Clockwise from upper left: Alan Schlesinger, Calvin Turnquest, Brian Lara, Jay Bonner, Andrea McGee, Paul Spain, David Wagie, Kesnel Theus, Joseph Moore, Andrew Schaller, Thomas Sutterfield, Steven Abrams, MC Peter Feaman, Stuart Mears and Ellyn Bogdanoff.

At a table that spanned the width of the West Boca branch library meeting room, a good mix of candidates showed up to answer questions posed by moderator David DiCrescenzo. The candidates were sent a questionaire in advance of the event, and those and additional questions were posed appropriate to the type of seat sought.

Seated at a long table, 10 candidates for 3 north county races (Congress 18, Senate 32, and House 82) answered questions from moderator Michael Williams, Emmy winning anchor of WPTV’s “To the Point“.

2014 Scholarship Winners Announced at June Lunch

This year, the Republican Club of the Palm Beaches is happy to award the Anne Roberts Scholarships to five deserving scholars – one new award and continuing support for four previous winners.

The awards were presented by former Congressman Mark Foley, who has provided significant contributions to our scholarship fund (including an additional $2000 at the meeting). Stressing the importance of finding young Republicans who can be tomorrow’s leaders, he spoke of the harm to the younger generation that the Obama policies have wrought, and how our message to them should be one of opportunity. Encouraging the younger generation to run for public office, “Politics is a rough and tumble business” he said, but “also one that can be very rewarding”.

The recipients are:

Jason Ferrara, who will be a senior in political science at the University of Alabama and going to law school next year. His father is attorney and REC member Jim Ferrara of Boca Raton. Not able to join us today, he sent his thanks and pointed out that he is hoping to volunteer in political campaigns this summer.

John Ryan Clark, who will be a senior in in political science, international affairs, Chinese, Business and Asian studies at FLorida State. He also plans to attend law school with a Chinese law program. He is currently in Tianjin, China on a Gilman Scholarship from the US State Department and could not be with us.

Daniel Kozell, younger brother to past president Rick Kozell, who will graduate in May with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Dylan Brandenburg, who learned his skills in computer and political science from working in political campaigns with his parents Gary and Kathy Brandenburg of North Palm Beach. A student at Florida State, he joined the Computer Criminology program and has worked for the state of Florida in the Insurance Fraud Division, and now works for Dana and Johnston Blakely in their business “On Track Investigations” who are sponsoring him for his private investigator license.

Hanna Matry, our newest recipient who received her AA degree from Palm Beach State and is now in her 2nd year at the College of Engineering at the University of Florida, majoring in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. She is just starting a summer internship with Rocketdyne at the old Pratt&Whitney site. Not able to be with us, her mother Joanne Matry arranged for her to thank us in a video which was played at the meeting.

Also at the meeting, we heard from county GOP Chair Anita Mitchell who reported that the county party is now “in the black”. Anita told us about the party program to reach out to independents (50% of whom used to be Republicans), and to create a “service” orientation, beyond politics. The latter is designed to present a helpful presence in the community through helping people with problems they are having with government, and to work with groups such as the Boys and Girls clubs.

Mary Kate Knorr, the Republican Victory Center Manager, brought us up to speed on their plans, and stressed that volunteers are needed for a variety of jobs in addition to the more traditional precinct walking and phone-banking.

Candidates present included Calvin Turnquest, Nick Wukoson and Brian Lara running in CD18, David Wagie of CD22, and John Hartman – the only Republican in any school board race, running for Karen Brill’s seat.

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Fran Hancock Succeeds Rick Kozell as RCPB President at May Meeting

Summary of May 28 Meeting:

The invocation and pledge were done by Michael Barnett.

Rick Kozell, President of the RCPB, thanked Marilynn Parmet and the RCNPB for jointly sponsoring this event. Noting that this year’s Primary Election in less than 3 months away on August 26, Rick pointed out that the notable races were the District 18 Congressional race against a Democratic incumbent in a primarily Republican District. Also noted was the importance of the Governor’s race, with the good news that Florida is leading the nation in job creation and Governor Scott is raising 3 times as much as Charlie Crist.

Future meetings of the RCPB will include another possible joint meeting with RCNPB with Florida CFO Jeff Atwater as the speaker and a Candidate Forum for Districts 18 and 22.

All members were encouraged to join the leadership group, and all were encouraged to state reaching out to undecided voters to get them to support Republican candidates.

Bette Anne Starkey announced the winners of the Anne Roberts Memorial Scholarship Winners, and pointed out that the scholarships will be awarded at our next meeting in June.

Rick Kozell announced, with regret, his resignation as President of the RCPB because he is taking a new job in Washington, D.C. for a couple of years. In conformance with our bylaws, Rick asked for nominations from the floor to fill the office of President. Bill Diamond rose to nominate former State Committeewoman and long time club member, Fran Hancock, with the nomination being seconded by several other club members. After hearing no further nominations from the floor, a motion was made to close the floor to nominations; this motion was seconded and passed without opposition. The vote on the nomination of Fran Hancock was then taken, and she was elected by the club members present without opposition.

The guest speaker was Adam Putnam, the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Focusing on the great importance of keeping the Governor’s office in Republican hands, Commissioner Putnam encouraged the grass roots to start talking to their undecided neighbors about the accomplishments of Governor Scott and the importance of his re-election to Florida, and the business and families who have thrived under the low taxes and reduced regulatory obstructions advanced under his administration.

Candidates for office were then given 3 minutes to speak to the audience. The meeting closed with Rick Kozell thanking the leadership group and the club members for the support and help they provided during his tenure as club President.

Adam Putnam Describes the Stakes in the November Election

Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam was the featured speaker at a joint meeting of the Republican Club of the Palm Beaches and the Republican Club of the Northern Palm Beaches, He told the audience that Florida is the last bastion of large states that are not blue in color, and if the Governorship is lost, Florida will look more like Michigan, New York, Ohio and California.

Florida needs to stay conservative by keeping Republicans as the Governor, the Attorney General, the Chief Financial Officer and, the Agriculture Commissioner, and as the majority party in the Florida House and Senate. Pointing out that Republicans are the ones with solutions in the country, he noted that in Florida Republicans have created an environment for businesses to succeed and families to thrive. Palm Beach County is the perfect example of the American Dream. Noting that the current culture of problem solving is fragile, he reminded the audience that just a few years ago Time Magazine had a cover story calling Florida the “Sunset State”, claiming that tourism, real estate, the manufacturing base and diversity in the economy were all dead. At the same time the Wall Street Journal had front page stories claiming that Florida had a 15 to 20 year glut of condos.

Today, 5 years later, with a Republican Governor, Florida leads the nation in job creation, crime is at a 43 year low, and it has a balanced budget after paying off $5 Billion in debt and putting $3 Billion into a savings account in case of hurricanes. Florida and Texas are succeeding, with our chief competitors being states in the southeast like the Carolinas and Tennessee which, like Florida, have low taxes and low regulatory burdens. Florida can set its own destiny, with things in Washington broken for the foreseeable future.

Hilary Clinton, wants a Democratic Governor in Tallahassee to help bolster her presidential run. The potential opponent to Governor Scott is likely to be Charlie Crist who has changed his mind on every single issue of conscience. He has no compass. People can respect leaders who hold beliefs, but someone like Crist undermines public confidence. We need to be energized to keep him from being re-elected as he has morphed from a Republican to an Independent and now to a Democrat. While Crist left the state with many problems when he left the Governorship, we want to make Florida better by improving tourism, engaging in the shale gas revolution, bringing back Pratt Whitney, developing biotech, and creating more medical cities. Florida is not just a prize to be enjoyed later in life, it can be the American Dream now for many people. That’s why our leadership is so important.

Why is having a Republican Governor so important? The Florida Constitution requires that we re-write it every 20 years, so the next Governor will have the right to name half of the committee which will do this. Clubs like ours are in the front line of grass roots activism to keep Republicans in control of our state. In 2010 Republicans were passionate and committed, and this is what is needed this year. Nothing is more persuasive than our supporters talking to their neighbors one-on-one. It is much more important than any advertising done during a campaign. The other side has put legalizing medical marijuana on the ballot to energize their base and increase turnout. We all need to pull together for the good of the state by continuing the pro-business, pro-family environment we have created in Florida.

Lobster Fest 2014

In lieu of a July meeting, come join us at the annual county GOP Lobster Fest. Use the [PRINT] button above right to print the flyer, reserve your seat with GOP and send in your check, then click on the RSVP button below if you would like to reserve space to sit with us at the RCPB tables.

Peter Feaman – Reasons for Optimism

On Wednesday, March 26, 2014, the Republican Club of the Palm Beaches had our own member Peter Feaman, the elected Palm Beach County’s State Committeeman and Florida’s Republican National Committeeman, as our guest speaker. What a treat! Dismissing doom and gloom, he said we should be excited about things like the recent David Jolly election.Peter talked to us about the positive things that are happening at both the state and national levels of our party. He told us how the Republican party is “getting it” regarding how we can reach potential Republican voters through non-traditional media which was used so successfully by the opposition in 2008 and 2012.

Republicans believe that people who rely on themselves, their families and their god, are going to prosper when government gets out of the way. People are now being told to rely on government, but this is wrong and it has never worked before. As Republicans we must stand up on every front and say that’s wrong, whether it is in a restaurant or the checkout line at the supermarket. We are fighting an entire philosophy.

He pointed out how important the 2014 election will be as a preface to 2016’s election cycle and one key race will be re-electing Governor Rick Scott in 2014. You may have noticed the recent ads being run by RPOF telling the Governor’s compelling story about his background as someone who came from nothing and succeeded on his own merits. It is a truly American story that needs to be told. He has been a good Governor and has significant achievements in increasing employment and tourism, and in decreasing taxes, while caring for those who need help the most.

Republicans need to realize that even if there are areas of disagreement, we need to elect Republicans to office, pointing out that “while pragmatism without principle is surrender, principles without pragmatism is suicide.” The opposition to our view of limited government grew slowly starting with adoption of the income tax in 1917 and we will not turn things around overnight. We can’t change policies until we elect people to govern who can move policies more to the right. Republicans and other conservative voters need to realize that having access to elected Republican officials, who they may view as less than 100% consistent with their views, is far better than having no access to a Democrat who will move on liberal policies without regard for our views.

Financially, the RNC has been successful in raising money in 2013. Instead of hoarding it until the 2016 election, it is spending money now to get the message out and to help get more Republicans elected. It is also building up a staff, most of whom are located outside of Washington, D.C., to lead and organize the boots on the ground effort. For example, the RPOF has an Executive Director who is from Wisconsin, a former blue state which through the work of Scott Walker, Reince Priebus, and Paul Ryan has turned into a red state. If this can be done in Wisconsin, it can be done elsewhere. With the RNC’s new approach, fund raising results, better use of new media, a beefed up staff and tens of thousands of precinct captains throughout the United States, there is a new model in play.

Some pictures from the event:

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February Lunch Featured DEP Secretary and Madison Institute CEO

Our February meeting featured Herschel Vinyard, Florida Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, and Dr. Bob McClure, CEO of the Madison Institute.

After the Invocation and Pledge led by Virginia Brooks, Rick Kozell (Club President) kicked off the meeting by describing the successful Lincoln Day Dinner. Many in the group had attended the sell-out event.

Rick is on the board of the Palm Beach County Chapter of the James Madison Institute, a conservative think tank, and personally knew both keynote speakers. After introducing both, Mr. Vinyard took the podium.

He began by giving a boost to Governor Rick Scott. The Governor has had a tremendous impact on bringing Florida’s economy back from the depths of the recession. Mr. Vinyard said that the Governor’s ‘laser-focus’ on jobs was deeply personal to the Governor. The Secretary of DEP then segued to two examples of ‘federalism in action’, where Florida was able to wrest control back from the Federal government with Florida-based solutions.

The first, water body nutrient levels, has been an ongoing issue with the EPA. Rather than accept the federal solution, Vinyard’s team came forward with an alternative proposal that was found acceptable, yet customized for the state.

The second was Everglades water management, another long-term conflict with the federal government. Florida had been embroiled in a lawsuit since the 1980s and Governor Scott, solutions-oriented as he is, found that unacceptable. The DEP was able to offer an acceptable, Florida based solution to satisfy all the federal administrative organizations.

Admitting it is not always easy, Secretary Vinyard has shown that it is possible for states to engage productively with the Federal regulatory bodies.

In closing, he also encouraged us to partake of the wonderful Florida State Park System which also falls under the DEP.

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Dr. McClure, President of the James Madison Institute, talked about “bending the river current” towards greater freedom in this country. His theme was the “great sorting out” of the states that is in progress, with red states led by conservative governments attracting people and money away from the high-taxes, oppressive regulations, and infringements of our freedoms of the Progressive-led Blue states.

There are four states to watch that could be a harbinger of all our futures. Will we emulate Texas, with its supercharged economy, low taxes, and minimal government? Or will we go the way of California, Illinois or New York – arguably examples of crumbling infrastructure, excessive debt and failing governments after years of Progressive policies.

Believing that “everyone is conservative, privately“, he pointed out that “Freedom works every time it is tried./em>”

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Present at the meeting were CD18 candidates Alan Schlesinger and Ilya Katz, and a spokesperson for Carl Domino. Alan spoke with respect about the admirable candidacy of Ellen Andel, who recently withdrew from the race.

Some pictures from the event:

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