Senate 25 and 27 Candidate Biographies


DISTRICT 27 CANDIDATES

Lizbeth Benacquisto has been a Florida resident for over 30 years, living in Wellington
for the past 15. She attended the University of Florida and Penn State University, and
she graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic University with her Bachelor of Arts degree in
Organizational Management. Lizbeth and her family currently reside in Wellington. She
is a Realtor and mother of two school-age children and a college-age step-son.
Lizbeth was first elected Wellington Councilwoman in 2002 to represent the Village of
Wellington, and was re-elected through the conclusion of her term in 2010. She served
as vice-mayor for two years. Ms. Benaquisto has served the community as a member of
the American Council of Young Political leaders and was chosen and served as a
delegate to South Africa in 2004. She has served as member of Early Learning Coalition
of Palm Beach County, the Florida League of Cities municipal loan council, and as a
member of the Western Communities Council of Palm Beach County. She is currently a
member of the Metropolitan Planning Organization and the National League of Cities
Council on Youth Education and Families.

Mike Lameyer served in the United States Marine Corps for 4 years, saw difficult
combat in Vietnam, and received an honorable discharge as Sergeant E5. He earned a
bachelors degree, as well as his Commercial Pilot License along with a Flight Instructor
Certification. Mike was employed as a Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor. After a
downturn in the airline industry, Mike became the Director of Corporate Development for
International Science and Technology, which specialized in the development of hard
goods technology products. He also received several world-wide and US patents.
Mike married Karen a Palm Beach County School teacher. They have been married for
twenty-nine years and have four children. Mike, as a certified bowling coach, has
coached adults, children and Special Olympics. He is also a certified firearms instructor,
a published author and on the James Madison Institute’s Palm Beach Board of Advisors.
The Institute is a Florida-based research and educational organization rooted in a belief
in the U.S. Constitution. Mike states that he has the experience “necessary to insure Job
growth in Florida along with protecting our rights from an ever-intrusive Federal
Government”.

Sharon J. Merchant is a fifth-generation Floridian. Born in West Palm Beach, she
received a B.S. in International Affairs from Florida State University. While attending
FSU she served as legislative assistant to Rep. Marian Lewis from 1987 until 1992,
when she was elected to succeed Marian. Merchant served four consecutive terms as
District 83 Representative. When House Republicans earned a majority in 1996,
Representative Merchant became part of the legislative leadership. She was the Chair of
the Appropriations Committee on Transportation and Economic Development, and later
chaired the Juvenile Justice Committee. Other committees on which she served included
Utility and Telecommunications, Community College and Career Prep, Regulated
Services, and Water & Resource Management.
Domestic Violence continues to be a priority for Merchant. Sharon hosted an annual
conference/seminar for several years, with all proceeds going to domestic violence
shelters. Merchant has homes in both Palm Beach and Lee Counties. She is married to
Dan Turner. They have one son, Max Turner. Sharon is Vice President of Equipment
Rental Service, Inc., a family-owned business.

DISTRICT 25 CANDIDATES

Ellyn Setnor Bogdanoff a native Floridian, graduated from the University of Florida with
a degree in Insurance and Risk Management in 1980. She began her career as a
shareholder in Setnor Byer Bogdanoff, Inc., an independent insurance agency, and also
wrote as a columnist for a national insurance industry magazine. She established EBS
Consulting in 1997, a government and corporate consulting firm. Ellyn received her law
degree from Nova Southeastern University in 2003, graduating magna cum laude. She
is a practicing attorney, certified mediator and arbitrator in Fort Lauderdale
Ellyn was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in a Special Election in 2004.
She was the Majority Whip for the 2006-2008 term and is chair of the House Finance
and Tax Council. Ms. Bogdanoff has received several honors and awards for her
legislative advocacy and her commitment to education and children’s issues including
the “Rising Star” award from the Probate and Real Property Section of the Florida Bar,
legislator of the year by the Florida Association of Realtors in 2006 and the Florida
Dental Association in 2008. She was recognized by the Broward Partnership for the
Homeless and was also honored by Florida’s Children First, Covenant House Florida,
and the Florida Association of School Administrators. She was a foster parent and is
currently serving as a Guardian ad litem. She and her husband, Steven, have their three
children. Ellyn is also competitive tennis player when she finds spare time.

Carl Domino has lived in FL since 1958. He has a BS in Accounting from Florida State
University and a Harvard MBA. He served in the US Navy, in Vietnam and retired as a
Commander in the U.S.Naval Reserve in1989. Carl worked for Delaware Investment
Advisors as a chartered Financial Analyst and Senior Portfolio Manager. In 1987 he
founded Carl Domino Associates, now known as Northern Trust Value Investors and
Carl became the President and Chief Investment Officer. He is President of Carl
Domino, Inc., a wealth management and investment advisory firm, since 1987. He is a
member of several local and national business groups and is a regular commentator for
media outlets on financial markets.
In 2002 Carl was elected to the Florida House of Representatives, and he is currently
serving his fourth term. He was Majority Whip from 2004-2006 and Chair of the Palm
Beach County Delegation from 2005-2006. He serves on the Joint Legislative Auditing
Committee as Alternating Chair, the Committee on Audit & Performance as Vice Chair,
and the Committee on Insurance and the Government Efficiency & Accountability
Council. Mr. Domino is also very active in the community through the American Cancer
Society board of directors, Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches, Easter Seals
Golf Tournament, the Palm Beach Economic Council, Florida State University Boosters,
Florida State University Foundation, the West Palm Beach Kiwanis Club and the Knights
of Columbus. Carl, his wife, Sharon, and their two children live in Jupiter.

Fl. Senate Candidates give more depth to their positions



About 200 folks attended the  town-hall debate for Florida Senate Districts 25 and 27 GOP Primary candidates jointly hosted by SouthFlorida 912 and the Republican Club of the Palm Beaches (RCPB) at the First Baptist Church (FBC) in WPB.  There were a lot of new faces in attendance and we hope that we’ll see many of them in future events by both groups!  The FBC crew did a fantastic job in setting up the venue for us and many thanks go to them.

Joy Stone (past president of RCPB, 912 member and a parishioner at FBC) kept the agenda flowing.  Assistant Pastor Brandon Shields led us in the Invocation and the Pledge.  He was followed by Lou Galterio singing our national anthem.  Shannon Armstrong (founder South Florida 912) laid out the debate rules and spoke a little bit about the founding of the organization and the importance of getting involved.  Joy introduced the panelists: John Jamason – RCPB First VP, Ed Fulop – South Florida 912 organizer, Fred Scheibl – RCPB leadership and South Florida 912 leader and David DiCrescenzo -SouthFlorida912 leader, as our timekeeper. Melissa Andrews (president RCPB) spoke briefly about the club and reiterated the importance of getting involved, and then introduced each of the candidates with candidate biographies.  After the debate, Joy turned the microphone over to Shannon, who introduced other candidates who each got a minute to introduce themselves:  Sherry Lee for County Commissioner District 2, Tami Donnally for FL District 85, Joe Budd for Congressional District 19, Francisco Rodriguez and Pat Rooney for FL District 83, Michael E. Arth for Governor, and Steven Rosenblum for FL District 89.  Jason Shields (SouthFlorida 912 leader) concluded with the 50/50 drawing – won by Dean Taffell.  The candidates and many in the audience mingled afterwards and it was a good opportunity for people to question the candidates directly.

The debate questions were intended to try and draw out differences between the candidates: Lizbeth Benaquisto, Mike Lamayer and Sharon Merchant for FL Senate 27; Ellyn Bogdanoff and Carl Domino for FL Senate 25.  Each candidate was given 2 minutes for introductions, 2 minutes to respond to each question, and 2 minutes to wrap up.  Each candidate answered the same questions.  The audience was given an opportunity to score the candidates and then turn in their scoring sheets at the conclusion of the meeting.  About 1/4 of the folks turned in their sheets and we’ll compile the responses in a future post, recognizing that it’s not statistically significant nor scientific nor an endorsement.  People rated candidates for whom they can’t vote.  But it should be useful to candidates to see which topics resonated (or not) with the mostly conservative or GOP audience.

The following summaries of responses to questions are mine alone – and I didn’t take detailed notes.  So attendees – feel free to post comments with additions/your perspective :

Immigration – Arizona has passed a law effectively giving state law enforcement the authority to enforce federal immigration law incidental to other criminal investigation. Have you read this law and would you support such a statute in Florida?

Domino – hadn’t read either bill but supported the immigration bill in the FL House that did not get voted on in the FL Senate
Benacquisto – supports dealing with immigration and concerned about all residents – no direct response
Merchant – absolutely believes in strict enforcement and would back a similar law.
Lamayer – has read both bills and very strongly supports enforcement and 10th amendment rights
Bogdanoff – expressed concern about the impact of illegal immigration on the state

States’ Rights: Do you support the lawsuit against the Affordable Health Care for America Act brought by AG Bill McCollum? What are the strongest / weakest arguments being made?

Lamayer – yes – since federal government forcing mandate on individuals and states unconstitutional
Benacquisto– supports the lawsuit – the healthcare bill poses potential impacts from a fiscal and social perspective
Merchant– strongly opposed Obamacare and is in support of McCollums bill
Bogdanoff– concerned about the cost of healthcarebillto FL (and other states)  – with great expansion of Medicaid
Domino – will impact FL by $2 billion

Transportation: Two of you were in the legislature last year and voted for the “Sunrail” bill. Many think that this is not a good thing because high speed rail projects rarely pay for themselves and end up with endless subsidies. Others argue that it will bring “federal dollars” into the state that would have gone elsewhere. How do you defend your vote or how would you have voted on Sunrail? Why?

– Bogdanoff (voted for bill) – while she was reluctant to vote for the 3 part bill, and in general, opposes taking federal stimulus $$, she felt that using federal dollars to build infrastructure while creating a lot of new jobs was worth it.
Domino (voted for bill) – would rather have the money spent in FL.  He also mentioned the 3 parts to the bill and felt that getting funds for the south Florida trans. authority would give it some breathing room
Merchant – strongly against.  Mentioned that in the bill CSX got total immunity from any liability.
Lamayer – quoted from a CNN article on how mass transit NEVER pays for itself and is a black hole
Benacquisto – while it’s troubling to put so much cost to FL in the future, we need to find a way to create jobs while reducing our dependence on oil

State Amendments: There are 9 constitutional amendments on the ballot in November, involving redistricting, “home town democracy”, class size, health care and other matters. Which of these do you think are the most significant, and what outcome would you like to see for them?

Benacquisto – against Amendment 4 – Hometown Democracy – because it will shut down growth and incentives for people and businesses to move to our communities.  We need growth now.
Lamayer – against Amendment 4.  For Amendment 7 redistricting – using FL Senate 27 as an example of geographic and unemployment having so many differences in a single district
Merchant – for redistricting (although she didn’t mention which of the 3 amendments) and against Amendment 4
Bogdanoff – concerned about the way FL constitution has so many amendments and people generally vote for them without knowing the issues.  But she is for the class size Amendment 8 because the consequences of the class size bill was to force children to be bussed to another school when class size got to 19.  This gives parents and schools more flexibility.
Domino– sponsor of Amendment 3 – Additional homestead exemption for first time homebuyershould help with the glut of houses.  Also caps property tax increases to 5% instead of 10% year.  He is against Amendment 4 as anti-growth and anti-business.  For Amendment 8 for the flexibility.

Education: Since its inception, the FCAT has been controversial. This year several thousand students in the state failed their second try at the test and could not graduate. Does this suggest there is a problem with the test or the instruction, or is it working as advertised? What action (if any) should be taken by the Legislature?

Domino– HS students get 6 chances to pass the FCAT from 10th grade on.  HS graduation rate has gone from 54% to 74% and Florida schools have improved greatly.  If you don’t test, you don’t care.  We must have standards.
Bogdanoff – For accountability, but when FCAT passed, people started teaching to the test.  Teachers needs to be trained now to teach, not just teach the test.  She prefers end of course exams.
Merchant – Parents have a major role in making sure their children are learning.  Teachers should also be accountable.  She would have voted no on SB6.  She believes in merit pay but not having everything decided by Tallahassee.
– Lamayer – SB 6 is a bad bill.  Quoted that only 40% of juniors passed FCAT.  Education isn’t matching testing.
Benacquisto – doesn’t like FCAT.  Puts too much stress on the students.  Too much emphasis on one test..  Testing should be done at the beginning of the year so that student’s weakness can be addressed over the school year to focs on helping the students succeed.

Spending/Taxes: The budget for last year and this was balanced with considerable help from federal stimulus funds for which the governor and the legislature has been criticized, since the stimulus comes with future mandates and other entanglements. Should the budget have been balanced without the stimulus? If so, what would you cut or what additional revenue would you have gone after?

Merchant – the budget, instead of being over $70 billion, should be around $64-65 billion with significant cuts instead of relying on Uncle Sam.  Need to entirely rethink the budget and against using various trust funds to balance the state budget.
Lamayer – enforcing illegal immigration would save $$ right away.  Stop moving money from one fund to another.  Reduce government.  Lawsuit reform like in TX generated lots of jobs.  Also oil and gas reserves in FL equal those in Alaska.
Benacquisto – government is spending too much of our money.  Streamline process using infrastructure technology.  Create jobs by incentives to corporations.  Clean energy and information technology is the answer
Bogdanoff– the budget is driven by Education, Medicaid and the prison system.  Only about $1billion left that can be addressed.  She would give tax credits to businesses that create jobs.  Saved $3.8 billion with the Gov’t Efficiency Act of 2010 – this will be repeated every year to address spending.
Domino– Every department has to justify spending.  Our growing elderly population is increasing costs.

Each of the candidates made closing statements.  District 25 candidates Carl and Ellyn focused on their attributes, although Ellyn specifically asked the audience for their vote.  The District 27 candidates, however, did direct criticism against each other – and I could hear the crowd reacting.

Although the number of questions was limited and we didn’t have time for all topics and time for audience questions, we hope that this event gave the public an opportunity to learn more about the candidates and the issues.  Thanks to all of the folks from the South Florida 912  and Republican Club of the Palm Beaches and First Baptist Church for all of their hard work!

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 .

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John Thrasher highlights a very well attended luncheon

Over 100 people attended our luncheon this afternoon.  It was great to see a room full of energized Republicans, discussing the issues.  Melissa, club President, had to encourage the folks to enter the buffet lines so that we could begin the meeting!
(Text continues below the pictures.)


Sid Lanier led us in the Invocation and Pledge, followed by Lou Galterio doing his wonderful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.  Melissa pointed out many of the office-holders  and PBC GOP officers in our midst, after which State Committeeman, Peter Feaman teased his topic, Islamic Terrorism,  for tonight’s Right Nights meeting.   Melissa also made some announcements.

Dorothy Harper, Asst. Sec’y and Treasurer also served as our Scholarship Chair.  As such, she did a heartfelt biography of Anne Roberts, after whom our Anne Roberts Memorial Scholarship was named.    Dorothy then introduced our two scholarship winners – Cindy Morris and James Shackelford.  Cindy, a mother of 5 with a 3.6 GPA attends Palm Beach Atlantic University and hopes to graduate this year with a BS in Elementary Education.  James is attending FAU, with a 3.57 GPA.  He spoke to his interest in politics and the FAU online radio show Owls with Issues.  We congratulate both of our scholarship winners!

Anita Mitchell, 2nd VP, introduced our keynote speaker, Florida Senator  and RPOF Chairman John Thrasher.    John thanked many of the PBC GOP leaders in the audience as well as Senate President Jeff Atwater for their leadership this year.   Some key points that John made in his talk:

  • RPOF will not be taking sides in the primaries!
  • He summarized the legislative session – Florida is having a difficult year with 1.1 million unemployed and a record number of foreclosures.  So the key focus of the lawmakers was to “do no harm to the people and small business”.  They didn’t raise taxes and fees and also kept a focus on education.  Next year will be equally challenging if not more so as stimulus dollars will be fewer next year.
  • John also focused on the legislative sessions focus on education.  An amendment will be on the ballot in November modifying the class size amendment from 2002.  He also mentioned that standards in Math and Science were increased.  Also increased were tax credits for businesses that provide scholarships.  And he mentioned Senate Bill 6 – which was vetoed by Governor Crist.
  • 2010 Elections – John noted that as he travels the state, passions and concerns by Republicans were palpable.  The day to day assault on capitalism, the rising debt and deficits and the concerns about our countries future has more people involved than ever.  He was happy with the caliber of the candidates and quoted Jeb Bush as saying that ‘we need people who paint in bright colors’ – those with a passion for reform, low taxes and limited government.     Thrasher also predicted the Governor Crist will come in third in the Senate race (and challenged Palm Beach Post-on-Politics reporter, George Bennett to quote him!).  He also said that fund raising for the first quarter of 2010  was going well and that expenses were $1 million less than the prior year.

The talk was followed by a brief Q&A Session.  Francisco Rodriguez asked if John thought the Florida Healthcare Freedom Act was the right thing to do.  John replied positively.  Steve Rosenblum asked about release of the RPOF credit card statements.  Mr. Thrasher said that they had been released 3 weeks ago.  Peter Feaman asked about the Gulf oil spill crisis and the President’s response.  John replied that Obama didn’t create the spill nor would he be able to solve it.  While he feels that our Governor wants the special session to eliminate offshore-drilling off Florida shores, Thrasher feels that our Attorney General needs tools to go after BP and that the state should shore up its Recovery Fund in anticipation of damage to families and industry (eg tourism and fishing) from the impact of the spill.  John Parsons asked about the failure to pass any bill on illegal immigration.  Senator Thrasher wasn’t able to answer why the E-Verify bill was passed overwhelming by the House but not addressed at all by the Senate.  He felt, however, that Arizona had a right to pass its law and that we ought to take a look at doing something similar.

The meeting closed with short candidate talks by Joe Budd (CD19), Steve Rosenblum (FL H 89), Ellyn Bogdanoff (FL S 25), Lizbeth Benacquisto (FL S 27), Sharon Merchant (FL S 27), Carl Domino (FL S 25), Pat Rooney (FL H 83), Mike Lameyer (FL S 27) and Nancy Cardone (FL H 83), followed by raffle results.

Thanks to everyone who made this an exciting, successful luncheon!

PBC Staff Analysis of Fire/Rescue Sales Tax Opposition Claims

At the request of Palm Beach County Commissioner Santamaria, the Director of the County Office of Financial Management and Budget (OFMB), Liz Bloeser, evaluated the points made by the Economic Council in their letter to commissioners (and which echo the points made on the website). Her letter is posted on the website.

Her analysis determined that each claim is accurate (although they feel the call rate does not completely account for the 82% budget increase.)

Sunday's Palm Beach Post: "Cities should reject fire tax"

Sunday’s editorial came out strongly against the fire/rescue sales tax proposal. Many of the points made echo those made by both the Economic Council as well as those highlighted in the website One of the closing remarks in the editorial states:

Firefighters suggest that the shift would spread the burden of paying for fire-rescue service to tourists, who use the service but don’t pay for it directly.

Perhaps, but a higher sales tax would fall disproportionately harder on the poor. The real reason they want the tax shift is to put firefighters in a separate financial pot, to spare the union the pain of budget cuts that all cities are having to confront in all departments. As governments cope with declining tax bases, fire-rescue reductions have to be part of their calculations.

The editorial can be found here.

Action Alert! Voters' Coalition of Palm Beach County to host debate on 1% Sales Tax Increase

This was posted in the Sun-Sentinel and appeared in Sunday’s paper:

Voters Coalition hosting sales tax increase debate
> Posted by Andy Reid on April 29, 2010 06:20 PM

The Palm Beach County Voters’ Coalition on May 6 plans to host a debate over the proposed 1 percent sales tax increase to help pay for fire-rescue costs.

The Palm Beach County commission is considering allowing voters in August to decide whether to approve a “tax swap” – which calls for a 1 percent increase in the sales taxes with the money raised being used to reduce the property taxes normally designated for firefighting.

If approved, sales taxes would go up in January.

The Economic Council and firefighters union are scheduled to discuss the proposed sales tax increase at the May 6 Voters Coalition meeting.

Business leaders have raised concerns about increasing the sales tax. Firefighters support the move as a way to potentially lower property taxes and diversify fire-rescue revenue sources.

The debate begins at 1 p.m. and will be held at the South County Civic Center, located at 16700 Jog Road in Delray Beach.!

The Voters’ Coalition meeting on May 6th at 1:00 p.m. in the South County Civic Center is open to the public. No reservations nor tickets are required.

Action Alert – Contact your Senators on S.3217, Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010

On Monday the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S.3217, Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 . The 1400 page bill has a lot wrong with it – and it’s important to call our Senators and tell them to vote NO.

Here is an excellent article by an analyst at Heritage Foundation on 14 Fatal Flaws. I suggest you read through it prior to contacting Senators Nelson and LeMiuex with the contact information provided further down. All the points are excellent – but to me #14, without any of the other points, would make this bill a non-starter!

Senator Dodd’s Regulation Plan: 14 Fatal Flaws
Published on April 22, 2010 by James Gattuso

The Senate is expected to take up a proposal, originally authored by Senator Chris Dodd (D–CT), to reform the financial regulatory system in the U.S. The goal is clear: to minimize the chances that another financial crisis—and bailouts—will arise again.

The objective is a good one. Unfortunately, the 1,408-page bill includes numerous provisions that would hurt—not help—consumers and the economy. It would even make another financial crisis or bailout more likely to occur.

Fourteen Flaws

Among other things, the bill:

1. Creates a protected class of “too big to fail” firms. Section 113 of the bill establishes a “Financial Stability Oversight Council,” charged with identifying firms that would “pose a threat to the financial security of the United States if they encounter “material financial distress.” These firms would be subject to enhanced regulation. However, such a designation would also signal to the marketplace that these firms are too important to be allowed to fail and, perversely, allow them to take on undue risk. As American Enterprise Institute scholar Peter Wallison wrote, “Designating large non-bank financial companies as too big to fail will be like creating Fannies and Freddies in every area of the economy.”[1]

2. Provides for seizure of private property without meaningful judicial review. The bill, in Section 203(b), authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to order the seizure of any financial firm that he finds is “in danger of default” and whose failure would have “serious adverse effects on financial stability.” This determination is subject to review in the courts only on a “substantial evidence” standard of review, meaning that the seizure must be upheld if the government produces any evidence in favor of its action. This makes reversal extremely difficult.

The complete article can be found here: Senator Dodd’s Regulation Plan – 14 Fatal Flaws

The bill can be found here.

Contact our senators:

LeMieux, George S. – (R – FL) Class III
356 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3041
email Senator LeMieux

Nelson, Bill – (D – FL) Class I
716 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5274
email Senator Nelson

Tax Day Tea Party invite video – West Palm Beach – 4/15

Watch Allen West and Marco Rubio on Hannity Foxnews on Tues 4/13

Hannity is on his book tour – Conservative Victory Tour. He’ll be at the Villages in Orlando, (Book signing at The Villages, 7:30-9:30pm EST) with Special Guests: Marco Rubio, Allen West, Lou Holtz, Tucker Carlson, Ricky Medlocke. Marco and Allen will also be on the Hannity show at 9pm on Foxnews channel (44).

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