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The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of South Florida and The Independent,South Florida's leading gay newspaper, are hosting a candidates' evening at6.30pm on Tuesday, October 10 at the GLCC - 1717 N. Andrews Ave. FortLauderdale to which candidates have been invited. The meeting is free andall are welcome to attend. Please feel free to forward this to your friendsand colleagues. Questions will be taken from the floor.
Best wishes,
Paul Harris
Publisher
The Independent
www.OurIndy.com
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Join The
Dolphin Democrats And Daryl Jones
Wednesday, October 11,Th 2006
7:30 P.M.
1700 N.
Andrews Ave. (Across From The GLCC)
As we open the Democratic GLBT Get Out The Vote Center
And Celebrate National Coming Out Day
Save The
Dates
Oct. 23rd
Nelson Harris Debates
Oct. 24th
Davis Crist Debates
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http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Opinion/Editorials/opnOPN09100906.htm
October 09, 2006
Not just ag commissioner
Copeland would balance consumer, farm concerns
The difference between Republican incumbent Charles Bronson and Democratic challenger Eric Copeland comes down to how the two candidates view the Cabinet position of Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. To Bronson, it's mostly about agriculture. The department is overwhelmingly staffed that way, and the word "agriculture" at the top of Bronson's election Web site is twice as big as "consumer services." To Copeland, the department should more equally divide its focus between agriculture and consumer services, as the department's name implies (and as it appears on the department's Web site). Copeland is right. For that and several other reasons, he is the better choice.
Copeland is an Illinois native who came to Florida to attend college 22 years ago, stayed for law school, and never left. He's a Coral Gables tax attorney whose practice routinely involves him in property tax appeals on behalf of farmers, whose agricultural tax exemptions don't extend to buildings or capital improvements -- an extension Copeland wants to push for as a way of protecting the state's farmers. His direct experience in agriculture is limited to growing up near Illinois' corn fields and on visiting his grandfather's farm. His understanding of the centrality of Florida's multi-billion dollar agriculture industry is broader. So is his familiarity with farmers' and migrant workers' issues.
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-09forum22oct09,0,5034897.story?coll=sfla-news-opinion
REPUBLICANS
Retrieve party from grasp of fundamentalistsBy Peter MonroeOctober 9, 2006Where was the Republican Party during the 2006 Senate Republican primary? Itwas MIA.It was MIA in its duty to enlighten voters about candidates and inspiringthem to vote.
Consequently, 8 out of 10 Republican voters were MIA at thepolls.Of the Republicans who did vote, over half voted against my opponent, U.S.Rep. Katherine Harris, who is now our party's nominee for the highest poston the November ballot.
Numerically, when you take the votes of those whodidn't support Harris, and the ones who didn't vote, it means our party'snominee for one of two U.S. Senate posts from our state is there thanks tojust 10 percent of our party's registered voters.Regardless of whether one supports Harris or not, that's a dismal result forour party in what is a bellwether state.And it points to what is the greatest threat to the Republican Party -- theimplicit requirement that candidates submit to a religious right "litmustest."
While Christian fundamentalists are a small minority within theRepublican Party, they wield disproportionate influence.They are vocal, hold leadership positions, are tightly organized and votewithout fail.
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http://www.news-journalonline.com/scripts/printme.asp
October 09, 2006
For Florida CFO
State needs Alex Sink's financial skills, vision
Florida's chief financial officer holds the most powerful state government position you've never heard of. Since it was created by voters in 1998, the Cabinet office has only had one occupant -- Tom Gallagher, who took office in 2002 and did little with the CFO's wide-ranging powers and duties.
Both candidates on the Nov. 7 ballot aim to change that -- and either would be a good choice. But Alex Sink's unmatched business experience and forward-looking plans give her the edge.
Sink boasts a resume the likes of which are not often seen in Florida political circles. Most notably, she served for seven years as president of Bank of America-Florida, a capper to a 26-year career in banking. Before she retired, Sink -- who is married to Bill McBride, Democratic nominee for governor in 2002 -- supervised 9,000 employees and $40 billion in deposits.
Her background prepares her for many of the CFO's most important duties: Overseeing billions of dollars that flow through state coffers every year, managing investments and auditing performance on state contracts. That last duty may prove crucial following Gov. Jeb Bush's aggressive push to privatize government duties -- Sink says she would turn a sharp eye toward contracts that were hastily written and those that lack performance standards.
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http://www.sptimes.com/2006/10/09/news_pf/Hillsborough/Film_sheds_light_on_g.shtml
St. Petersburg Times
Film sheds light on gay issues before election
By KEVIN GRAHAM
Published October 9, 2006
TAMPA - For those who have never met Hillsborough Commissioner Ronda Storms, a new documentary highlights where she stands on certain gay and lesbian issues.
She doesn't want foster children placed in gay or lesbian homes. And she's sticking by her successful move in June 2005 for Hillsborough County government to abstain from recognizing gay pride.
The producer of the 15-minute documentary titled un!BANNED wants viewers to look beyond the votes that Storms and other county commissioners have taken to hinder gay rights and see discrimination.
"We're trying to wake people up and make them aware of what's going on," said Amy Nestor, who debuted her independent film Sunday at the Tampa Bay Business Guild Expo. "They're discriminating against human beings."
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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbcwest/content/local_news/epaper/2006/10/09/m1a_dist16_1009.html
Both candidates face uphill battle to replace Foley
By Michael C. Bender
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 09, 2006
Sitting at her Port Charlotte home paying bills and daydreaming about her 14 great- grandchildren, 85-year-old Lois Jones said she won't think twice when she casts her ballot for former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley.
"When I started voting as a girl in Chicago, I tried to be very, very careful to vote for the best man. And I did vote for a lot of Democrats," Jones said. "But then I found out that Mayor Daley was picking the candidates. That's when I became a Republican."
Getting dyed-in-the-wool Republican voters like Jones out to vote is what state Rep. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, is hoping will help him overcome a sex scandal, a late start and a ballot without his name to carry him to Congress.
Negron replaced Foley as the Republican candidate in Florida's 16th Congressional District when the 12-year incumbent quit Sept. 29 - too late to print new ballots - after his sexually explicit Internet messages to teenage boys grabbed headlines across the country.
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-social0906oct09,0,341737.story?coll=sfla-news-florida
ELECTION 2006
Crist, Davis struggle for distinction on social issues
John KennedyTallahassee Bureau Chief
October 9, 2006
TALLAHASSEE -- Republican Charlie Crist and Democrat Jim Davis are largelystaking out the political middle to win the Florida governor's race, withonly subtle differences dividing the two contenders across a wide array ofsocial issues.Unlike Crist's Republican primary opponent, Tom Gallagher, who veered far tothe political right, the Nov. 7 contest is a matchup of two moderates whobarely mention abortion, gay marriage, gambling or other such divisiveissues as they campaign across the state.
"Usually, you expect the Republican candidate to be the more sociallyconservative and the Democrat tries to push back against that," said DarrylPaulson, a professor of government at the University of South Florida. "Butif there's not much of a difference between the candi
dates, these issues aretaken off the table, politically."Davis, a Tampa congressman, may be positioned a bit more predictably becauseFlorida Democrats have long favored political moderates in statewide races.
But Crist, the state's attorney general, has campaigned as a centristRepublican, blurring what are usually sharp partisan lines on family andlifestyle issues.Take the hot-button issue of abortion.Crist describes himself as "pro-life," and said he favors banning abortionexcept in cases of rape, incest and a danger to the life of the mother.
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http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-ppublix09oct09,0,3726750.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Food banks in Palm Beach County seek new donors after Publix cuts off meat, produce
By Ivette M. Yee
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
October 9, 2006
Twenty nonprofit organizations in Palm Beach County cut their feedingprograms to the needy a week after food giant Publix Super Markets beganenforcing its longstanding policy banning donations of meat, fruit andvegetables.
Major food bank Palm Beach Harvest, among others, is scrambling to find newdonors.
A Publix spokeswoman said Palm Beach Harvest in West Palm Beach delivers theperishable food in non-refrigerated vehicles, violating the company's foodsafety standards.
Publix has enforced its policy in Broward County, where charities haven'treceived perishable food from the grocery chain for years.
Charities that receive food from Palm Beach Harvest say they've been servingit for years and no one has fallen ill.
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