Bill McCollum Highlights a special RCPB Friday luncheon

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum was the headliner for a special Friday RCPB luncheon. We had a full house as we enjoyed an excellent, served luncheon, which allowed us to keep our attention on our speakers and minimize moving around.

Melissa Andrews, club President, kicked-off the meeting – informing us that AG McCollum was running a little late, but that we’d start with club business. David Donnally led us in the Invocation and Pledge of Allegience. He was followed by Lou Galterio, who sang the National Anthem.
Kimberly Mitchell, West Palm Beach City Commissioner made some initial comments and introduced Ellyn Bogdanoff (FL Representative, District 91), candidate for FL Senate 25. Ellyn spoke about accomplishments in Tallahassee and the difficult challenges for the following year. Anita Mitchell, club 2nd Vice President, then told us of her long time support of Bill McCollum and welcomed him to the podium.

(Story continues below the pictures.)

: Iris Scheibl and Michelle Kirk

: Carol Hurst and Starla Brown

: Rob and Meg Shannon

: Michelle Kirk, Sherry Lee (BCC 2), and Iris Scheibl

: Shannon Armstrong and Albert Key (FH84)

: Lou Galterio and Flag

: Melissa Andrews, Club President

: Kimberly Mitchell, WPB Commissioner

: Representative Ellyn Bogdanoff (FH91), FS25 Candidate

: AG Bill McCollum and Anita Mitchell

: AG Bill McCollum, candidate for Governor

: Sherry Lee, candidate for BCC district 2

: Joe Budd, CD19 candidate

: Tami Donnally, candidate for FH85

: Albert Key, candidate for FH84

: Nancy Cardone, candidate for FH83

: Ann Kanjian, candidate for SB4 with husband Bob

: Joe Budd with Sid and Blanche Lanier

: Sherry Lee (BCC 2) and campaign director Michelle Kirk

: Shannon Armstrong, Joe Budd, Nancy Cardone

: Starla Brown and Sherry Lee (BCC 2)

: Sue Varey and Dorothy Harper

: Tami Donnally and Fred Scheibl

: Ellyn Bogdanoff

: Bette Anne Starkey and Kimberly Mitchell

: Sherry Lee and Lou Galterio

McCollum, candidate for Fl Governor, addressed several issues, including Florida’s lawsuit against the Healthcare law (based on two primary issues: using the commerce clause to force individual mandates, and adding additional people to the Medicaid roles without state control). He segued to the business environment and how we have to make the Florida business and tax environment a draw for attracting new types of businesses. He then tied Education into the mix – stressing the need for merit pay for teachers, some way of phasing out tenure and measuring progress. Continuing education for science and technical education was a must. Bill McCollum also addressed the status of the campaign – directly confronting the issues he has with his primary opponent, Rick Scott. He took one question from the audience on the issue of states’ rights vs the federal government which are key to both his suit on Healthcare as well as his stance in joining Michigan, along with several other, in support of Arizona’s immigration bill.

Next, the general call for candidates brought out Sherry Lee (candidate for PBC Commission District 2), Joe Budd (candidate for US Congress District 19), Tami Donnally (candidate for FL House 85), Albert Key (candidate for FL House 84), and Nancy Cardone (candidate for FL House 83). Starla Brown won our drawing for the South Florida Golf Card – congratulations, Starla! And Lou Galterio closed the meeting with his rendition of “I’m Proud to be an American’.

Reminder – this is our last meeting prior to the primary elections on 8/24! Please work for the candidates you support in any way that you can.