Representative Rick Roth on the Accomplishments of the 2022 Session

We codified many conservative aspects of the culture war in the recently ended session, but the bad news is why we had to do it. That was how Representative Rick Roth started his session review at our March meeting. “We are no longer at the edge of the abyss, we are in it!” There are those of us who are making things happen (door #1), watching what is happening (door #2), or wondering “what just happened??” (door $3). We all need to move to door #1 as quickly as we can.

With that he listed for us his “top 10” accomplishments of the session, most passed along party lines:

1. HB7 – Individual Freedom. This bill bans the teaching of Critical Race Theory, along with any other classroom discussion that could make students feel guilt or anguish because of their race. For critics who say it limits the teaching about race in American history, Rick says “bring it on”. Let’s talk about the Democrat instituted Jim Crow laws, and Woodrow Wilson’s showing of Klan movies at the White House.
2. HB1557 – Parental Rights in Education. This bill is about “age appropriateness” when discussing sex and gender topics. The critics who call it “Don’t Say Gay” are in fact agitating for the sexualization of children in grades K-3.
3. HB7051 – Post Secondary Education. This bill aims to make colleges and universities transparent, accountable and affordable. It also requires “post tenure review” for faculty every five years.
4. HB1467 – School Board Accountability. This bill makes it easier for parents and others to have input on teaching materials. It also institutes a 12 year term limit on School Board members.
5. HB5 – Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality. This is the post 15 week abortion ban that also provides money for adoptions.
6. HB539 – Nursing Home Financial Reporting. This requires nursing homes to report similar data as hospitals.
7. HB7065 – Child Welfare. The bill encourages responsible fatherhood and increases services to children that age out of foster care.
8. HB3 – Law Enforcement Officer, Benefits, Recruitment and Training. Provides compensation for LE officers as well as relocation assistance for out-of-state applicants.
9. HB524 – Election Administration. The bill takes proactive measures to strengthen election security, and ensure vote-by-mail (VBM) ballot integrity. It also creates the Office of Election Crimes and Security and requires annual voter roll cleansing.
10. HB1355 – Immigration Enforcement. This bill provides for enhanced cooperation between FL law enforcement and ICE, and prohibits a state or local governmental entity from entering into a contract with a common carrier who is transporting a person in Florida knowing that the person is an ‘unauthorized alien’.

Rick also spoke about the $112B budget that includes $33B from the federal government and provides $9M in reserves. Some of his highlights were: a $1B “inflation fund”, $2B for Medicaid programs, $2B for water resources, $125M for nursing education, $664M for state employee raises and to support a $15/hr minimum wage, money for rural broadband, a gas tax holiday in October and other goodies.

On redistricting, he pointed out that the Senate and House maps are done and approved, but the Governor is expected to veto the Congressional Map passed by the Legislature over gerrymandered districts in the north. In his guess, the veto will likely be overridden and the Congressional Districts will remain as proposed. (The club will be doing a session on redistricting and what it means in Palm Beach County in May).

For and in depth look at these bills and others, plus a budget analysis, see Rick’s written report at: Roth_Legislative_Report

Candidates at the meeting included Rob Astorino who is running for Governor of New York, and Bill Wheelen, candidate for CD21.

Representative Rick Roth’s Legislative Report

Rick Roth to Highlight 2022 Session on 3/22

The 2022 Legislative Session which ends on March 11 has been both productive and controversial. From keeping sex and gender out of the curriculum in the early grades (Parental Rights in Education Bill, aka “Don’t say Gay”), blocking CRT and any training that teaches a person’s race, sex or nationality are “morally superior (Individual Freedom Bill, aka “Stop Woke Act”), banning abortions after 15 weeks, instituting an elections crime bureau and other election reforms, much has been accomplished. And of course there is redistricting.

To make sense of all of this, HD85 Representative Rick Roth will be our guest on March 22. In addition to the items above, he will also bring us up to speed on the legislation that is important to him in serving Northern Palm Beach County.

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Representative Rick Roth was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach and he was raised in Belle Glade Florida. Rick graduated from Belle Glade High School in 1970. He went on to study at Emory University where he graduated with a degree in Mathematics. Family life is busy for Rick and his wife of over 40 years, Jeanie. Most importantly to him are his children, Lindsay, Ryan and Ashley and his grandchildren, Hannah, Ezra and Ella. He is a founding member of the Truth Point Church in West Palm Beach.

As the President and principal owner of Roth Farms, Inc. and Ray’s Heritage, LLC Packinghouse, Rick has been a driving force of the agricultural community in western Palm Beach County.

Representative Roth has served in numerous leadership roles in his community, including on the Board of Directors for the Western Palm Beach County Farm Bureau, Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association and the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida. Rick supports many community organizations, including Florida Association of Food Banks, Farmers Feeding Florida and the South Florida Sweet Corn Fiesta.

Representative Roth’s community service includes work with the Central Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce and Belle Glade Rotary Club to name a few. He is the Co-Founder of Farm City Week for the local Chambers and hosts many educational Farm Tours for Elementary Schools.

Representative Roth was elected to serve in the Florida Legislature as a State Representative for District 85. Rick’s election is a culmination of his 35 years of leadership experience in both the public and private sectors. District 85 covers the northern and central parts of Palm Beach County including the Town of Juno Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Village of North Palm Beach and parts of Jupiter and Loxahatchee Groves.

Candidate Forum – The importance of Local Government Elections

If you live in one of the 39 municipalities in Palm Beach County, about 25% of your county property taxes is levied by your city, town or village government. Your police and fire / rescue services may be provided by city employees, or by the county (PBSO and county fire/rescue) but you are paying for them through these taxes. Many municipalities have their own park systems, sports leagues, water systems – even in one case an electrical utility. Building codes, planning and zoning, sign ordinances, code enforcement, traffic management and strategic development plans – all are managed by your local officials.

• So do you know who your Mayor and City Commission or Council members are?
• Is your city being run the way you would like?
• Do you know what happens at your City Council or Commission meetings?

A typical resident may not know the answers to these questions and choose not to participate in the municipal elections as turnout is typically around 10%.

There is a municipal election coming up on March 8. At our next lunch meeting on February 22, we will be introducing you to some of the candidates for these offices who share your values.

Since these elections are non-partisan, you may not know to which party an official belongs, and most decisions they make are not particularly ideological. As Republicans though we believe in smaller government, lower taxes, fewer regulations on business, and free speech. If a municipal candidate is also a Republican, they are likely to share our values. Consequently, the Republican Party of Palm Beach County seeks out these incumbent officials and candidates, and provides them with assistance in the form of voter data, email support and monetary assistance. Currently about 37% of incumbent municipal officials are Republicans, as are about a third of the candidates on the ballot in March.

We are inviting candidates from the north and central municipalities to introduce themselves to you, say a little about what is important in their town or city, and what they will do if elected. They hail from Jupiter, North Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, and Boynton Beach.

We hope you will get to know these candidates, and support them in their campaigns, even if you do not live in their town. What happens in the local communities affects us all and actions by these local leaders tends to spread. You may also see some of these folks running for higher office in the future.

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Optimism About the 2022 Elections

Our January meeting featured our county GOP Chairman Michael Barnett, with good news on our readiness for the 2022 elections.

Referring to former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s insight that having multiple candidates on the ballot helps to get out the vote, he pointed out that we have Congressional candidates running in all 4 of the county districts, and state-wide we may pick up a seat. Lots of candidates have come forward to run at the state and local level as well, and our candidate recruitment efforts are going well.

Fundraising, locally and statewide, has gone through the roof (Lincoln Day on March 12 is about sold out), and the party has money to support all the Republicans who emerge from the primaries. (The party does not take sides in primaries).

In 2020 the party had 4 branch offices running in the county and this year we may have 5 or 6, counting the DeSantis and Mast offices. We are one of the few parties in the state with both federal and local campaign accounts, so support for the candidates for Congress as well as state and local can be intermixed in the offices.

Governor DeSantis only won by about 30,000 votes in 2018, but this year his popularity is high and he is doing great things so we expect a much better margin. The Democrats really have a weak bench (Charley Crist is a multiple times loser, and Nikki Fried is under investigation.) We cannot drop our guard however. The county DeSantis person, Natalie Fisher has opened an office at our HQ location on Palm Beach Lakes.

The Republican Executive Committee (REC) has been greatly expanded over the last year and now has 323 members, with some months seeing up to 50 new swearing-ins. The precincts have been organized with seven regional directors based on the school board districts working with vice-chairman Tami Donnally.

All in all, Michael is optimistic about our likely success this year.

Also at the meeting were candidates Peter Noble (Greenacres council), Steven Chess (CD22), and Angela Templeton spoke for Jennifer Showalter (SB6).

Next month we will have a special meeting on the March municipal elections, with participation by candidates running in the north and central county. Many of these are incumbents and need your support.

2022 Ann Roberts Scholarships

The Republican Club of the Palm Beaches’ Scholarship was named after a long-standing and active member of our Club, Anne Roberts.

The Anne Roberts Memorial Scholarship is available to any resident of Palm Beach County who is a full or part time undergraduate or graduate student seeking to further their education. Students must have a GPA of 3.0 or above and plan to attend an accredited college. Applicants must be registered (or pre-registered under 18 yrs. of age) Republicans. Current members of our Club may refer applicants for this scholarship. The deadline for this application is May 31. The recipient will be eligible to receive up to $500 to be sent to the school they will attend. Award will be presented at the monthly luncheon June 28, 2022.

RCPB Scholarship application 2022

Previous Year Winners

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Covid precluded our scholarship program in 2021, but in 2020, our winners were:

BEN DEHAAN was a senior at Palm Beach Atlantic University majoring in Business Management and Political Science. He is an honor student, serving with the Student Body, has volunteered with the Republican Executive Committee Offices, and spent working hours during high school and college working in small business in West Palm Beach and his home state of Michigan. He hopes to run for office one day.

KEELIE HANLEY, who graduated from SunCoast High school locally, began her college career at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with her twin sister, Rileigh, who has since been appointed to the US Air Force Academy. Keelie is continuing at Embry-Riddle with a focus on Computer Engineering. Many in our Club watched Keelie grow to adulthood as she attended our meetings with her family or volunteered for Congressman Brian Mast. She was honored to be an escort for a Korean War Veteran on one of our Palm Bach County Honor Flights to Washington DC.

RCPB Scholarship application 2022

PBCGOP Chairman Michael Barnett at January Meeting

2022 will be an active political year, with the CD20 and HD88 Special elections in January, municipal elections in March, county-wide non-partisan and primary elections in August, and the general election in November. Besides the election of the statewide offices of Governor, cabinet, and Senator, with redistricting, everything is up for grabs. We will elect Congressmen, Florida House members and Senators as well as county commissioners and school board members from newly defined districts with changing demographics.

Will this be a “wave” election like 2010 when opposition to the Obama administration woke up the tea party nation and swept the GOP back into the House? Can the country be saved from socialism, vaccine mandates and Covid lockdowns?

To help us make sense of it all, the club will host PBCGOP Chair Michael Barnett in January.

Please join us and be prepared to get active and involved for your favorite candidate(s) as the races heat up.

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Michael Barnett currently serves as Chairman of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County. He was born in Queens, New York but has lived in Boca Raton since 1987. He graduated from Boca Raton High School in 1995, the University of South Florida in 2004 with a BA in Political Science, and the University of Miami School of Law in 2007 with a JD degree. Michael has been practicing law since 2007.

Michael has been a life long conservative Republican. A grassroots activist since 1994, he was involved early on with the College Republicans, Young Republicans, and became an REC committeeman in August, 2010. He was elected Secretary of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County in December, 2010, Vice Chairman in December, 2012, and Chairman in December, 2014.

As Secretary and Vice Chairman, Michael helped start the Party’s black and minority outreach program, with a heavy focus on the large local Haitian community. The Party’s activities and successes in Palm Beach County have made news across the state.

Michael has been grassroots-oriented but has also been able to unite the local Party, earning unanimous support of Republicans across the entire spectrum. “Our job is to get Republicans elected but we must never ever sacrifice principles or values. I am a pro-life, pro-traditional marriage social and fiscal conservative. I believe the Party must stick to its principles while welcoming other groups who share our conservative values.”

Michael is an active parishioner at Ascension Catholic Church in Boca Raton. He’s a member of the Knights of Columbus, has been on political and missions trips to Haiti, and volunteers at The Soup Kitchen in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Holiday Cheer and Place of Hope at December Lunch

On 12/14, we were joined by Jamie Bond, director of advancement and development for Place of Hope Treasure Coast, and vocalist Monique McCall.

Monique performed some of her own songs, including “I feel like Florida today“, and “I wanna live like everyday is Christmas” as well as a stirring rendition of “O Holy Night“.

Jamie gave us a snapshot of some of the programs at Place of Hope, including their safe houses for the victims of sex trafficking. For more information, she directed us to their youtube channel at: www.youtube.com/c/PlaceofHopePBG

Club Treasurer Betty Anne Starkey presented Jamie with a donation on our behalf in support of the Place of Hope programs.

Candidates in attendance were Jen Showalter (SB6) and Jeff “Bongi” Buongiorno (CD21).

Sid Dinerstein – Playing by the “Gretzky Rule”

“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” – Wayne Gretzky

In politics as in hockey, leading the target is always a good idea.

Applying this rule at our November lunch, pundit Sid Dinerstein gave his views of the puck’s location in January of 2025.

With the overwhelming disaster that is the Biden Administration continuing on its destructive path, Sid predicts that the next Presidential election will see the “end of the communist era” in America. With another Biden term practically impossible in the current environment, and a Kamala Harris candidacy a joke even to most Democrats, who will the candidates be?

Plotting their ideological leanings on a virtual baseball field, all the current Democrats (with the exception perhaps of Tulsi Gabbard) are way down the left field foul line. On our side, he sees Donald Trump as center-right, along with Mike Pompeo. Ron DeSantis is a little more right, Nikki Haley and Mike Pence a little less so.

Will Trump run again? A lot of events are coming together to suggest a run and a win are likely. The election audits continue under the MSM radar, and people don’t like cheaters – perhaps willing to right a wrong. The Durham indictments are ramping up and we should see more light shown on the Russia collusion conspiracy. The Virginia results (in which Trump played an important role even if not campaigning for Youngkin) are a harbinger, and his role in the 2022 midterms will be significant.

America is rejecting the communist movement, and the GOP will likely pick up 50 House seats and a few in the Senate. Desantis will win in a landslide, and the “Squad” will be crushed. Steve Bannon will kick ass against the “January 6th Commission”, and a Biden impeachment in the next Congress is a real possibility.

Virginia showed us the trends: momma bears and freedom up, AOC, BLM, CRT and Biden down.

To capitalize on all this, we need new Congressional leadership. McCarthy and McConnell are good people but not the warriors we need. Sid would rather see the ascendancy of Brian Mast and Rick Scott.

Prediction: Trump gets second term.

How can we help? Show up, speak up, pay up!

Also at the meeting we heard from candidates Sara Baxter (CC6), Jennifer Showwalter (SB6), and Jeff Buongiorno (CD21), a spokesperson for Bailey “Fiona’s Mom” Lashells (SB3), and Caneste Succe who offered us contacts in the Haitian community.

Charles Bender, Monique McCall on December 14

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Charles Bender is the Founding CEO of Place of Hope, a faith-based and state-licensed family-style residential child-caring agency for abused and neglected children, located in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He earned his B.A. degree in Sociology from Florida Atlantic University and also studied at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida.

Charles came to Place of Hope in 1999 following many years of work with various housing, social, and human services organizations throughout Palm Beach County. He has participated in numerous community committees, task forces, special initiatives, and boards. He has been a team member of several other local leading organizations including: Palm Beach County Housing and Community Development, Adopt-A-Family of the Palm Beaches, Inc., the City of Delray Beach Community Development Division. The majority of Charles’ work has involved low-income individuals and families, homeless and substance abusing populations, and at-risk/dependent children and youth. Prior to spearheading implementation of Place of Hope, Charles was a primary volunteer in the multi-year visioning and development processes while still a “vision” of Christ Fellowship (founding church).

Charles has significant experience developing and administering social programs and low-income housing initiatives, executing growth plans, implementing federal, state, and local funding programs, building organizational capacity and community coalitions, enhancing service delivery systems, raising capital and annual operating funds, and managing overall non-profit operations.

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Monique McCall’s unique appeal comes from her ability to forge new paths in her life, and take charge when the road gets rocky. She has earned her way into our hearts with several collaborations with Grammy Award winning Producers who just knew she had the right stuff. From early recordings with Rudy Perez and Joel Numa, to Bryan Todd, to Skidd Mills, Monique has only worked with the best. Continuing in the tradition of excellence, in 2020 Monique further upped the ante by adding the legendary “Hit Man” arranger Charles Calello to her team, bringing sophistication, undeniable hit pedigree, and elegance back to country.

In 2018 her single “Feel like Florida” got airplay on 42 stations worldwide. Further increasing appeal to international dancefloors, she teamed up with Number 1 Billboard Remixer/ Producers Mr. Mig, Mike Cruz and Austin Leeds who between them have over 50+ Number 1 Club Play Chart toppers. The song also is the official theme song of the radio show, “Stirrin it Up with Anita”, featured weekly on 95.9/106.9 FM’s West Palm/ Treasure Coast.

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