Satz does NOT rhyme with success: Vote NO on Miami Herald's sorry 2012 local and state election coverage: Proof? Their editorial board endorsed carpetbagger Joe Gibbons of Jacksonville and over-the-hill mediocrity Mike Satz BEFORE paper ever printed a single article about their races. Slipshod Herald editors then run thread-bare story about them AFTER the August Primary Early Voting period had started. As usual, too little too late at One Herald Plaza!

Above, my screenshot of grim-faced, low-tech Broward State Attorney Michael "Mike" Satz as he appeared on the August 12, 2012 version of WPLG-TV's "This Week in South Florida" with Michael Putney. Satz, in this office since his 1976 election, was simultaneously imperious and condescending in his treatment of energetic and well-informed Democratic primary opponent Chris Mancini, who hammered Satz over how truly backwards the SAO office is, and their third-rate website has proven this for years, as I know well. Overall, Satz's appearance was like a giant finger-in-the-eye to anyone in Broward who has been paying close attention to how consistently unsuccessful his office has been in rousting public corruption out from City Halls across this county, the most-corrupt in Florida. The FBI has been doing the real heavy-lifting on that, not Satz and his office. Maybe the FBI should come to Hallandale Beach because Satz's office is either ignoring what's right in front of him or hibernating.

Vote NO on Miami Herald's sorry 2012 local and state election coverage. Here's more proof of why you should vote thumbs down...

Question: What do Broward State's Attorney Michael "Mike" Satz and Florida state Rep. Joseph "Joe" Gibbons have in common, besides both being Democrats who (claim) to live full-time in Broward County?

The anti-Gibbons mailer I received in August from his opponent.

Satz does, Gibbons does not, preferring the Jacksonville area where his wife works and his kids live, but it's Satz's job to prosecute Gibbons for breaking the law, isn't it?
Yep!
Guess what? Satz doesn't want to, so residents of SE Broward like me get to be repped by a guy whose head is really in NE Florida, where his family is, not Broward, and occasional drop-in appearances like his this past Saturday among people waiting in line to vote, can't hide that central fact.

It'll be yet another grim reminder of where we live and what passes for journalism in South Florida in the year 2012.

Answer: What they have in common is that the Miami Herald's editorial board endorsed both  carpetbagger Joe Gibbons of Jacksonville and over-the-hill mediocrity Mike Satz BEFORE the newspaper ever printed a single article about their respective races. 

Then, slipshod Herald editors thought they'd pull a fast one on us and ran a thread-bare story.

Yes, but days AFTER the August Primary Early Voting period had already started! 

As usual, too little too late at One Herald Plaza. 

For the entire time that Putney, Satz and Mancini were on the same set, Satz never once looked at Mancini when he was speaking, even when at great length, which this shows. He channeled Al Gore in the 2000 debates. Did he honestly have no idea how badly he came across to the public. I've watched this entire segment 3-4 times and each time, Satz comes off worse than the previous time. Since Mancini lost in the primary, I'll be voting for Jim Lewis for State's Attorney, as 36 years of Satz is enough.

If Hallandale Beach voters get the reform they want on Tuesday, Broward IG John W. Scott and Broward State's Attorney Mike Satz better get busy, because a letter to Gov. Rick Scott and some key FL legislators about Satz' & Company's INEFFECTIVENESS in cleaning-up corruption here will hammer them but good.

And maybe even lead to an invitation to Gov. Scott and others to come here for a tour of the place where laws are treated like suggestions, and where Joe Gibbons pretends he doesn't know anything at all about what's been going on here.

(But Gibbons doesn't want to admit that it's because the Jacksonville paper he reads at breakfast doesn't run Hallandale Beach news!)

Perhaps the state legislature and pro-ethics Senator Paula Dockery needs to hold a field hearing in Hallandale Beach on the subject of government ethics to hold some Broward elected officials' feet to the fire.

Hmm-m...
I know whom I'd like to see her invite!

Sen. Marco Rubio on NBC's Meet the Press re federal budget, debt ceiling, Medicare, et al; FL U.S. Senate 2012 possibilities

NBC-TV's Meet the Press video -Host David Gregory speaks to Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida about the 2012 federal budget, the federal debt ceiling, saving Medicare, the (Paul) 'Ryan Plan,' and U.S. foreign policy, to wit, Libya.
http://youtu.be/GdtR7s-nqcE

If you are someone who considers themselves pretty well-informed and are watching the video of this morning's Meet the Press program from outside of the U.S., and get the distinct impression that Sen. Rubio, who has been in office less than four months, is being asked to explain -and or defend- public policies in more detail than many longstanding members of the U.S. Congress you can name, who get nothing but softball questions... take a bow.
You are correct.

Sen. Rubio's YouTube Channel is at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/SenatorMarcoRubio

U.S. House Budget Comm. YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/HouseBudgetCommittee

American Roadmap YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AmericanRoadmap

The other U.S. Senator from Florida is Democratic two-termer Bill Nelson, who is up for re-election in 2012. He's a nice enough guy, but NOT nearly as dynamic, savvy or articulate as what this complex and crazy-quilt of a state demands, Florida being the country's fourth-largest.

Sen. Nelson's YouTube Channel is at http://www.youtube.com/user/SenBillNelson

I won't be voting for Nelson next year and currently have no GOP preference, but I am AGAINST a few GOP candidates for the office, the most prominent being the myopic, ethically-troubled Florida State Senate President, Mike Haridopolos; he's bad news personified!

I'd much prefer Florida State Senator Paula Dockery or Orange County (Orlando) mayor Teresa Jacobs, both of whom are very smart and articulate people full of ideas who are NOT at all afraid to speak (and vote) against the state political orthodoxy and the establishment of Tallahassee in particular, and Florida in general.
Nor are they afraid to speak against their own party and supporters when they think they're wrong.

For an excellent example of that attitude, read these two Mike Thomas columns from the Orlando Sentinel, since they're positive pieces of a sort that very, very few Florida pols could earn.

-----

Orlando Sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/os-mike-thomas-performing-arts-center20101222,0,3790804.column

Teresa Jacobs has to challenge performing-arts center bailout
By Mike Thomas COMMENTARY
8:50 p.m. EST, December 22, 2010

Orlando is $61 million short in getting the performing-arts center off the ground. So the city and arts supporters are hitting up Teresa Jacobs, Orange County's mayor-elect, for an advance on almost half of it.

She might as well get used to people groveling for money.

I have long supported an arts center. But this is like old Uncle Al, flat broke with holes in his shoes, hitting you up for $500 because he's got a sure thing at the track.

Give it to him and you know he's coming back for more.

None of this is a surprise for those of us who have followed the saga of the three downtown venues — the arts center, the arena and the Citrus Bowl.

The county budget-crunchers knew this day was coming back in 2007 when they negotiated the $1.1 billion venues deal with Orlando. They thought Mayor Buddy Dyer and Co. were out of their fiscal minds for taking on this much risk.

So the county built a firewall.

It would give the city enough resort-tax money to build a new Magic arena for billionaire Rich DeVos.

But the performing-arts center and Citrus Bowl would have to get in line behind a long list of priorities already funded by the resort tax.

If Buddy's gamble failed, the county was protected.

On paper, at least. That doesn't take into account the intangible of political pressure that would accompany the request for a bailout. If you don't give us the money, the project will not get built, and it will be your fault.

Now that we are there, what will Jacobs do?

She is, by nature, a cautious fiscal conservative. In fact, it was Jacobs who put a caveat in the venues deal, requiring that the arts center be fully funded before any debt was issued to waste money on a Citrus Bowl renovation.

During the mayoral campaign, Jacobs was criticized for being too focused on details when the job required a big-picture consensus builder. Being branded as the person who killed the arts center wouldn't help that perception.

But there are so many pitfalls here, she could hardly be blamed for doing so. Here are a few of them:

•The city is broke, which raises the question of where it plans to come up with its half of the shortfall. The county also doesn't have a spare $30 million stuffed in a mattress, meaning it could be forced to raid a reserve fund set aside for the convention center. That would be ill-advised.

•This deal would allow construction of phase one of the arts center — an amplified arena for events such as Broadway shows and a small 300-seat theater. Will the city come back for another cash advance when it comes time to build phase two — a 1,700 seat acoustical hall?

•The county could be the money pile of last resort to cover operating deficits. Some of this tab was going to be paid by leasing property next to the center for a hotel and office building. But the economy put the kibosh on that.

There also are disturbing rumors about donors backing out of their pledges, which could create an even deeper fiscal hole for the county to fill down the road.

The problem in dealing with Orlando is that the city is tapped out. So the minute a bulldozer rolls onto the site, the county could find itself sucked into a black hole, from which there is no politically feasible escape.

At a minimum, Jacobs should insist that the city raise its $31 million share of the shortfall first. She then should demand to see an updated list of all donor pledges and the contracts they signed with the arts center.

The county needs some guarantee it won't bankroll operating expenses.

The city must agree not to spend any more money renovating the Citrus Bowl until the arts center is finished and its operating costs are known and accounted for.

Every dime the city spends on that empty stadium is another dime the county probably will have to make up for at the arts center.

Finally, Jacobs should insist the city contact Magic owner Rich DeVos about providing a loan, which would be repaid as resort-tax funds become available. He could take his interest out of the $10 million he has pledged to the arts center.

Jacobs has a lot of options. The worst one is writing out a check for $30 million with no questions and no demands.

-----

Orlando Sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-mike-thomas-jacobs-arts-021311-20110212,0,351626.column

Orange Mayor Jacobs gives Orlando a dose of reality on arts center

Mike Thomas COMMENTARY
5:59 p.m. EST, February 12, 2011

Business as usual in this town officially ended at noon on Feb. 10.

That's when Orange Mayor Teresa Jacobs hit the send button and delivered a scathing review of the planned performing-arts center to inboxes across Orange County.

Her staff uncovered millions in waste, slipshod construction contracts, double-billings and overall gross mismanagement. Given that Orlando is ultimately in charge of building the center, she left City Hall in pretty much the same shape that the Air Force left Baghdad in 2003.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer emerged from the rubble hours later to answer questions like: "Are you embarrassed?"

You better believe it. He also was livid. This was a major breach of protocol. Proper etiquette requires that mayoral combat be conducted by backstabbing in private.

This all began in December when the city made the big mistake of asking the county for $30 million to help cover a funding shortfall for the arts center.

Normally, the county would have put up token resistance before succumbing to political pressure and writing a check.

The days of normalcy are over.

Jacobs said no. And then she unleashed her advisers and staff on an arts-center cost-cutting mission. Needless to say, mission accomplished.

Normally this would have been handled behind the scenes.

But Jacobs and her people grew suspicious of the city's good intentions as the process dragged on.

She also believes that full public disclosure is in the best interest of the public. Judging by her landslide election victory last November, the public agrees.

And so Jacobs gave the public what it voted for. She publicly nuked Buddy.

Somewhere, former Orange Mayor Rich Crotty is either smiling or wincing. Jacobs used to nuke him all the time when she served on the commission.

But just to be clear, Jacobs does not launch unless the target presents itself.

There are bigger problems with this arts center than mismanagement of planning and construction.

The city's reserve fund to cover its bond debt is underfunded. The endowment fund that will be used to help cover center operations expenses is grossly underfunded.

The city's downtown taxing district is tapped out.

Construction of the acoustical hall — the venue most cherished by local arts groups — has been put off indefinitely. And each year of delay will add an estimated $16 million to the price tag.

And then there are the things not in the report.

Last year, Fitch Ratings downgraded the city's Magic arena bonds to junk status.

Orlando has borrowed $90 million, with the loan based on the value of Centroplex property that's not worth half that much. Dyer has thrown $10 million at sprucing up the FloridaCitrus Bowl and now is aiming money at the "Creative Village.

The city's tab for pension benefits exceeds $50 million a year.

And this was on our front page last April: "For the second year in a row, the city of Orlando faces a staggering deficit of tens of millions of dollars and will look to erase the red ink by paring city staff and cutting services."

Yet in December, Dyer said he could cough up an additional $31 million for the arts center.

Jacobs is rightly concerned that she is doing business with Greece.

And when Dyer can't pull any more money out of his magic hat, the county will be the deep pocket of last resort once construction of the arts center begins. Even more disturbing is that the city and arts supporters are in a mad dash to get construction going. Their theory is that everything will work itself out once the bulldozers arrive.

It's a faith-based initiative, whereas the county administration building is filled with fiscal atheists who don't believe in miracles.

So what happens next?

The prevailing theory is that Dyer and the board running the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts will tell Jacobs to butt out and try to get the project started without any more help from the county. That certainly should scare the bejabbers out of big-money donors and city taxpayers.

A better idea is for Dyer to go to Jacobs, get her terms of surrender for more financial backing, let her more-experienced staff help salvage this mess and worry about revenge some other day.

My early Sunday morning, caffeine-filled political cry for a surprise Independent candidate for FL governor

Received the article below about State Senator
Paula Dockery announcing next week that she's
challenging Bill McCollum for the GOP 2010
gubernatorial nomination via a Google Alert.
I told you Google Alerts were great!

Given the fact that nobody is thrilled with the
announced candidates for next year's gubernatorial
race, including me, might this race for governor
represent the best opportunity ever in modern
Florida history for a savvy, moderate Independent
candidate, along the lines of what's happened
ub the recent past in Connecticut and Minnesota,
to win on a campaign predicated on changing
the dynamic of the culture of parochialism,
corruption and pay-for-play lobbying in Tallahassee
and throughout the state, esp. in Broward County?

Not to mention, the state's general backwardness
and clumsiness in dealing with international business
and trade in a sophisticated manner, despite all
the international trips taken by governors, cabinet
members and county commissioners.

Remind me again, what year did MIA finally
get rental luggage carts?
The first or second Clinton term?

That Florida trails many Northern states in solar
and alternative energy job creation ought to be
embarrassing to the state's so-called leaders,
but seems to bother them not a whit.

But despite everyone perpetually whining about
FP&L, it doesn't really seem to be bothering
Green voters in Florida enough to actually put
their own money where their mouth is to create
actual working alternatives that make sense and
make a profit.

Where are the successful solar and alternative
energy companies in the Sunshine State?

Not anywhere around South Florida, otherwise,
we'd all know the names of them from the local
media constantly lionizing them.

And seriously, what about the state's dated
1940's-era dependence on sales taxes and
real estate to keep the economy going,
rather than having.a broader-based
technology-based economy that wasn't
so sensitive to changes in tourism trends?

What sort of strategy is always hoping that
some out-of-state or foreign entity will just
magically drop-in and spend money, and
will ignore the fact that the state's poor
schools actually repel many decison-makers
from even considering the state in general,
or South Florida in particular?

Those people may come and visit on a trip,
family or business, but actually live here
with their families?
Are you kidding?

What kind of economic plan is hoping?
It sounds like farmers hoping for rain in
Third World countries beset by drought.

Like most of you, I hear media reports
every so often about someone in the state
making general platitudes about changing
that mentality at some CoC speech in
Orlando or Tampa or whatever, but
where's the action?

Where's an actual plan that you can look
at online and judge for yourself?

I'd love to see a governor's race on
important issues like this, but with
the humorless and charisma-challenged
characters we've got so far,
it doesn't look very good,
which is a sad reflection of the talent
in the country's fourth-largest state.

That fact, conversely, helps create
the vacuum for someone who really
will talk intelligently and enthusiastically
about those issues and lays out an
intelligent, sensible plan for making
the necessary changes.

I'm one moderate Democrat who'd
vote for that person, regardless of party.

Right now, my 2010 FL gubernatorial
vote is for None of the Above.
---------
JaxPoliticsOnline.com

Paula Dockery Announcing For Governor Next Week
by Abel Harding
November 1, 2009
http://jaxpoliticsonline.com/2009/10/31/paula-dockery-announcing-for-governor-next-week/

Positive news re Central Florida commuter rail getting props from biz community -FINALLY opposing Sen. Dockery publicly; SFTRA in Miami

Excerpt of email I sent out on Friday to some public policy people in the region on Friday.
____________________________
Friday November 7th, 2008
4:45 p.m.

The optimist in me hopes that this blog post on the Central Florida Political Pulse is a sign that folks heretofore sitting on the fence on this issue in Polk County, are finally coming to their senses and realizing that they can't let the power and reach of one particularly powerful and popular politician like State Sen. Paula Dockery put them and their area at an economic and competitive disadvantage to others - perhaps forever- simply because of her personal parochial beliefs, since the chance to do the right thing and be part of a larger interconnected transit system may just come once. (Disclaimer: My mother lives in Polk County, specifically, Babson Park.)
http://www.flsenate.gov/Legislators/index.cfm?Members=View+Page&LastName=Dockery&District_Num_Link=015&Title=-%3ESenat

Finally some signs of push back among the business community of the sort we'll need to see much more of in the future so this state doesn't continue to be a laughingstock in so many areas of public policy and common sense, like simply getting the largest number of people from Point A to Point B as quickly and efficiently as possible.

For backgrounder info or to remember who's on what side of this argument, since it's easy to get confused, go to http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/commuter_rail/index.html

As of today I plan on being at next Friday morning's SFRTA Transportation Workshop for Miami-Dade County, below, and the one in Broward on the 19th as well.
I hope to see many of you there, too, offering your positive ideas.

By the way, thanks to Governing.com's 13th Floor blog, http://governing.typepad.com/13thfloor/
recently running a post about the American Planning Associan's (APA) Top Streets in America,
http://www.planning.org/greatplaces/streets/characteristics.htm#1 I recently learned that one of the best streets in an old neighborhood of mine during my 15 years in DC, Clarendon, in Arlington, VA, made the 2008 list. http://www.planning.org/greatplaces/streets/2008/clarendonwilson.htm
Clarendon-Wilson Corridor, Arlington, Virginia. Transit Provided Catalyst for Corridor Smart Growth



Not mentioned at the link above is that it's also home to the Little Saigon restaurant area, home of both the THE BEST and THE CHEAPEST Vietnamese restaurants in all DC, which, fortunately, in many cases were one and the same, including my beloved Queen Bee.



There is no place in South Florida even close to offering that kind of consistent quality of Vietnamese food, size of servings and price.
I'd have mentioned it by now if there was.


People from all over DC routinely hop on the Washington Metro to get around on weekends, and one of those places is that little dynamic area of Northern Virginia less than three miles from Georgetown.

Me, I often ate there the day after Thanksgiving, after the afternoon college football games, often with friends who also didn't leave for the holiday to visit their families.


That sort of dynamic template and magnet for people is the one that I always have in my head when I travel around South Florida, and see how things are done here -or aren't.

I suppose that also makes me more critical -hypercritical?- than many about many of the poorly thought-out plans I often see and read about in South Florida.


Frankly, damn few of them ever seem as either meticulously planned or as grounded in human behavior/psychology and common sense as those of Bernard Zyscovich and his team, but it doesn't mean that I don't wish that the positive neighborhood synergy self-evident at places like Clarendon & Wilson couldn't also be done here, with some local flavor.

From my experience down here the past five years, Downtown Hollywood is a perfect example of an area that would similarly boom once there's a commuter train station on Hollywood Blvd., though there are a few other areas down here that I also think would experience a similar positive jolt that could have ripple effects.

That's one of the reasons I'm such a strong proponent of the SFECC.


I know exactly what it will do for quality-of-life because I've already experienced it.

By the way, one of my former housemates when I lived in that area of Arlington in the mid-90's, which included a horrible week-long blizzard we suffered through, is Derek Schmidt, the current Senate Majority Leader in Kansas, and someone whom I'm sure who'll make it even bigger nationally in the coming years.

You heard it here first!
_____________________________________________
There were no comments posted to the below as of 3 pm.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/11/polk-economic-d.html
Polk economic development group endorses commuter railposted by Orlando Sentinel on Nov 7, 2008 12:13:11 PM

A group that promotes economic development in Polk County has endorsed the Central Florida Commuter Rail Project, putting them at odds with the project's Lakeland-based critics led by Republican Sen. Paula Dockery.
The board of the Central Florida Development Council, Inc. (CFDC) unanimously endorsed the project, which would buy up 61.5 miles of CSX tracks through Central Florida to run light-rail trains from DeLand through Seminole and Orange Counties to Poinciana. The group expressed hope that ultimately the project would extend to Polk County.
"We believe the commuter rail project will stimulate growth and job opportunities in Central Florida and will greatly improve the quality of life for our citizens and visitors," said David Touchton, CFDC president. "It is more critical than ever to provide an alternative to automobile travel as gas prices escalate and new federal air quality standards for ozone put Central Florida at risk of becoming a non-attainment area which could result in sanctions and could slow much needed development."
The council is a private, non-profit 501 C-6 corporation and has a countywide board of directors interested in promoting the community and economic development of Polk County.Dockery and other Lakeland residents have protested that the commuter-rail project would also re-route CSX freight trains, sending more of them through downtown Lakeland.
She led the opposition in last year's Legislature, where the project died without coming to a vote in the Senate.


http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/


http://www.flsenate.gov/Legislators/index.cfm?Members=View+Page&LastName=Dockery&District_Num_Link=015&Title=-%3ESenat

Lessons for SoFla? Central Florida's Little Commuter Rail that Could

Tuesday October 14th, 2008 4:00 PM

Just got back from running some errands, checked my email and saw this interesting item in my daily Central Florida Political Pulse email about a subject I was following fairly closely months ago -the proposed commuter rail in Central Florida.


I wrote in this space about some of the issues at play back in the spring, and mentioned some very insightful stories that were being written around the state about the subject, of which Aaron Deslatte's May 20th Special Report in the parent Orlando Sentinel, Cash & Threats: How trial lawyers wielded new power to help block commuter rail, was the most powerful in showing the forces at work to build it or kill it.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/orl-csx2008may20,0,3131646.story


In broad strokes, in my opinion, it's a case of well-meaning transit types and common sense business groups in favor of regionalism vs. smart, articulate and powerfully-placed NIMBYs who are used to getting their way, playing all the angles, hoping to get something of value for their possible acquiescence.
Plus, the human drama that is trial lawyers and lobbyists rattling every one's cages in order to drum up bu$ine$$.

Another point of dispute which makes this so divisive is the very parochial and, in my opinion, ultimately self-defeating effort by Orange County to "Big Foot" everyone else in the area by capping their contribution to the commuter rail effort, but not allowing suburban areas to do the same thing, leaving those particular communities to wonder if they'll get swamped financially in the future, even while most of the system infrastructure is located inside Orange County.


Probably the only way to deal with the suburban concerns is to do everything in stages, so that the core of Orlando doesn't have a viable system years before their neighbors have anything, even though that's usually not a course of action I'd be in favor of.


The parent Orlando Sentinel's archives on this subject are very helpful,
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/commuter_rail/index.html and http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/economy-business-finance/csx-corporation-ORCRP004186.topic?pacode=orlnews and are full of facts, graphs and charts that paint a picture of a scene we know all too well down here: What's in it for me?

I should also mention that some -NOT ALL!- of the older reader comments in their archives contain a great deal of savvy insight from people who clearly know what they're talking about.

In that sense, it's much smarter than the reader comments we usually read down here, full of off-topic tangents, personal knocks against other reader comments, and the predictable, "Well, back in New York, we...."



The woman in the center of things, State Sen. Paula Dockery, is someone with real tangible power, yet the Herald and Sun-Sentinel's reporters in Tallahassee rarely mention her in the paper down here, but she has a real Zelig-like knack for always being where the action is.

Back in 1997, Dockery was one of the six State Reps on the losing end of a 7-6 vote in the House Finance & Tax Committee to give Wayne Huizenga $2 million a year in tax rebates for the next 30 years, $60 million in all, to improve the stadium I'll always think of as JRS, making him the first person in the state to get a second bite at that same tasty tax rebate apple, which he first devoured four years earlier, wearing his Marlins colors.
Yep, $120 million given to a billionaire that could've been used for something better for the region or society as a whole


(That's another dubious Ron Book lobbying success story that I didn't hear about at the time it happened while living up in Washington. That's Mr. Ronald L. Book PA to you!
His client list takes up a full two pages of the current list of Legislative lobbyists in Tallahassee. http://www.leg.state.fl.us/data/lobbyist/Reports/Lobbyist_LEG_2008.pdf )


A couple of recent editorials and endorsements in the Orlando Sentinel makes clear that their Editorial Board is making support for commuter rail in Central Florida a predicate for the paper's support in the future, much more forcefully than local South Florida newspapers are.
The Sentinel's editorial on the commuter rail issue from three weeks ago, below, is, in a word, delicious!


Today, they followed-up by making this argument in one of their endorsements for the FL State Legislature: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-ed30208sep30,0,1517562.story


House District 32
Democrat Tony Sasso won a special election in this district earlier this year. Now he's running for a full, two-year term.

Mr. Sasso, a former Cocoa Beach commissioner, works for a union as a ship inspector. He lists better growth management among his priorities. But on one of the best ways to discourage sprawl in Central Florida -- commuter rail -- he is reluctant to make a commitment.

He expresses some of the same misgivings about lawsuits and union participation that opponents in the Legislature cited when they killed the deal.

His Republican opponent, Steve Crisafulli of Merritt Island, is a farmer and businessman with deep roots in his community. He understands the urgency of utilizing Brevard County's skilled workforce after the shuttle retires, and of developing the economic potential of the medical city now sprouting in east Orange County.

Mr. Crisafulli's also a staunch advocate for commuter rail, touting its environmental benefits. He gets the nod over Mr. Sasso in District 32.
______________________________________________________________
www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-ed24108sep24,0,2828287.story
Orlando Sentinel
EDITORIAL
We think: Saboteurs shouldn't determine commuter rail's future
September 24, 2008

When selfish interests try to block what a community wants and is poised to get -- like commuter rail -- they resort to deception and intimidation.


That's what Lakeland state Sen. Paula Dockery did in April, falsely telling those who'd listen that they could intercept more than $300 million earmarked for commuter rail; falsely telling them the trains would run so slowly few would want to ride them; and joining with trial lawyers who threatened to unseat lawmakers supporting commuter rail.


Those tactics are unlikely to work a second time for the senator, when better-informed legislators next consider the issue.


Winter Park Commissioner Beth Dillaha looked this month like a disciple of Ms. Dockery as she tried to derail the project in her city, which is slated to host one of 17 stations along the 61-mile rail line. Fortunately, Winter Park wasn't duped.


Ms. Dillaha opposed commuter rail before joining the commission in January. This time, she argued the necessity of Winter Park renegotiating its agreement with Orange County to host a station.


She said costs were out of control, even though the city doesn't have to pay a dime to operate the trains until 2017. And even though the city may never have to -- should officials find a new revenue stream to pay for rail.


The bulk of Winter Park's commuter-rail station also is getting funded by Washington.


No matter to Ms. Dillaha. She claimed residents also didn't know what they were getting into even though they and the commission had voted to help fund commuter rail and site the station.


Unfortunately for Ms. Dillaha, the law also got in her way. Winter Park's attorney said the city probably can't renegotiate its agreement with Orange County.


Fortunately for Central Floridians, officials representing their interests -- the community's real leaders -- are working to get commuter rail rolling. Station designs should be finished by May.

Housing, retail and commercial space are being negotiated around stations in DeLand and DeBary, near Florida Hospital and Orlando Regional Medical Center, and by Osceola Parkway.


And bus routes connecting the stations to the airport, International Drive and other locations are being planned.


Fortunately for Central Floridians, most officials appreciate how environmentally friendly commuter trains can boost the economy and relieve its traffic headaches -- and they're willing or already working to make them happen. That should help keep any selfish interests from sabotaging them, no matter how many times they might try.


Reader comments on this editorial are at: http://www.topix.net/forum/source/orlando-sentinel/TALLS004U6TDDE60C
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Central Florida Political Pulse
The Little Commuter Rail that Could?
Aaron Deslatte on Oct 14, 2008 6:46:03 AM

The train that would carry commuters to and from work in Central Florida has a CEO who makes $176.96 an hour and an almost $300,000 marketing plan.
But it still lacks final approval -- and that can only come from the state Legislature, which said no earlier this year.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer hopes to rectify that potentially fatal shortcoming by leading lobbying efforts of lawmakers as they prepare for next year's session.


To read the rest of the post, see http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/10/the-little-comm.html
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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/orl-commuter1408oct14,0,1521323.story
Orlando Sentinel
On Dyer's to-do list: Win over rail resisters
Dan Tracy
Sentinel Staff Writer
October 14, 2008

The train that would carry commuters to and from work in Central Florida has a CEO who makes $176.96 an hour and an almost $300,000 marketing plan.


But it still lacks final approval -- and that can only come from the state Legislature, which said no earlier this year.Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer hopes to rectify that potentially fatal shortcoming by leading lobbying efforts of lawmakers as they prepare for next year's session.


He has even launched his own brand of personal diplomacy. Twice in recent weeks Dyer has sipped cocktails at University of Florida football games with Lakeland Sen. Paula Dockery, who helped derail the train plan last year.


Dyer concedes Dockery has not dropped her opposition to the $1.2 billion project, but said, "there's cordial communication." Dockery was out of state and could not be reached, an aide said.


"This is one of those things where you can't not be successful. So you can't stop," Dyer said.


Another key opponent is Julie Townsend, executive director of the Downtown Lakeland Partnership in Polk County. Like Dockery, Townsend wants to stop commuter rail because of the extra freight trains that will be rerouted into her city.


CSX, which owns the rail lines, estimates four more trains will be headed to Lakeland to avoid conflicts with the planned commuter rail. That would jump the daily traffic from about 16 to 20 trains, including Amtrak runs.


Townsend said Lakeland could handle 20 trains a day, but she is worried even more of them -- possibly an additional 30 or more -- could be headed the city's way because companies looking to avoid high fuel costs may switch from shipping products by trucks to rail.


"We are required to accept this fate and take a hit for the team," Townsend said.


Even with those misgivings, she said Lakeland could support commuter rail if CSX would promise to limit the future number of trains in the city to 20. CSX will not make that deal, said spokesman Gary Sease, because it does not want to stifle possible growth.


But Dyer is hoping to change more minds than those of Dockery and people living in Lakeland.


He has instructed city-hired lobbyists, including the powerful Tallahassee firm Southern Strategies, to persuade the Legislature to sign off on insurance for the train that was denied when the session ended in May. Without insurance, the train cannot operate.


Though Dyer declined to specifically outline any lobbying strategies, there is little doubt he will be targeting trial lawyers.


They are against commuter rail because the state wants to limit awards to people who might be injured or killed if the planned train were involved in an accident. The state already has a similar insurance deal in place with a commuter-rail system it operates in South Florida.


Paul Jess, general counsel for the Florida Justice Association in Tallahassee, said he has had little contact with proponents of commuter rail about what might happen during next year's session.


"I've not heard of any movement . . . [but] there's always opportunities for reasonable people to get together to talk about these issues," Jess said.


Business leaders also are writing letters to commuter-rail supporter Gov. Charlie Crist to encourage him to help win votes in the Legislature, which convenes again in March.


Fortunately for Dyer and commuter rail, they have time to work on their opponents in the state House and Senate. In the meantime, the planning for the system has moved ahead.


The board overseeing commuter rail signed a contract with consulting firm PB Americas to hire Pete Turrell as chief executive officer of what would be a 61-mile system.


Turrell of Tampa, is a former Amtrak executive who also has run rail companies overseas.

PB will be paid $179.09 an hour for his services, and the company is slated for annual raises of about $5 an hour through 2016. His hours likely will start out low and grow if the train is approved.


The commuter board, made up of elected and transportation officials from Central Florida, also has hired myregion.org, an arm of the Central Florida Partnership, a business group spun off from the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce.


Myregion.org will be paid nearly $300,000 to commission public surveys and conduct focus-group studies on how to promote the train and come up with a logo and color scheme.


The train would run from DeLand in Volusia County through Orlando to Poinciana in Osceola County. The first leg, including a stop in Orlando, could be complete by 2011.


Officials already have spent more than $41 million on the undertaking. They expect to spend another $52 million this year, largely for property around stations and to design rail cars, signals and stations. Half would come from federal funds, and the other 50 percent would be split evenly between state and local sources.


"This [commuter rail] hits just about every positive thing you can think of," Dyer said.

"Every piece of it is the right thing to do for Florida."


Dan Tracy can be reached at dtracy@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5444.


Reader coments are at: http://www.topix.net/forum/source/orlando-sentinel/TH27F589OSSV65DJ0

Aaron Deslatte adroitly zeroes in on CSX and trial lawyers

There's not much that I can add to this excellent Central Florida Political Pulse blog post and Orlando Sentinel post mortem from Aaron Deslatte on the political aftermath of the Central Florida commuter rail imbroglio, other than that based on what I've read in the Orlando and Tampa Bay newspapers and blogs, there were a lot of supporters of the Central FL commuter train who wondered why there was, apparently, so little discussion among Florida Democratic legislators of pursuing the Amtrak angle months ago.

You know, a credible Plan B?
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http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/
Central Florida Political Pulse
Trial lawyers and the CSX saga revisited
posted by Aaron Deslatte on May 20, 2008

When Sen. Paula Dockery needed friends to help derail Central Florida's commuter-rail deal, she did something once unthinkable for a Republican legislator: She appealed to the state's trial lawyers.
Dockery was up against a political dream team. Central Florida supporters of commuter rail and Jacksonville-based CSX Corp. had public-relations firms in Tallahassee, Orlando and Tampa. The city of Orlando employed uber-lobbyists Southern Strategy Group.And two powerful legislators -- Senate Majority Leader Daniel Webster of Winter Garden and Rep. Dean Cannon of Winter Park, in line to be speaker in 2010 -- were leading the charge.
"I couldn't fight them all off. They were attacking from every single angle," said Dockery, who opposed the deal because it meant more freight trains running through her home city of Lakeland.
So Dockery seized on a little-noticed element of the $650 million deal...

For the rest of this story go to:
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/05/trial-lawyers-a.html
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More from Deslatte on the above story along with some great graphics -and reporting of the sort that you never saw on this issue on local South Florida TV:

SPECIAL REPORT
Cash & Threats: How trial lawyers wielded new power to help block commuter rail at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-csx2008may20,0,1130274.story

Prior Orlando Sentinel stories on the Central Florida commuter rail plan are at: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-commuterrail-sg,0,3785419.storygallery and well worth checking out if you're at all interested in mass transit in Florida. _______________________________________
Also see this story on the SFECC:
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/apr/19/30gttreasure-coast-planners-hoping-to-draw-rail/?feedback=1#comments

Treasure Coast planners all aboard plan to draw passenger train service
By Derek Simmonsen
April 19, 2008