Re invisible Marie Woodson and the equally-invisible Brian Paruas and David Raskind, Hollywood City Commission candidates who completely fail to do the basics required of them

In 2026, have you seen state Rep. Marie Woodson in-person at any 1301-related mtg., official city or otherwise, or at any Hollywood City Comm./Broward County Comm. campaign event/forum?

I have no reports of that ever having been the case so far in 2026, but obviously, it's entirely possible that someone I know was at such an event/mtg. and simply didn't notice her, or, completely forgot whether they saw her or not when I asked this same question in an email to some Hollywood/Broward friends last month.

Folks who are among the area's most well-informed and enthusiastic civic activists, most of whom you already know or would recognize. 

Esp. when you look in the mirror!  

Policy-wise, Marie Woodson has largely stayed completely invisible re 1301 since she was first elected, and just a reminder, back in April when LIVE Local was being revised for the 4th year in a row in Tallahassee, she was a no-show.

She did not vote on it on the House floor right before it went to the state Senate for final passage.

Was she sick, miss her flight, have car trouble that day??? No idea.

I've checked the myriad websites and Twitter feeds of the Sun Sentinel, Herald and all four English language TV stations make no mention of it.

To me, it's odd behavior for a woman who says she's seriously considering a run for Hollywood mayor in 2028, and whose public reputation thus far is that of a dependable, knee-jerk liberal Democrat not known for either her independence or willingness to push back hard against the ideas or agenda of Florida Dem leaders and their powers-that-be.

Reminder about tonight's Hollywood City Commission District 3 candidate forum at David Park.

The event is no longer a real “forum” like the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce's a few weeks ago, and the reason for that is because Alex Recio's opponent, David Raskind, recently pulled out, but Recio assures me that he will be there to answer questions from the public. 

Raskind's rationale is here from Monday's The 7 & Beyond Substack by Steven Paul Schneider, wherein Raskind wrote something with the completely ballsy and self-justifying headline:

 

‘I’m Not Interested In Earning A Hall Pass From The Establishment’
David Raskind Explains His Decision To Withdraw From Upcoming Candidate Forum

https://stevenpaulschneider.substack.com/p/im-not-interested-in-earning-a-hall

Classic Raskind, and very on-brand for him, such as it is

Which is to say that from my POV, it's completely tone-deaf and misses the larger point of why anyone runs in the first place.

I suppose the best way to rebut what Raskind says is to simply repeat what one very well-informed friend of mine wrote to me recently about him and some of the other know-nothing people putting themselves forward in Hollywood as City Commission candidates who never did any of the actual preliminary hard work the past few years: showing up in-person at community events- but equipped with tailor-made excuses for why they were always the no-shows.

Always a spectator. 😒

And as if that was not bad enough, as a starter, people who have NOT made a genuinely serious effort to bring themselves up to speed on the issues Hollywood residents and stakeholders care about most, given that they are running at a disadvantage that they themselves are 100% responsible for. 

Invisibility and lacking community trust is a bad wan to run for office.

"Every time I want to give David Raskind a chance, he goes and insults everyone who is the most involved and has taken so much time away from their own families to volunteer for their community. 

He simply doesn’t understand how totally disrespectful he comes across. 

It’s like when District 1 candidate Brian Paruas when he says he couldn’t be involved because he works and has a family. #wtf???

So do a lot of us, and we still do it!" 

Reminder: Paruas is one of the candidates running in District 1 against my super-well informed and well-qualified friend, Catherine "Cat" Uden,

Paruas seems to think that him posting Instagram post of himself with friends and family at various restaurants around town is a substitute for community involvement when it was needed in the past.

Uh, it's not.

Paruas, like Raskind, was not there when the community needed pushback against Josh Levy's Rubber Stamp Crew.

  

Dave

David Bruce Smith  

My blog, now eponymous, , formerly called Hallandale Beach/Hollywood Blog: 

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