Bait And Switch

By Jerry Waxman

Remember Textgate? It made national headlines last year because of all the underhanded dealings the Orange County Commission contrived during commission meetings to keep a paid sick time petition from being put on the Nov. 6, 2012 ballot. During the Sept. 11 commission hearings several members of the commission, including Mayor Teresa Jacobs and Commissioners Jennifer Thompson and Fred Brummer, used every trick in the book, including texting with corporate lobbyists, GOP operatives and executives at Disney and other members of the Chamber of Commerce during the meeting to deny and defeat the ballot initiative. Once the texting became public knowledge all hell broke loose, winding up in lawsuits that resulted in an investigation by the State Attorney and a huge embarrassment for the commission. This commission is still embroiled in legal battles over redistricting among other embarrassing things. Petition drives go on all the time. They are one way that citizens have a voice in seeing that their government listens to them.

One of the recent petition drives is being sponsored by a group called Citizens for Informed Elections, a recent PAC that is trying to change the current county charter to require that all charter commission candidates and office holders be partisan, so that voters have the information at hand. The current charter was changed years ago from partisan to non partisan and the results have been a disaster. Currently there are five of the six commissioners and a mayor who are Republicans, not because they are better at governing, but because they can hide behind the mask of anonymity. They are supported by very narrow commercial interests and rarely, if ever, work for the peoples’ benefit. The recent embarrassing incidents, including the fiasco at Tinker field, the Expressway fiasco, Textgate, DPAC shortfalls, Ron Legler’s escape to sanity and the completely ludicrous support of the soccer stadium show exactly where this commission lies politically. They don’t care about the taxpayers or the voters; they care about the people who buy their (the commission’s) votes.

(Cavalry trumpet blaring “CHARGE”)Fred Brummer coming to the rescue! On Feb. 24^th Brummer sent a memo to the county commission and mayor outlining the steps they could take to amend the charter and put an end to this troubling nonsense. It included adding two Hispanic districts appointed by Republican Governor Rick Scott, eliminating the Tax Collector’s office and changing constitutional offices to non partisan. It also includes changing the petition process so that there is less time to collect them as well as adding additional percentages of voter signatures to the minimum amounts needed to qualify for the ballot. And get this- he wants it done by May 27^th in a special referendum so that mail in ballots can be printed. Nothing like upsetting the process is there?

Who knew that Fred Brummer could think? We know he can’t write because Wade Vose and Kurt Ardaman do his writing for him. Never known for his thinking abilities, Brummer, who is not running for office in 2014, most likely has ALEC doing his thinking for him. I say most likely because there is no smoking gun proof, however, ALEC has made inroads in both city and county government recently and there are links to this county commission to ALEC, the most powerful being former State Legislator, Steve Precourt, who has been involved in scandals of his own including the Expressway fiasco. Precourt is on the board of ALEC and is the legislator who killed the paid sick time initiative in Tallahassee last year. All Republicans in Tallahassee are in the grip of ALEC and their bills show it. Now the cities and counties are in for that kind of treatment as well. If you’re going to blame any individual then blame Jeb Bush, who has worked very close with ALEC, especially on Florida’s educational policies, which other states have adopted. Why else do you think that Teach for America is coming to work in Orange County Schools? Right now is probably a good time to show you, dear readers, this power point graphic supplied by Brook Hines which limns all the tentacles of this unmitigated power grab.

So, getting back to Bummer….er…excuse me, Brummer, a CPA by trade, who never met a corporate lobbyist he didn’t like. He served in the Florida Legislature coming in with the Jeb Bush takeover in 1998 so his political leanings are well known. He has now served two terms as District Two Commissioner only the bulk of the people living in his district don’t know it. I’ve been canvassing for a candidate in that district which runs from Maitland and Eatonville up over to Apopka and west into Pine Hills and Ocoee. In the past six weeks I’ve probably knocked on a thousand doors and spoken to a couple of hundred people and I’ve yet to find one person who knows anything about him. When I ask people to sign my petition many times they ask “who is he? I don’t know anything about him” to which I reply, “Who is your current commissioner?” They stand there dumbfounded. When I explain to them, especially hospitality and restaurant workers, what he stands against, rather than for many of them sign the petition. When I stated in my last article that the average Florida voter is a hick, my canvassing confirms that statement. They’re lied to every day by people like Bum..Brummer and they fall for it. You get a feel for what people think in these neighborhoods and I suggest that every activist do some canvassing in districts like District Two to get a handle on their candidates’ campaigns. It is astonishing that so many people in his district don’t know who he is, yet he affects their lives and money much more than a state or federal politician. This is also a district in which I found a very heavy minority population, much more than 50%, which cedes its power to an old white guy who plays with dollar numbers for a living. That doesn’t make a lot of sense either, especially because there are several very well qualified minority candidates running in that district, any of whom would represent the district much better than Bum (Damn!) Brummer ever could or did.

The hope here is that through this Draconian proposal the Hispanic District law suit will go away, as well as the petition drives that seem to stick in their craw. Of course the redrawn districts will have Republican Commissioners appointed by Rick Scott, so there’s an ulterior motive there. The petition scam does nothing to empower voters; rather it has the opposite result by restricting their voice. In an effort to save one million dollars the proposal recommends eliminating the Tax Collector’s office, a constitutionally elected office and taking over those duties from within at a cost of two million dollars for the special mail in vote. That’s an accountant talking? No, it’s political retribution. Besides, Tax Collector Scott Randolph has been modernizing the office and is constantly looking at ways to save money and eliminate waste. He’s probably saved at least that much since he’s taken office.

These are bad charter amendments and they should be disapproved and voted down by this commission. Mayor Jacobs should have her head examined for even introducing it for discussion or vote. That’s not likely to happen because real grass roots, people powered special and narrow interests will not get the ear of this commission. Bet you a dollar to a donut that the $1200.00 suit and cufflink lobbyists representing their own special and narrow interests will.

The County Commission meeting is Tuesday, March 11 at 9:00 AM at 201 S. Rosalind Avenue, Orlando, Florida 32801. Of course, it’s at a time when the real average working public can’t be there, but you can bet that the $1200.00 suit and cufflink lobbyists be there. If you really care call in sick and be there. No, you won’t get paid for the time you’re out, but you might get much more in return. Any incumbent, including the mayor, needs to be voted out in August. You the people deserve much better, and you have the power to do it. So, what’s stopping you?