You Made The Difference!!!! No New Sales Tax
When we started 2010, our mission was to make a difference. Today, we showed that we can. RCPB along with other other local organizations including the South Florida 9-12 Group banned together, took our 2 minutes and let the world know how we felt about this new tax. Many members left during the commissioners comments upset that we didnt make a difference. Here we are – just a little over 24 hours later, and the opposition has decided they can not present a viable case… and have ENDED their request for a 1% Sales Tax on the November ballot.
RCPB members made the difference. We called, emailed and showed up. We voiced our opinion.
Here is a letter I delivered to all 7 County Commissioners, West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel, Two Fire Cheifs and the Palm Beach Post along with a roll of toilet paper (letter was modified for each person)
Dear Mayor Frankel,
I want to ask you to listen to the voice of the people. As a representative for the people, I ask you to take the stand to keep the Fire Dept funding in the budget – under the control of the City Commission and off the ballot.
It is very puzzling to understand why the FAST and SUDDEN push to add this sales tax. When we hear the unions have $3 Million dollars to get this issue passed, as a citizen we really need to ask WHY?
The November election cycle will be tremendous for citizens. We have every cabinet seat, a senate race and many amendments, including Amendment 4 to consider.
The expense of supporting or opposing an issue such as this is also a tremendous cost the people of West Palm Beach cannot afford.
I have attached a gift for you – along with the receipt. The value including 6.5% tax is $.80 (eighty cents). The message here is that even the daily staple of toiletries is a taxable item. With the ½ cent sales tax for schools ending in December, the residents of West Palm Beach can now take a sigh of relief. We have fulfilled our request for schools, but at this time, we are just unable to take on any additional dedicated tax.
Please STOP this madness and please do not place this issue on the ballot in November.
Melissa
Fire/Rescue Sales Tax Status
The 1 percent sales tax proposal has been pulled from further consideration for the November ballot. Confirmed by county staff, the reason given was problems with the statute that made wording for the ballot measure difficult to craft. Perhaps our patient opposition and public outcry had a positive effect? Thanks to all who participated in saving the taxpayers from a BIG mistake.
See the text of the letter from County Administrator Bob Weisman to Commissioners and staff at
On Tuesday, June 8, the Board of County Commissioners voted 4-3 to continue on to “First Reading” of the ballot initiative for November. In spite of the fact that 33 of 34 speakers were VEHEMENTLY opposed to the measure, Commissioners Marcus, Aaronson, Vana and Santamaria voted to proceed. Commissioner Taylor changed her vote from last time and opposed it. For a blow-by-blow description of the events and who said what, see the featured article at as well as the Post and Sun-Sentinel articles on the subject that are linked from there.
Many members of Republican Club of the Palm Beaches came and spoke against the proposal, including Melissa Andrews, Barry Carson, Tami Donnally, Nancy Hogan, Carol Hurst, Mike Lameyer, John Parsons, and Fred and Iris Scheibl.
Sighted in the audience were Sid Dinerstein, Carl Domino, Claire Jones, Yvonne Inglis and Bette Anne Starkey .
NEXT STEP:
Tuesday 6/15/10 – We need to turn out again, in larger numbers (if that is possible 🙂 to once again speak against the proposal. We can expect more speakers on the other side at that meeting as they will try to counter the optics of overwhelming opposition.
Call to Action – Speak out against the 1% Fire/Rescue Sales Surtax on June 8 at BCC mtg
NOTE: Time change – the agenda item is now time-certain for 11:00AM. In order to speak you must have a comment card submitted by 10:45 at the latest. Allow time to park and get through security!
At the last minute (not noted yet in the official agenda but confirmed) the County Commission has placed the sales tax proposal on the agenda for the 6/8/10 BCC Meeting (Item 6A2). At approximately 10:15am, they will discuss questions posed by staff in preparation to placing it on the ballot in November. It is also a slated agenda item for the County Workshop on 6/15 where the first reading of the ballot measure will occur. PLEASE COME TO THE MEETING ON TUESDAY JUNE 8 AND SPEAK AGAINST THIS PROPOSAL.
We need a big crowd against this. Please spread the word.
Key Points:
1) We oppose a new tax at this time
2) We oppose this being an item on the ballot in November
Here is a link to the Since this agenda item is NOT time certain – please plan on being there before 6A2 is begun to pick up a card so that you can speak. And it may come up as late as 10:45 – so allow sufficient parking meter time. The notice about the meeting has also been posted on the Announcement section of .
Event Tracking
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Gubernatorial Candidate Rick Scott Interview at DC Works for US
Fred and I drove down to Coral Springs in order to hear Rick Scott, GOP candidate for Florida Governor, running against FL Attorney General Bill McCollum in the primary. Mr. Scott is considered controversial – because, as he put it, he ‘upset the apple cart’ as he started to gain in the polls against the assumed GOP candidate. Scott is also controversial because of his role as CEO of Columbia/HCA during a huge 1997 Medicare/Medicaid fraud scandal. However – he also had been a huge opponent of Hillarycare. And he was the guy running the Conservatives for Patient Rights commercials battling Obamacare. My post is for information only – I think we need to hear/see more from all of the viable candidates.
Fred summarized Scott’s approach as ‘Government by Audit’ – when asked what he could have done differently at HCA, he said they should have had more auditors to keep tabs on things. An answer that he could have given (but didn’t) is that a leader can set an example for an organization that breaking the law is not OK.
I took a lot of notes and this is a long post. Many of the questions asked of him should also be the kinds of questions we ask of our candidate for other state offices (such as in the Senate debate on 6/24).
Here’s a few pictures (fuzzy cellphone – sorry) of the event. The narrative continues below them.
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- Karin starts the meeting
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- Rick Scott
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- Q&A session for the cameras
Meeting Summary
Karin Hoffman kicked off the meeting and spoke about the need for activism. She also spoke in defense of the DC Works for US strategy of endorsing primary candidates. She feels that waiting until August is too late to build up the volunteer base and techniques and that it’s more important to pick the candidates NOW. She also spoke about needing to win, not 30 or 40 congressional seats – but over 110 in order to have a veto-proof majority. Karin also announced that Bill McCollum will appearing at DC Works for US in about two weeks.
Opening Remarks: Mr. Scott said that he has spent the last 1 1/2 years fighting the healthcare bills. But that he’s running because the state is a mess and we keep electing the same type of politicians. We need someone who has runa businesses before. Rick has done all kinds of menial jobs and came from modest means. He purchased his first business at 21 – a donut shop. (As an aside, he remarked that if you let the employees eat unlimited donuts, after the first couple of days they will never eat one again!) He owned various businesses since then, the largest being Columbia/HCA with 285 thousand employees. He’s lived the American Dream and he has had setbacks. We need accountability in government, like there is in the private sector. We need to balance budgets. He also spoke to making the climate better for businesses in Florida. That the only way we’ll recover is by bringing in businesses and expanding the economy – not by spending programs.
1) Accountability budgeting – set measureable and outcome oriented goals and measure them daily.
2) Arizona-like immigration bill.
3) Defend the state of Florida (eg from federal actions)
He doesn’t need this job but feels he needs to act.
Karin then followed with questions submitted by members by email. There were no questions from the audience.
Speak to your Columbia/HCA Controversy: Can’t make excuses. The company had 1)best patient satisfation 2)Lowest prices 3) Best patient outcomes. But did a bad job of internal/external audit. In business, the executives are accountable; in government – NOT. How to fix it in government? More internal/external auditing. How to enforce immigration? Use the Governor’s pulpit to educate/cajole. Push the Federal government to act and do their job. Pass an Arizona-like bill. Use all agencies to enforce the law. Make e-verify mandatory? Yes – or something like it. But he wants to remain sensitive to not overwhelming businesses with regulations. How will you decide when to use the National Guard (eg in oil spill/border issues)? Need a forceful governor and legislature. It’s their obligation to act if the Federal Government doesn’t How to prevent the oil spill from damaging FL and what is your position on drilling? 1) First solve it (the oil flow) 2) hold the companies accountable and keep them responsible for compensating those whose businesses/livelihood damaged 3)we need to be energy independent – which includes nuclear, alternative energy as well as offshore drilling. How about distance for drilling? Find out what caused the blow-out. Need experts. How to handle the rise in unemployment/create jobs? 1) Create a state budget that business people won’t feel relies on increased taxation 2) limit regulations that impact business from coming to the state 3) States that have lower spending as a percent of their GDP have better business environments – so lower spending. 4) The governor has to be a salesperson – promoting the state. What is your position on Hometown Democracy? (Iris’ note: Amendment 4 on Nov ballot) It’s a disaster. Job killer. We elect individuals to be responsible for monitoring/planning growth. Can’t have every decision voted on. Why vote for you? Not a career politician, not accountable to any interest group, not going to pander. How to protect Floridians from actions by Congress/Federal Gov’t? Educate the citizens. He didn’t see Governors and Attorney Generals speaking out to their people during the healthcare fight and talking about the implications. Our state elected officials need to take a stand. So when Congress votes – the impact on the states will be clear. Use laws. Defend states rights. Impact on FL of gov’t standards on waterways? Get the facts. Sit down with everyone. High Speed Rail? What is the ROI? Will it pay for itself? From what he’s learned, it won’t. Position on accepting Federal Stimulus Dollars? Against the stimulus bills because you can’t tax or spend your way to prosperity. We should not have accepted the stimulus dollars. We want our elected officials to stand up for our state. Agenda 21/Sustainable Development? Not familiar with it. FL Senate Bill 6? His daughter is a special needs teacher. He believes in accountability and merit pay. The best teachers should make the most money. New teachers should not be getting tenure. What’s the purpose of public schools – to teach! Vouchers? Absolutely believe in them. FL HB 21/SB 98, Right to bear arms? Strong believer in gun ownership and right to bear arms.
At this point, after Karin had squeezed in 3 or more questions after Mr. Scott’s handlers had said he had to leave, Karin thanked him and the candidate was whisked away through the crowd. A few candidates for various office spoke very briefly but the meeting was over.
RCPB Welcomes Mr. Portability – Rep. Carl Domino
Please join us on Wednesday, June 23rd at 11:30 am as RCPB welcomes Rep. Carl Domino. We have given him. We gave him the nickname “Mr. Portability”. Carl will give us an update on the recent session, as well as what’s next.
- Wednesday, June 23rd
- 11:30 am Meet & Greet
- 12:00 Program Begins
- $20 Member $25 Guest
- RSVP info@gopclubpb.org or by calling 561-697-4911
Right Nights Gets Cozy by the Fire.
Ok, there was no fire, but there was a cozy chat by the fireplace. This month’s Right Nights featured speaker was author, attorney and Palm Beach County Committeeman, Peter Feaman. Peter covered topics from his first book Wake Up, America and his yet to be published second book Wake Up, America! Please! Peter’s books cover the ongoing conflicts between the believers of Islam and other world religions; mainly Christianity and Judaism. After a fact filled and eye opening presentation, Peter took questions from the audience. An all out discussion of our current government and it’s failings in dealing with Muslim extremeists, past terrrorist acts, and the Old Testament followed. Once again, Right Nights gives our members a chance to interact with our speakers and create a great dialogue about the subjects we are dealing with everyday as a country. next month’s right nights will come ion the form of a debate at the First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach on June 24th. See the club’s homepage for more details