OCALA ELECTION: THE WINNERS!
Congratulations to the following:
Mayor
Randy Ewers: With 51% of the vote. (Newly Elected)
City Council
Kyle Kay (District #1): With 68% of the vote. (Re-elected)
Dan Owen (District #3): With 75% of the vote. (Re-elected)
Charlie Ruse (District #5): With 73% of the vote. (Newly Elected)
As expected, the Mayor race was a close one; the others were relative “blow outs”.
Here was the very first comment on our blog about three+ weeks ago concerning the Phelan vs. Ewers Mayor’s race:
"I still believe Ewers will beat Phelan in a close election. Phelan has too many life style issues for the true conservatives."
8:27 PM, September 28, 2005
Looks like one of our bloggers may have had a crystal ball on this race. Although, as the race progressed, the positive comments on Randy Ewers really picked up. Our opinion, the Phelan TV spots were the worst political advertising we have ever seen!
So what do you think about the results of the City Election?
posted by Blog Master @ 9:55 PM
48 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Sorry, removed another spam ad!
Only 4000 voters. This is pathetic! Anyone who did not vote needs to keep their mouth shut about the results. What is wrong with our country and this city?
I voted for Phelan because of his experience. However, I can live with Randy Ewers as mayor. Perhaps some new blood in city hall will be good. Time will tell. Congratulations to Mr. Ewers.
I agree with Ann. I am sure Mr. Ewers will represent us well. I do hope he reconsiders his "hands off" idea. Even the Army-Navy-Airforce-Marines have a civilian top dog in the Secretary of Defense, in this case the Mayor.
Congrats to the council men reelected and to Charlie Ruse.
--pwf
Unsaid at this point is thanks to Gerald Ergle for about (give or take a year or so) for his service to the city of Ocala. I well remember his first big vote was whether to put Paddock Mall across from Kmart on East Silver Springs Blvd. Gerald listened to citizens, was polite and humble, and served us well. He will be missed.
--pwf
More people attended the chili cook off then voted in the city elections.Ocala is a sleepy place,I guess all of the TV/Radio,Signs,magazine adds and Blog stuff just doesnt have that much impact in this City.
Tillanders nightclubs draw more people then he can get to turnout and vote.LOL .What does this say??
Congrats to the winners and may they serve the city honorably!!
Since the people of the City Of Ocala don't seem interested in the future of the City, why not just turn it over to the County and save all that City Hall overhead?
To have only 15% of our people vote is disgraceful.
There are many functions that would work nicely consolidated, like fire, police, engineering, etc.
FYI, in the old days, we had a city court and city judge, and our own city jail. The city court met in the records room of the police station. Then we built a new police station with its own fancy city court courtroom, and a fancy city jail. Then we consolidated court and jail functions.
It makes no sense to have a strong need for uniform planning and zoning system, but split the duties between a city planning and zoning and county planning and zoning dept. This is one major area where consolidation would benefit us immediately.
Likewise, it makes no sense to split law enforcement between cities and the county. We could easily merge the city and county fire departments.
Maybe the bloggers can step up and help start a new move toward consolidation.
--pwf
there is always a smart ass in every room how about i changle you to a arm wrestling match or we could just compare bank accounts. power to the people!
I understand that Sam Riggs has asked for a re-count! Just joking, before I give Dan Owen’s wife a heart attack.
Someone said they thought Randy Harris was Riggs’ “campaign manager”. I can’t believe Harris was involved in any political loss this bad. If so, he is really losing his touch, or the religious right isn't as powerful as they would like us to believe.
Tillander vs. Power To The People in arm wrestling, best two out of three.
Sounds like a great idea to me! How about the winner donating the "purse" to Kimberly's Cottage or one of the local Food Banks? I bet you could raise some money from this. Call it the "Blogger Challenge". Maybe PWF would serve as referee.
This would have more interest than Bobby D and Radioman on the same talk radio show.
Lordy, Lordy all my candidates won!
Even though he barely lost, you have to say Dude ran a pretty lousy campaign. The more he campaigned, the less I wanted to vote for him!
I think Harris got frustrated because Riggs wouldn't do what he wanted.
As for Phelan vs Ewers, difference in that close race was in the black endorsement he paid for. That African American council goes for whomever puts up the money.
Unfortunately, little has changed through the years.
If what "blogger" says about Ewers' buying votes is true, I'm very disappointed. Thought he had more integrity than that. Guess we are getting just another bought and paid for politician.
They dont call it "buying." They call it an "endorsement." Same difference. They go throught the community telling who to vote for -- in the big cities they call it "walking around money." Just look at the precinct votes and see for yourself.
I am not a city resident and could not vote in the election. However, it looks like the city is just like all other parts of our county political system--candidates do buy endorsements. This is a fact of political life and should not be a surprise to anyone. Ewers, Kay, Owen, et al, they all do it. It's a shame, but the way it is. Ewers can buy with the best of them!
I understand your "perception" is candidates buy endorsements. However, could you please explain in greater detail how one would go about purchasing an endorsement????
MAK,
By making a "contribution" to a non-profit group for the informal support (endorsement) by that group of a candidate. Just ask Mr. Ewers about the A-A Council. Candidates doing a role reversal of what lobbyists do.
Many of these contributions never show up on finance reports. Sometimes they are even made by a candidates "friend(s)". It does happen.
I have even seen candidates pull out $25-$50 and give it to an individual with a wink of the eye asking for the person's vote. Politics, behind the scenes, is enough to make you want to get out--which I did.
No wonder many folks don't trust politicians.
Randy Ewers’ campaign slogan should have been “I’ve Got A Secret”. His secret, he wants to sell the county’s water to south Florida. I found Randy Harris’ neutral reaction to this idea rather interesting. Had this idea been suggested by a Democrat, Harris would have gone into a rage. Of course, no sensible Democrat would consider such a ridiculous plan.
Too bad Ewers didn’t tell all of us his big idea before the election. Had he done so, the Star-Banner would have probably been covering all the events Dude Phelan (not Ewers) attended over the past few days.
Watch the spin doctors work on this one!
Just cought the new post from Tillander??Read my previous post carefully and see if what I said was false??
Doesnt the chili cook off draw more people then the city of ocala elections??How many people go to the Tillander nightclubs on a given weekend??How many turned out to vote?
If this really is "Tillander",I dont think I could beat you at an arm wrestling match-but probably could have just a few years ago..LOL. I worked at one of your clubs as a bouncer and used to bench press 425lbs..NO JOKE!
Am now quite out of shape and weak!!Sorry!
Comparing bank accounts-now that I would do in a second!!I have no money!!Know you must have alot more then that!!Would love to meet ya and chit chat. Didnt know I said anything bad about ya??
I was astounded this morning to read the Banner about Randy Ewers and his big idea of "thinking outside the box."
He wants to sell the water that will not be sufficient take care of Marion County, our growth (and golf courses) to South Florida, eh.
Well, he should have talked several years ago to my friend Randy Harris and the GOP county commission, which, in one of their dumbest moves, voted several years ago to pull out of the Withlacoochee Regional Water Supply group that was prepared to invest millions of dollars in our county (as a member) so that we -- Marion County -- would have "captured" control the water supply, could then have sold it to the developers and make a substantial profit, and would have been in a much stronger position of strength when counties south of us came calling.
But in an effort to save about $80,000 a year (membership dues) and appease some developers, utility company owners and landowners, we pulled out of membership in the Regional Water district over the strong pleas of our staff and consultants. The water management districts then changed their policies and now they control our water, and like it or not, eventually it will go south and we wont get the profits.
What an idea to keep to yourself until after the election. This means that he knew the idea would be solidly rejected by voters, as would he. As a developer friend who opposes the sale of our water to0 anyone outside Marion bCounty asked, "any provisions for a recall?" The answer is no, but this stunt makes Dude Phelan's lousy TV ads look mighty good.
City Council needs to stop this rubbish before it even gets started, and I am waiting for the Banner's editorial taking him to task.
--pwf
Amen, pwf. Well said. And very true.
We don’t need to worry about Randy Ewers and his water solution. He has not yet cleared his out of the box thinking with Randy Harris and the local Republican Executive Committee. Once this is done, Ewers will be brought back into the box. He will get a slap on the hand and a reprimand for not reviewing his thinking with the party higher ups. It won’t take Ewers very long to settle in to doing the things the party way.
I thought the Mayor is a non-partisan position. Ewers can just tell Harris and the whole REC to p... off! He doesn't need to clear anything with that group.
Fortunately, City Council, while all Republican, has NOTHING to do with the local Exec Committee. And more than one or two would delight in telling them to bug off.
--pwf
Perhaps Randy Ewers can become a refreshing "thorn" for Harris. We need some Republicans who will tell him to bug off.
Welcome Councilman Owen,
Glad to see you are willing to participate in our discussions. This will be a great way for you to keep up with how some of us feel about issues in the city and county. Congratulations on your return to office!
I'll let you off the hook on comments or questions--for now.
hope councilman owen will freely use this blog to also give us his point of view on major issues in the city from time to time without us asking. more of our local officials should use the opportunity of the blog.
I agree with Mr. Owen. The administration of this would be too much, I salute the OPD for looking at ways to raise revenues, but this doesn't seem a feasible one.
With the statistics on the % of residents using OPD, perhaps looking at combining police (and other) services with the county might make some sense. It has been commented on by others on the blog.
Yo, Councilman. Or maybe I should say Whoa . . . In your example, you say the people outside the city utilize city services but pay nothing. Not quite so. Every city of Ocala utility customer either pays a utility tax (inside the city) or a surcharge (outside the city (10% I think). Right? If I am right, they are paying for city services, since NONE of that surcharge goes not for utility service, but rather for general city services, like ... er ... police accident investigations.
If you are serious about ideas (and I know you are) let's get the consolidation of police and fire services with the county on the table for discussion. Lee McGehee and Don Moreland signed of intent to consolidate, but Lee later backed off and refused efforts to make it work. Lots of money to be save with records, investigations, dispatch, insurance, purchasing etc.
And, for the record, as you know, I am a residdet of the city of Ocala not one of those skuffaws from the county!
--pwf
I have a question for Councilman Owen:
“What would be the most important considerations by you in evaluating and deciding whether or not to support any proposed mergers of city and county departments?”
I think the merger idea has merit, in some cases, but we need to be sure the city residents don’t get the short end of the stick. Thanks for continuing to push this issue.
Good question George.
If you want to eliminate over $200,000 of payroll quickly and without a lot of fuss, just work on combining the city/county three Ps—-personnel, parks and purchasing. You could get this savings by eliminating the duplication of department heads and that’s only a start!
FYI, former Sheriff Don Moreland and former Police Chief Lee McGehee (now deceased) actually worked out a complete written agreement on how to merge the two law enforcement agencies, and it showed considerable savings -- one dispatch (911) center, one personnel office, one purchasing dept, one records section, on and on. It was all spelled out in the agreement, and they proudly took it both city council and to the county commission.
Then politics got involved, and Lee was told to back off, and later became enraged with me when I went before council and the commission to try and push the agreement rather than spending millions to build the new police headquarters. Lee sometimes forgot that citizens were his boss, not the reverse, and sometimes had to be reminded who provided the money to pay his salary. At any rate, the deal fell throgh without a word's discussion on the record at either council or commission levels.
At today's money, I suspect the savings within the first budget year would exceed $2 million, and the level of service would be maintained.
Similar savings would result in the fire dept and proportional savings would result in combining purchasing departments.
Citizens would get a big benefit in having uniform zoning codes and a single place to get building permits and inspections regardless of location.
This a turf problem. City officials are going to resist, some city residents will resist, some from the county. But we could have an immediate saving of from $4 to $6-7 million annually just through the combination.
Will it happen? Well, that depends on how sincere our Republican elected officials are. Both county commission and City Council are all Republicans, and all support less government, less taxation. So let's see if the turf wars will keep them from fulfilling their principles.
pwf
Councilman . . .
Look at the FDLE statistics. Ocala has a worse crime rate per 1,000 than Miami. Yet Marion County has one of the lowest in the state (senior moment, can't remember what I wrote in the campaign ads . . .) There would bo no problem with law enforcement, in fact, the overhead cuts would allow more officers on the street.
Admittedly, there might be a problem with fire services, but no onbe including you and me knows how that would work since no one including you and me has studied it. It might be that those of us who live in the city could get as good or better fire insurance rate with good consolidation.
--pwf
And I will delay my retirement from politics long enough to help whereever possible.
This should have been done years ago -- like 48 years ago when I came to Ocala!
--pwf
Right on, Councilman Owen!!
I look forward to some real good debate on this issue. Hopefully, other local politicians won't just bury their heads in the sand on this. It is too important.
For two or more Commissioners or Council members to comment on this blog may run afoul of the government in the sunshine law. One member can say something, but for another member to reply is probably a violation.
Charles, I suppose you could get some attorney to say that is true, but frankly, this is a downfall of the sunshine law. As a former newspaperman, I benefitted, but we all lost, because there are times that officials need to have a discussion to get anything accomplished. Ocala would never have put together the annexation that brought 160 square miles into the city in the 1960's if we had a sunshine law back then. Hell, the newspapers met privately each week with the councilmen to plan the campaign!
A councilman commenting on this blog is commenting to you and me and not to another elected official, so in my opinion, it is not a violation. But that is what attorneys are for -- to take situations to court and change you!
--pwf
Charles,
Based on a discussion with an attorney who knows the Sunshine Law, we believe you are wrong in your interpretation of the Law.
This blog is no different than the newspaper, radio or other public media. Elected officials can say anything they want about most any issue as long as they aren’t directly replying to one another. On this blog they are replying to all of us.
Also, city councilman and county commissioners are permitted to have one-on-one discussions without this being a violation of the Sunshine Law.
1. My information came from our city attorney, Pat G.
2. Yes, a city official and a county official may have one on one chats. Two county commissinoers may not. Two city council folks may not.
I am assuming the chats are about 'subjects which may reasonably come before the board/council' not just chats about the weather.
A "Candidates' Night" sponsored by a private organization at which candidates for public office, including several incumbent city council members, will speak about their political philosophies, trends, and issues facing the city, is not subject to the Sunshine Law unless the council members discuss issues coming before the council among themselves. AGO 92-05.
Similarly, in AGO 94-62, the Attorney General's Office concluded that the Sunshine Law does not apply to a political forum sponsored by a private civic club during which county commissioners express their position on matters that may foreseeably come before the commission, so long as the commissioners avoid discussions among themselves on these issues. However, caution should be exercised to avoid situations in which private political or community forums may be used to circumvent the statute's requirements. Id. See, Town of Palm Beach v. Gradison, 296 So. 2d 473, 477 (Fla. 1974) (Sunshine Law is to be construed "so as to frustrate all evasive devices").
I doubt that any official wants to try to explain this blog in response to an ethics complaint or criminal charge. Why get close to the edge?
charles,
you are way off base! this blog isn't even close to being dangerous to politicians from a sunshine standpoint. get with modern technology. i have seen these type of blogs all over the place and many politicians give their opinions to the bloggers. no more dangerous than giving information to a newspaper article. i have also consulted with two lawyers and they tell me they see no problem with this. what law school did you go to and in what year?
if someone (a politician) wants to really play games they can post as anonymous and give their opinion on an issue and let people try to figure out who it is.
ridiculous way to do this though. the case law says that a blog does not have to reveal the identity of any blogger--and most have no way of doing so with anything that is put on the blog.
i trust our elected officials to use this blog in a legal and above board way in communicating with constituents who use this. they probably know what they can and can't do better than you or me.
Hey, don’t be so tough on Charles! From what he stated, I believe he is agreeing with what the Blog Master already said. He is just recommending caution in how elected officials communicate on blogs. They have to use that caution all the time in all communications.
Charles did not state any cases or rulings that say the blog is off limits to elected officials; probably because there are none. So as far as I’m concerned, there is nothing preventing any elected official from using this or any blog to communicate directly with their “constituents” on issues. The blog is a great idea! And that comes from a lawyer.
I look forward to hearing from Councilman Owen and many others who represent the people of our community. I bet we will.
I went to the Univ. of Fla. law school. Graduated a long time ago.
Go to http://myfloridalegal.com/sunshine
This is a completely ridiculous debate & an excellent example of why our society is overly litigated. No wonder there are so many attorney jokes!
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