Election Night - A Night to Remember

Comment Up

Yesterday was one exhausting day.  From working my polling precinct off and on from 6:45am up until 5pm, a city commission meeting followed by a President's Council meeting at my community (having to leave both early) and then an election party on Clematis Street, it was non-stop.  I went to bed believing that Crist had won as well as medical marijuana. Rick Scott took 49% of the vote to Crist's 47% and medical marijuana failed to get its 60%.

Thank God we live in a state that is 65,755 sq. miles and the state and national elections are not decided in Palm Beach County alone.  Heavily Democratic strongholds are Broward and Palm Beach which is hard to overcome while running as a Republican. (Even Erica Whitfield, in the non-partisan School Board race, promoted Party loyalty on her campaign literature..."the only Democrat in the race").  Florida is the 4th most populous state with Democrats still outnumbering Republicans among Florida’s registered voters. Republicans Among Florida’s 11,446,540 registered voters: 40% Democrat, 36% Republicans, 20% No Party Affiliation (independents) and 4% Minor Parties.

Now with the GOP controlling Washington with 52 seats in the Senate and the Democrats with 44, this is a huge win for Republicans that will shape President Obama's policies for the next two years unless he institutes more executive privilege.  And in the House the largest majority was won by the GOP since World War II, 246.

Patrick Murphy won his race which was no surprise.  He had some of the best campaign ads throughout this election.  All of those for whom I endorsed won other than for House District 22 (wishful thinking because Frankel in this area is hard to beat, sort of like Alcee Hastings in his). It's hard to figure Frankel's popularity. When she was mayor of West Palm Beach, she told the people to screw off and did it her way anyway but there are other voters out of this city who only know her as a Democrat. There is a lot of Party loyalty with voters. Amendment 3 was rejected by the voters with only 48% of approval. It needed 60%.

The other was the non-partisan School Board District 4 race where highly qualified Tom Sutterfield lost. The City of Lake Worth voters, (in the city where Whitfield resides) came out strongly for popular Erica Whitfield who had a resounding win over Sutterfield. Whitfield had the backing of several unions. Her attack ads (I hope those are not a "Mother's voice") helped her to gain thousands of voters for her win. Tom took it with grace and class.

Tom Sutterfield School Board candidate generates the most interest

Comment Up

Top blogs for the week:  All on Tom Sutterfield, District 4 School board

Tom Sutterfield School Board District 4 Oct 28, 2014, 7 comments	493 hits
Moms and Apple Pie aren't what they're cracked up ... Oct 30, 2014, 13 comments	399
Tom Sutterfield for School Board District 4 Nov 1, 2014, 8 comments	337

Tom Sutterfield for School Board District 4

Comment Up

Now think about this for one minute, folks.  Why would the apple pie mom and Tom Sutterfield's opponent, Erica Whitfield, condone another attack ad against Tom? Her campaign must be in some sort of hot water as there were two polls taken last week and they were not conducted by Sutterfield.

You have to follow the do re me and look to see who might benefit for pouring all this money into a school board election... It's not Tom Sutterfield who works for the South Florida Water Management District who even personally funded his campaign with loans. It's not Tom Sutterfield's contributors who know that he volunteers (and has for over a decade), his time and expertise at a Charter school to help the school and its children. He doesn't even get paid to do this work.  It's not Tom Sutterfield who wants desperately to improve our entire public school system where one of his children is enrolled and a system that he is determined to make better for students, teachers and the taxpayer. School Rankings

Then why the attack ads?  He is portrayed as a "conservative" as if that is some dirty word.  Thank God for conservatives.  They watch the purse strings.  They are resourceful and work within a budget and fairly tackle the issues with common sense. The Palm Beach Post has confidence in Tom.  So does Boynton Beach mayor Jerry Taylor.  And so do thousands of people across District 4.

Don't let this sleazy flyer or the partisan robo call that you got yesterday affect you other than solidifying your support for Tom Sutterfield, the only candidate who has not resorted to negativity, who plays by the rules, a husband and a father who knows the value of an excellent education and is the only candidate with budgetary experience as well as oversight on construction. He is exactly what Palm Beach County needs and these are his priorities:

• Establishing budget priorities and BALANCING the budget!!
• Bringing taxpayer's dollars closer to the students, teachers and school administrators to make a substantial difference in the classroom
• Being fiscally responsible
• Ensure proper spending of taxpayer’s dollars
• Working to ensure our children are provided with a safe school environment and that safety measures are being held to the highest standards
• Strongly supporting music and art programs for our children
• Bringing more technology to our students in the classroom

Vote for Tom Sutterfield on November 4.

Moms and Apple Pie aren't what they're cracked up to be - PB County School Board Race

Comment Up

The School Board race in Palm Beach County is usually innocuous but the race for District 4 just became nasty. Who would think that a non-partisan race for a school board seat would turn into ugly politics with smears and lies from such a sweet looking mom.

I received the Whitfield flyer in the mail. It was produced by Fact Check Florida Electioneering Committee out of Jacksonville (Click here) so that she can distance herself from the attacks on her opponent that charged some of his contributors with no accountability, some anti homosexual agenda (she is attempting to get the large GLBT vote here)  and school vouchers...dirty pool. By stating that she is a Democrat, her campaign is capitalizing on the majority of registered Democrats in Palm Beach County to bring her campaign over the top. Even though Democrats are losing in opinion polls because of trust issues, her flyer states that she is "A Democrat We can Trust" and then proceeds to personally attack her opponent, Tom Sutterfield, because of some contributors.

Ms. Whitfield has received money from the usual suspects in Lake Worth that show up in every campaign, many against the best interests of our city...illegal banners and all. You know who they are without my even mentioning their names. Most of our city commissioners donated and Maxwell gave in the name of his company. They support development at any cost. Even Jeff Clemens has contributed to her campaign along with his PAC. There are land developers, builders, contractors, lawyers, plumbers, and engineering companies along with Associated Builders.

You have to wonder why this race is attracting so much money to Whitfield's campaign. Does the School Board Budget of $2,315,232,281 for 2015 have anything at all to do with it or the possibility of building new schools that might come up for consideration? The person who gets elected will be voting on multi-million dollar construction projects in addition to million dollar R and R projects, so would these contributors have her ear to influence her selection?

Whitfield to date: $50,241,33
Sutterfield to date: $33,166.95.

Why make a non-partisan race partisan? Some people resort to this type of tactic when the race is close or when they are losing and then have a PAC do the dirty work for them. This is not a good example for kids especially when your only credential is being a Mom and you choose to vilify your opponent by attempting to destroy his integrity.

School is all about teaching the Three R's...reading, writing and arithmetic as well as what's right and wrong.  Even her flyer got the District she is running for wrong.

Who can you trust to get it right?

Tom Sutterfield for District 4.

Tom Sutterfield School Board District 4

Comment Up

Tom Sutterfield is in the run-off election for School Board District 4. This is NOT about who has the best smile or a personality contest even though Tom has both, but it involves a very serious matter--the education of our kids along with being responsible for several billion dollars. Tom Sutterfield has vast experience involved in budgeting and was on the board of the Learning Excellence Foundation where he enabled an increase in pay for teachers.

This year the PB County School Board budget is as follows:
The FY15 all funds totals $2,315,232,281 comprised of the following:
General Fund $1,654,256,842
Special Revenue ‐ Food Service 107,769,081
Special Revenue ‐ Other 110,476,721
Debt Service 303,926,981
Capital Projects 383,335,627
Sub‐Total $2,559,765,252
Less Transfers: (244,532,971)
Total Funds $2,315,232,281

"The School District of Palm Beach County is the twelfth largest school district in the United States, and the largest employer in Palm Beach County with more than than 20,000 employees, which includes nearly 13,000 teachers and more than 7,000 support employees."

He has been endorsed by the Palm Beach Post as the best candidate to fulfill the mission statement. Their mission statement says, The School District of Palm Beach County is committed to providing a world-class education with excellence and equity to empower each student to reach his or her highest potential with the most effective staff to foster the knowledge, skills, and ethics required for responsible citizenship and productive careers.

Tom Sutterfield for Palm Beach County School Board

Today I attended the Greater Lantana Chamber of Commerce's Economic Development Forum held at the Old Key Lime house. It invited three candidates to speak and the first one was

Tom Sutterfield for School Board

Endorsed by the Palm Beach Post, Tom's motto is to support every child, every teacher and every school and give students and their parents choices to get them engaged.  He has three children, one in public school. He will be working for parents, teachers, students and taxpayers. He has a decade of school budgetary experience, knowledge of school operations and expansion with a proven track record ensuring all education and safety standards for our children remain on the forefront. Please visit his web site and learn about his background, education and endorsements.

 Tom's priorities are:

• Establishing budget priorities and BALANCING the budget!!

• Bringing taxpayer's dollars closer to the students, teachers and school administrators to make a substantial difference in the classroom

• Being fiscally responsible

• Ensure proper spending of taxpayer’s dollars

• Working to ensure our children are provided with a safe school environment and that safety measures are being held to the highest standards

• Strongly supporting music and art programs for our children

• Bringing more technology to our students in the classroom 

What we've become - The Moveable Red Line - Immigrants and Education

A Middle School Principal was fired after telling Hispanic students at a Texas school to speak English. The kids may not be learning English but they have learned the buzz words that get liberals excited. They cried "racism." She claims she was persecuted for simply enforcing state rules. The official language in Texas is English as it is in Florida.

Read more... at Mail Online.

The Palm Beach County School Board race should not be a personality contest.  Get to know the candidates.

Justin Katz
Larry Rosensweig
Tom Sutterfield
Erica Whitfield

School Board Election on August 26 - Tom Sutterfield District 4

Today, Tom Sutterfield of Boynton Beach got the endorsement from the Palm Beach Post for District 4 School Board. Tom says, "I will bring over a decade of school budgetary experience, knowledge of school operations and expansion, and a proven track record of working with parents, teachers, administrators and staff to ensure all education and safety standards for our children remain on the forefront.  I would be honored to serve as your next School Board member for District 4.”

It is a known fact that we have serious educational issues and challenges in Palm Beach County as shown in the FCAT stats below. If you can't read, you can't write and 2 + 2 does not equal 5. One woman with whom I spoke  is planning on opening a charter school in Lake Worth, She said, "I don't have any hope of things getting better with schools in Palm Beach County unless he and a few others like him get elected."

A failing grade is counted as scoring a 1 or 2. A passing grade is 3, 4 or 5 (the best).

READING--3rd grade
45% failing at North Grade Elementary
71% failing at Barton Elementary
75% failing at South Grade Elementary
76% failing at Highland Elementary

MATH--3rd grade
35% failing at North Grade Elementary
60% failing at Barton Elementary
72% failing at South Grade Elementary
59% failing at Highland elementary

Reading--4th grade
47% failing at North Grade Elementary
68% failing at Barton Elementary
64% failing at South Grade Elementary
71% failing at Highland Elementary

Math--4th Grade
39% failing at North Grade Elementary
39% failing at Barton Elementary
54% failing at South Grade Elementary
46% failing at Highland Elementary

Reading--8th Grade
61% failing at Lake Worth Middle School

Math--8th Grade
67% failing at Lake Worth Middle School

Reading--10th Grade
74% failing at Lake Worth Community High School

Source:  http://fcat.fldoe.org/mediapacket/2014/default.asp
scroll down to FCAT 2.0.

Sample Democratic Ballot

Sample Ballot for Precinct 3078

Primary Election

August 26, 2014

---

Governor and Lieutenant Governor - Democratic Party
(Vote for One)
Charlie Crist   Not Yet Designated	DEM
Nan H. Rich   Not Yet Designated	DEM

Attorney General - Democratic Party
(Vote for One)
George Sheldon	DEM
Perry E. Thurston	DEM

Circuit Court Judge, Grp. 14
(Vote for One)
Diana Lewis
Jessica Ticktin

Circuit Court Judge, Grp. 30
(Vote for One)
Maxine Cheesman
Jaimie Goodman
Peggy Rowe-Linn

School Board, Dist. 4
(Vote for One)
Justin Katz
Larry Rosensweig
Tom Sutterfield
Erica Whitfield

PRI_2014: CITY OF LAKE WORTH QUESTION

APPROVAL OF "LAKE WORTH 2020" BONDS FOR PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS WITHIN THE CITY. Shall the City of Lake Worth be authorized to issue bonds to acquire and improve roadway, sidewalk, streetlight, streetscape,drainage and water and sewer facilities located within the City in one or more series not exceeding a total principal amount of $63,500,000, payable from an annual ad valorem tax maturing not later than 30 years from the date of each issuance and bearing interest at a rate not exceeding the maximum legal rate?

FOR BONDS

AGAINST BONDS