school board member Carol Vallencourt.
How will you deal with reduced funding and balance the budget? Kerekes: prioritize the classroom and maybe go to an 11 month administrative year.
How will you bring old schools up to date? Kerekes: Seek state funding for enhanced classroom, stop building portables.
Would you cut one administrator at each school and at Green Cove Springs? Kerekes: Yes.
How would you enforce the 0 tolerance drug policy, the penalty for which is currently a 10 day suspension? Kerekes: Maintain suspension policy, possibly remove child from school rather than in-school-suspension.
How would you improve the graduation rate? Kerekes: Vocational education.
from www.clayelections.com
I’m Janice Kerekes and I would be grateful to have the privilege of serving as your next District 1, Clay County School Board Member. I believe that I have the passion, experience and qualifications necessary to lead our school system through the challenging future we are facing.
I was born and raised on Long Island, New York. Following graduation from high school in 1980, I attended community college where I studied accounting. In 1982, I was offered a job with Northeastern Airlines where I worked as a supervisor. In 1985, I got married and moved to San Diego, CA with my husband Mike. I continued working in the airline industry with Pacific Southwest Airlines as a crew scheduler until 1986 when we were transferred to Jacksonville.
Mike and I have been married for 25 years. We moved to Northeast Florida 24 years ago when he was serving as a US Navy pilot. We chose to move to Clay County to raise our children because of the quality of the school system. We are proud of our three boys, Michael, Jamel, and David, all graduates of Fleming Island High School. Michael graduated in 2006 and now attends Jacksonville University, Jamel graduated in 2008 and is attending St. John’s River Community College, and David, also a 2008 graduate, attends the University of Florida.
My professional leadership experience comes from the various boards and child advocacy groups I’ve worked with. My direct involvement in the schools began 17 years ago when my oldest son entered kindergarten. I volunteered my time helping with projects in the classroom and served multiple times as an officer in the Parent Faculty Association. I have served on several School Advisory Councils and worked with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Accreditation Committee at the high school level. I began attending school board meetings at first as a concerned parent and since 2005 have attended all school board meetings as an interested citizen in an effort to keep informed about the issues that face our schools.
I have continued my professional development through the Reinhold Foundation Team Leadership Development Program through the Rollins College Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership Center. At the county level I have served on the School Board Calendar Committee and I am active with the JP Hall Children’s Charities year-round. I also sit on two different Scholarship Selection Committees for Clay County students, one with the Republican Executive Committee and the other with the Federated Republican Women of Clay, where I am currently serving my second term as Vice President. I also sit on the board of the Lighthouse Learning Center. Today, I am proud to serve as a board member and mentor with the Big Brothers, Big Sisters organization at W.E. Cherry Elementary School. I am the founder of Fleming Island High School’s Project Graduation and served as the Director for four years.
I am proud to have the support and backing of our teachers. The Clay County Education Association’s Endorsement is just one testament to my passion and commitment to our children’s education. As a member of the Clay County Chamber of Commerce, I understand the issues facing our business community and I’m looking forward to developing additional community partnerships between local businesses and our schools.
I’m excited to bring my experience working within the school system and various nonprofits to our School Board. I have a proven track record as an advocate for children and have always, and will continue to, put Children First!
I humbly ask for your vote on August 24th. I promise you, no one will work harder than I will.
Sincerely,
Janice Kerekes
from www.janicekerekes.com
*The school budget is my chief concern among the many challenges facing our schools. I will fight for Clay County and work with our state legislators in Tallahassee to make sure that our schools receive the maximum possible funding. At the same time, I will insist on maintaining local control so that we efficiently spend our budget and make correct choices on educating our children.
*Current school safety levels pose a risk to our students. Resource Officers are placed only in the high schools. These officers are then often called from the high school campus to attend to situations at the junior high and elementary schools. This system leaves all of our schools exposed and vulnerable.
*It is imperative that principals be held accountable for student success. When evaluating the performance of a teacher, evaluations must truly reflect the teacher’s ability. School administrators must be ready and willing to weed out teachers who are not performing at expected standards.
*Expanding our Career and Technical Education Programs. Enable our students to graduate with the necessary licenses and certifications required to enter the workforce without the necessity of further education. It is our duty to provide all of our students with the opportunity to succeed.
*Lack of art and music programs at the elementary level is detrimental to a well-rounded education. All Clay County students should be exposed to art and music and physical education
http://janicekerekes.com/
http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=367045120997#!/pages/Janice-Kerekes-for-Clay-County-School-Board-District-1/367045120997
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, Eric Jaffe, Alesia Ford-Burse, Lynn Martin
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.
I like Kerekes for school board district one because she is the only person in that election who doesn't have that "politician" feel. I was particularly impressed at a recent forum in Middleburg when she said "for me, the school is not a stepping stone to another goal, it is the goal." She has been attending school board meetings for the last 5 years, she said that in a recent meeting she realized that "she was the only person in the room who wasn't being paid to be there."
Forum answers:
Introduction: The schools need to switch from short term to long term planning and lobby Tallahasse for funding. More help for students who are not college bound. Need to preserve art and music programs. Needs to be resource officers in every high school and junior high. Endorse by the Clay Educators Association and current school board member Carol Vallencourt.
How will you deal with reduced funding and balance the budget? Kerekes: prioritize the classroom and maybe go to an 11 month administrative year.
How will you bring old schools up to date? Kerekes: Seek state funding for enhanced classroom, stop building portables.
Would you cut one administrator at each school and at Green Cove Springs? Kerekes: Yes.
How would you enforce the 0 tolerance drug policy, the penalty for which is currently a 10 day suspension? Kerekes: Maintain suspension policy, possibly remove child from school rather than in-school-suspension.
How would you improve the graduation rate? Kerekes: Vocational education.
from www.clayelections.com
I’m Janice Kerekes and I would be grateful to have the privilege of serving as your next District 1, Clay County School Board Member. I believe that I have the passion, experience and qualifications necessary to lead our school system through the challenging future we are facing.
I was born and raised on Long Island, New York. Following graduation from high school in 1980, I attended community college where I studied accounting. In 1982, I was offered a job with Northeastern Airlines where I worked as a supervisor. In 1985, I got married and moved to San Diego, CA with my husband Mike. I continued working in the airline industry with Pacific Southwest Airlines as a crew scheduler until 1986 when we were transferred to Jacksonville.
Mike and I have been married for 25 years. We moved to Northeast Florida 24 years ago when he was serving as a US Navy pilot. We chose to move to Clay County to raise our children because of the quality of the school system. We are proud of our three boys, Michael, Jamel, and David, all graduates of Fleming Island High School. Michael graduated in 2006 and now attends Jacksonville University, Jamel graduated in 2008 and is attending St. John’s River Community College, and David, also a 2008 graduate, attends the University of Florida.
My professional leadership experience comes from the various boards and child advocacy groups I’ve worked with. My direct involvement in the schools began 17 years ago when my oldest son entered kindergarten. I volunteered my time helping with projects in the classroom and served multiple times as an officer in the Parent Faculty Association. I have served on several School Advisory Councils and worked with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Accreditation Committee at the high school level. I began attending school board meetings at first as a concerned parent and since 2005 have attended all school board meetings as an interested citizen in an effort to keep informed about the issues that face our schools.
I have continued my professional development through the Reinhold Foundation Team Leadership Development Program through the Rollins College Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership Center. At the county level I have served on the School Board Calendar Committee and I am active with the JP Hall Children’s Charities year-round. I also sit on two different Scholarship Selection Committees for Clay County students, one with the Republican Executive Committee and the other with the Federated Republican Women of Clay, where I am currently serving my second term as Vice President. I also sit on the board of the Lighthouse Learning Center. Today, I am proud to serve as a board member and mentor with the Big Brothers, Big Sisters organization at W.E. Cherry Elementary School. I am the founder of Fleming Island High School’s Project Graduation and served as the Director for four years.
I am proud to have the support and backing of our teachers. The Clay County Education Association’s Endorsement is just one testament to my passion and commitment to our children’s education. As a member of the Clay County Chamber of Commerce, I understand the issues facing our business community and I’m looking forward to developing additional community partnerships between local businesses and our schools.
I’m excited to bring my experience working within the school system and various nonprofits to our School Board. I have a proven track record as an advocate for children and have always, and will continue to, put Children First!
I humbly ask for your vote on August 24th. I promise you, no one will work harder than I will.
Sincerely,
Janice Kerekes
from www.janicekerekes.com
*The school budget is my chief concern among the many challenges facing our schools. I will fight for Clay County and work with our state legislators in Tallahassee to make sure that our schools receive the maximum possible funding. At the same time, I will insist on maintaining local control so that we efficiently spend our budget and make correct choices on educating our children.
*Current school safety levels pose a risk to our students. Resource Officers are placed only in the high schools. These officers are then often called from the high school campus to attend to situations at the junior high and elementary schools. This system leaves all of our schools exposed and vulnerable.
*It is imperative that principals be held accountable for student success. When evaluating the performance of a teacher, evaluations must truly reflect the teacher’s ability. School administrators must be ready and willing to weed out teachers who are not performing at expected standards.
*Expanding our Career and Technical Education Programs. Enable our students to graduate with the necessary licenses and certifications required to enter the workforce without the necessity of further education. It is our duty to provide all of our students with the opportunity to succeed.
*Lack of art and music programs at the elementary level is detrimental to a well-rounded education. All Clay County students should be exposed to art and music and physical education
http://janicekerekes.com/
http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=367045120997#!/pages/Janice-Kerekes-for-Clay-County-School-Board-District-1/367045120997
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/
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/
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Clay Primary Ballot, Republican, Democrat, and Independent
COUNTY COMMISSION DISTRICT 2 REPUBLICAN BALLOT
Ronnie Coleman
Douglas Conkey
SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 1
Alesia Ford-Burse
Eric Jaffe
Janice Kerekes
Lynn Martin
SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 5
Lisa Graham
Joseph Wiggins Sr.
US SENATOR REPUBLICAN BALLOT
Escoffery, lll. William
Kogut, William Billy
Rubio, Marco
US SENATOR DEMOCRAT BALLOT
Burkett, Glenn A.
Ferre, Maurice A.
Greene, Jeff
Meek, Kendrick B.
US SENATOR NPA BALLOT
Armstrong, Lewis Jerome
Askeland, Sue
Bean, Bobbie
Crist, Charlie
Riggs, Bruce Ray
Tyler, Rick
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 3 REPUBLICAN BALLOT
Black, Dean
Nwasike, Chris
Yost, Michael "Mike"
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 3 DEMOCRAT BALLOT
Brown, Corrine
Fortune, Scott
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6 REPUBLICAN BALLOT
Browning, Don
Stearns, Clifford B. "Cliff"
GOVERNOR REPUBLICAN BALLOT
McCalister, Mike
McCollum, Bill
Scott, Rick
Governor Democrat BALLOT
Moore, Brian P.
Sink, Alex
GOVERNOR NPA BALLOT
Arth, Michael E.
Chiles, Lawton "Bud"
Imperato, Daniel
Khavari, Farid
Reed, C. C.
ATTORNEY GENERAL REPUBLICAN BALLOT
Benson, Holly
Bondi, Pam
Kottkamp, Jeff
ATTORNEY GENERAL DEMOCRAT BALLOT
Aronberg, Dave
Gelber, Dan
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER NPA BALLOT
Mazzie, Ken
Stearns, Tom
STATE REP DISTRICT 20 REPUBLICAN BALLOT
Proctor, William L. "Bill"
Kelso, Alen
CIRCUIT JUDGE
Garrison, Samuel P.
Hulsey, Mark
Ronnie Coleman
Douglas Conkey
SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 1
Alesia Ford-Burse
Eric Jaffe
Janice Kerekes
Lynn Martin
SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 5
Lisa Graham
Joseph Wiggins Sr.
US SENATOR REPUBLICAN BALLOT
Escoffery, lll. William
Kogut, William Billy
Rubio, Marco
US SENATOR DEMOCRAT BALLOT
Burkett, Glenn A.
Ferre, Maurice A.
Greene, Jeff
Meek, Kendrick B.
US SENATOR NPA BALLOT
Armstrong, Lewis Jerome
Askeland, Sue
Bean, Bobbie
Crist, Charlie
Riggs, Bruce Ray
Tyler, Rick
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 3 REPUBLICAN BALLOT
Black, Dean
Nwasike, Chris
Yost, Michael "Mike"
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 3 DEMOCRAT BALLOT
Brown, Corrine
Fortune, Scott
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6 REPUBLICAN BALLOT
Browning, Don
Stearns, Clifford B. "Cliff"
GOVERNOR REPUBLICAN BALLOT
McCalister, Mike
McCollum, Bill
Scott, Rick
Governor Democrat BALLOT
Moore, Brian P.
Sink, Alex
GOVERNOR NPA BALLOT
Arth, Michael E.
Chiles, Lawton "Bud"
Imperato, Daniel
Khavari, Farid
Reed, C. C.
ATTORNEY GENERAL REPUBLICAN BALLOT
Benson, Holly
Bondi, Pam
Kottkamp, Jeff
ATTORNEY GENERAL DEMOCRAT BALLOT
Aronberg, Dave
Gelber, Dan
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER NPA BALLOT
Mazzie, Ken
Stearns, Tom
STATE REP DISTRICT 20 REPUBLICAN BALLOT
Proctor, William L. "Bill"
Kelso, Alen
CIRCUIT JUDGE
Garrison, Samuel P.
Hulsey, Mark
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Mike Yost, 3rd Congressional District
Mike Yost, 3rd Congressional District
Competitors in Republican Primary: Dean Black and Chris Nwasike
Incumbent: Corrine Brown (D)
Endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus of Northeast Florida
http://yostforcongress.com/
http://twitter.com/YostforCongress/
http://www.facebook.com/yost2010
http://www.youtube.com/YostforCongress
interview with Independence Caucus http://icaucus.ning.com/group/florida/forum/topics/endorsement-of-mike-yost-us
I like Mike. He was the first 3rd district candidate I met and the only one with which I have had any extensive contact. He seems to me an honest person who avoids the grandstanding we see in so many politicians. I am a little bit prejudiced on Mr. Yost's behalf because I did volunteer for one of his events and did get a few petitions for him. Nonetheless, I honestly did consider Yost to be the best out of the "early candidates."
To explain the "early candidates," these are the people who declare themselves as candidates before the April 30 qualifying deadline, but not all of them qualify so most of them are not going to be in the Republican Primary. The early Republican candidates were Yost, McNaughton, Gilman, Kolb, Penoso, and Dean Black. The only "early candidates" to qualify are Yost and Black, and Nwasike who qualified by fee just before the deadline.
I still like Yost in that I consider him to be conservative and very smart, and to be as viable a choice to win the general election as anyone else, but I have not yet decided how he compares to the other primary candidates. I do not know nearly as much about Black and Nwasike as I know about Yost, but they seem formidable. Mike won the battle to qualify, now he has to win the primary if he is to fight the really big battle to take down Corrine Brown.
I do not live in the 3rd district. Nonethless I feel we all have a stake in this because Corrine Brown is an extremely liberal corporate crony Democrat, about the only Democratic Party Congresswoman in Northeast Florida. In most of the other NE Florida districts we have Republicans; while I like some Republicans better than others I cannot get too excited about their elections. If you replace one Republican with another you will see mostly the same pattern of voting, not a big change and no change at all on party line issue. However, there will be a great difference if you can knock out just one liberal Democrat and replace her with one conservative Republican. Many of the controversial bills in the House come down to just a few votes, and these few votes have an enormous effect upon our nation. If the Republicans of NE Florida work together and be willing to cross district lines to defeat Brown they can make a big difference in our nation. I hope that some of the people that read this blog do decide to back one of the Republican candidates and get out there to win back our nation, one office and one vote at a time. Some say it is an impossible task because Republican voters are outnumbered in the 3rd district by a very large percentage, but the reality is it all comes down to who wants it more. There might be more registered Democrats than there are registered Republicans, but the winner will be who gets the most voters to the polls.
One of the things I like about Mike is that he is a true grassroots candidate. He is a regular person who doesn't have the big money and big endorsements we associate with career politicians, but he does have a vision, he is knowledgeable of the issues, and he is a hard campaigner.
He began early, his declaration being received on 5/21/09. http://doe.dos.state.fl.us/PublicRecordsBER/wfPublicImagesBER.aspx?%%%
The reason why I had contact with Yost before any other candidate was because he has been out there talking to small groups since last year.
He also chose to qualify by petition. To explain, there are two methods to qualify for the ballot, by fee or by petition. The fee is about $10,000, which is 1% of a congressional members yearly salary. The amount of petitions needed is 3778, 1% of the 3rd district voters. It is considered to be the more traditionally "grassroots" method to go the petition route because it is cheaper and a candidate expects to build a grassroots organization while they are out getting petitions. Some "bragging rights" also go along with the petition method. Three of the other early candidates (Kolb, Penoso, Gilman) tried to qualify by petition and failed to do so. Yost claims that by qualifying by petition he is showing the voters what kind of Congressman he would be. To explain, gathering petitions is an enormous amount of work but saves the fee: Yost was able to qualify by petitions, so claims he will work hard for the people and be conservative with their money.
The 3rd district is a very large and spread out area. While most of the action does take place in Jacksonville and all three of the Republican candidates are Jacksonville residents, it is not a race that takes place just in Jacksonville. My impression is that Black and Nwasike have done very little campaigning outside of Jacksonville. Yost on the other hand did get petitions from all through the 3rd district. http://election.dos.state.fl.us/candidate/CanPetSig.asp?account=50555
Over half of his petitions did come from Duval, but nearly a third did come from Clay, significant numbers came from Putnam and Volusia, and he got others from every county in the 3rd district. What this means to me is that Yost does have at least as significant a presence in Jacksonville as the other candidates, but in addition has greater support throughout the district.
I feel that if the 3rd is to be won it will have to be done at a grassroots level. That is the old way of campaigning and that is the way candidates come from behind with a surprise victory. Yost took place in one of these campaigns as a teenager. it was a bunch of volunteers working long days going door to door to support their candidate. The day before the election they were down in the polls but on election day they won because the workers had gone out and talked to people face to face. Yost plans to do the same campaigning in the 3rd, and says to do so he will need 1000 to 1500 volunteers. That is a TALL order but if he can do I think he can win. He has also said that if every Republican in the 3rd district gave him $20 it would add up to a million and a half in campaign funds. That would be more than Corrine Brown has now. I don't know how likely this is but it does illustrate that even though Corrine Brown is the "big money" candidate, she can be overcome through small donations if enough people choose to give.
Corrine Brown is an entrenched encumbent who has won multiple elections and has a large campaign fund. However, Yost says she can beat because he claims the demographics of the 3rd district have changed a great bit in the last few years with there being more registered Republicans and Independents. His plan is to target the Republicans, Independents, and "Reagan Democrats" to get their vote. I have not been able to examine the demographics. The reason for this is because Congressional Districts span several counties and you need special software to tabulate that sort of data.
Yost's website is www.yostforcongress.com According to his website, Yost:
Will work to define authority of government agencies and work to restrict the ability of government agencies to "create law" by fiat authority.
Will work to promote economic growth of our small businesses with tax reforms.
Promote the regulatory and tax environment that makes investment in America desirable.
Will not vote for any legislation that causes taxes to increase.
Supports the FairTax.
Will work for tort reform to lessen cost of medical industry "lawsuit protection" testing.
Will work for favorable tax treatment for people who purchase their own private insurance.
Expand Health Saving Account plans.
Allow purchase of health insurance accross state lines to increase competition.
Work to allow blocs of business to form co-ops for better group rates.
Work to eliminate fraud in the medical equipment industry.
Believes we must reform the Medicare system.
Will introduce legistlation to reform earmark practices.
Believes that regulation enacted by a government agency must be reviewed and voted upon by Congress as if they were law.
Believes the 10th Amendment gives states the right to regulate within their borders.
Supports developing domestic energy reserves.
Believes that no person in America illegaly should get any sort of benefit supported by tax dollars.
Opposes "amnesty."
Is a member of the NRA and supports state-to-state concealed carry permits.
Opposes federal funding of any agency that supports, advocates, or performs abortions.
Supports counseling and adoption as alternatives to abortion
Supports parental notification of abortions for those under 18.
Oppose payments to other countries for carbon-reduction plans.
Supports development of new technologies to help increase clean, inexpensive and reliable energy sources.
Yost in the media
http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2010-05-17/story/rep-corrine-brown-dismissive-about-her-campaign
http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2010-04-26/story/clay-county-voter-forum-gets-testy
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/floridas-congressional-races-are-set
http://www.jaxobserver.com/2010/04/27/opening-round-of-candidate-qualifying-produces-a-few-surprises/
http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/403455/david-hunt/2010-05-04/whos-florida-3rd
http://www.ocala.com/article/20100501/ARTICLES/5011013/1402/NEWS?Title=Local-candidates-and-challengers-go-House-hunting-
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 in Republican Primary: Dean Black and Chris Nwasike
Incumbent: Corrine Brown (D)
Endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus of Northeast Florida
http://yostforcongress.com/
http://twitter.com/YostforCongress/
http://www.facebook.com/yost2010
http://www.youtube.com/YostforCongress
interview with Independence Caucus http://icaucus.ning.com/group/florida/forum/topics/endorsement-of-mike-yost-us
I like Mike. He was the first 3rd district candidate I met and the only one with which I have had any extensive contact. He seems to me an honest person who avoids the grandstanding we see in so many politicians. I am a little bit prejudiced on Mr. Yost's behalf because I did volunteer for one of his events and did get a few petitions for him. Nonetheless, I honestly did consider Yost to be the best out of the "early candidates."
To explain the "early candidates," these are the people who declare themselves as candidates before the April 30 qualifying deadline, but not all of them qualify so most of them are not going to be in the Republican Primary. The early Republican candidates were Yost, McNaughton, Gilman, Kolb, Penoso, and Dean Black. The only "early candidates" to qualify are Yost and Black, and Nwasike who qualified by fee just before the deadline.
I still like Yost in that I consider him to be conservative and very smart, and to be as viable a choice to win the general election as anyone else, but I have not yet decided how he compares to the other primary candidates. I do not know nearly as much about Black and Nwasike as I know about Yost, but they seem formidable. Mike won the battle to qualify, now he has to win the primary if he is to fight the really big battle to take down Corrine Brown.
I do not live in the 3rd district. Nonethless I feel we all have a stake in this because Corrine Brown is an extremely liberal corporate crony Democrat, about the only Democratic Party Congresswoman in Northeast Florida. In most of the other NE Florida districts we have Republicans; while I like some Republicans better than others I cannot get too excited about their elections. If you replace one Republican with another you will see mostly the same pattern of voting, not a big change and no change at all on party line issue. However, there will be a great difference if you can knock out just one liberal Democrat and replace her with one conservative Republican. Many of the controversial bills in the House come down to just a few votes, and these few votes have an enormous effect upon our nation. If the Republicans of NE Florida work together and be willing to cross district lines to defeat Brown they can make a big difference in our nation. I hope that some of the people that read this blog do decide to back one of the Republican candidates and get out there to win back our nation, one office and one vote at a time. Some say it is an impossible task because Republican voters are outnumbered in the 3rd district by a very large percentage, but the reality is it all comes down to who wants it more. There might be more registered Democrats than there are registered Republicans, but the winner will be who gets the most voters to the polls.
One of the things I like about Mike is that he is a true grassroots candidate. He is a regular person who doesn't have the big money and big endorsements we associate with career politicians, but he does have a vision, he is knowledgeable of the issues, and he is a hard campaigner.
He began early, his declaration being received on 5/21/09. http://doe.dos.state.fl.us/PublicRecordsBER/wfPublicImagesBER.aspx?%%%
The reason why I had contact with Yost before any other candidate was because he has been out there talking to small groups since last year.
He also chose to qualify by petition. To explain, there are two methods to qualify for the ballot, by fee or by petition. The fee is about $10,000, which is 1% of a congressional members yearly salary. The amount of petitions needed is 3778, 1% of the 3rd district voters. It is considered to be the more traditionally "grassroots" method to go the petition route because it is cheaper and a candidate expects to build a grassroots organization while they are out getting petitions. Some "bragging rights" also go along with the petition method. Three of the other early candidates (Kolb, Penoso, Gilman) tried to qualify by petition and failed to do so. Yost claims that by qualifying by petition he is showing the voters what kind of Congressman he would be. To explain, gathering petitions is an enormous amount of work but saves the fee: Yost was able to qualify by petitions, so claims he will work hard for the people and be conservative with their money.
The 3rd district is a very large and spread out area. While most of the action does take place in Jacksonville and all three of the Republican candidates are Jacksonville residents, it is not a race that takes place just in Jacksonville. My impression is that Black and Nwasike have done very little campaigning outside of Jacksonville. Yost on the other hand did get petitions from all through the 3rd district. http://election.dos.state.fl.us/candidate/CanPetSig.asp?account=50555
Over half of his petitions did come from Duval, but nearly a third did come from Clay, significant numbers came from Putnam and Volusia, and he got others from every county in the 3rd district. What this means to me is that Yost does have at least as significant a presence in Jacksonville as the other candidates, but in addition has greater support throughout the district.
I feel that if the 3rd is to be won it will have to be done at a grassroots level. That is the old way of campaigning and that is the way candidates come from behind with a surprise victory. Yost took place in one of these campaigns as a teenager. it was a bunch of volunteers working long days going door to door to support their candidate. The day before the election they were down in the polls but on election day they won because the workers had gone out and talked to people face to face. Yost plans to do the same campaigning in the 3rd, and says to do so he will need 1000 to 1500 volunteers. That is a TALL order but if he can do I think he can win. He has also said that if every Republican in the 3rd district gave him $20 it would add up to a million and a half in campaign funds. That would be more than Corrine Brown has now. I don't know how likely this is but it does illustrate that even though Corrine Brown is the "big money" candidate, she can be overcome through small donations if enough people choose to give.
Corrine Brown is an entrenched encumbent who has won multiple elections and has a large campaign fund. However, Yost says she can beat because he claims the demographics of the 3rd district have changed a great bit in the last few years with there being more registered Republicans and Independents. His plan is to target the Republicans, Independents, and "Reagan Democrats" to get their vote. I have not been able to examine the demographics. The reason for this is because Congressional Districts span several counties and you need special software to tabulate that sort of data.
Yost's website is www.yostforcongress.com According to his website, Yost:
Will work to define authority of government agencies and work to restrict the ability of government agencies to "create law" by fiat authority.
Will work to promote economic growth of our small businesses with tax reforms.
Promote the regulatory and tax environment that makes investment in America desirable.
Will not vote for any legislation that causes taxes to increase.
Supports the FairTax.
Will work for tort reform to lessen cost of medical industry "lawsuit protection" testing.
Will work for favorable tax treatment for people who purchase their own private insurance.
Expand Health Saving Account plans.
Allow purchase of health insurance accross state lines to increase competition.
Work to allow blocs of business to form co-ops for better group rates.
Work to eliminate fraud in the medical equipment industry.
Believes we must reform the Medicare system.
Will introduce legistlation to reform earmark practices.
Believes that regulation enacted by a government agency must be reviewed and voted upon by Congress as if they were law.
Believes the 10th Amendment gives states the right to regulate within their borders.
Supports developing domestic energy reserves.
Believes that no person in America illegaly should get any sort of benefit supported by tax dollars.
Opposes "amnesty."
Is a member of the NRA and supports state-to-state concealed carry permits.
Opposes federal funding of any agency that supports, advocates, or performs abortions.
Supports counseling and adoption as alternatives to abortion
Supports parental notification of abortions for those under 18.
Oppose payments to other countries for carbon-reduction plans.
Supports development of new technologies to help increase clean, inexpensive and reliable energy sources.
Yost in the media
http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2010-05-17/story/rep-corrine-brown-dismissive-about-her-campaign
http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2010-04-26/story/clay-county-voter-forum-gets-testy
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/floridas-congressional-races-are-set
http://www.jaxobserver.com/2010/04/27/opening-round-of-candidate-qualifying-produces-a-few-surprises/
http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/403455/david-hunt/2010-05-04/whos-florida-3rd
http://www.ocala.com/article/20100501/ARTICLES/5011013/1402/NEWS?Title=Local-candidates-and-challengers-go-House-hunting-
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/
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