Tuesday, June 8, 2012 - Tavares, FL
by Vance Jochim - FiscalRangers.com UPDATED 7pm with info on Bill Smalley & Ralph Smith, who filed so late they were not on the candidate list I was given by the Elections staff at noon.
Today at noon was the filing deadline for Lake County elections for positions like Sheriff, Constitutional Officers and some County and School Board Positions. The only new candidates filing by the deadline were for Board position openings on the North Lake County Hospital District.
Additionally, County Property Appraiser Candidate Pam Lee changed her candidacy to a Write In Candidate, which means she will not be listed on the ballot but people can write her name in as a candidate. Lee was unable to get enough signed petitions or fees to file and be listed on the ballot, so she is a write in candidate.
As of this writing, the updated, final list has only been posted in the Excel format on this page:
http://elections.lakecountyfl.gov/candidate_information/index.asp
Incumbents that are safe, where no one filed to run against them include:
- Welton Cadwell - County Commissioner
- Bob McKee - County Tax Collector
- Neil Kelly - Clerk of the Circuit Court
- Candidates or incumbents for Lake County Water Authority District 1,3 & 5 are safe, but two candidates have filed for District 2: Adama Dufresne & Joseph Bolton.
- No last minute added candidates for School Board openings have filed.
Last Minute Surprise Candidate Filings for North Lake County Hospital Board
Last minute filings by some candidates included some surprises, especially for the three open Board positions on the North Lake County Hospital District.
The North Lake County Hospital District has three Board openings, and incumbents Roger Beyers & Ken Carpenter are not running for re-election.
Although these elected Board positions do not get any wages, they are critical because a Board majority decides how about $8+ million of property taxes will be distributed among hospitals and local medical clinics to subsidize indigent care. Previously, the Board has always given the funds to two local hospitals without any oversight or spending rules.
A new state law re-organized the Board positions so now they are partisan (Democrat, Republican or NPA), but all filings were by Republicans, PLUS the six Board positions are now specifically numbered "Seats" and you have to pick which one to run in. The North Lake County Hospital District is split into two Districts, NorthWest and NorthEast, and each now has three seats.
- Board incumbent Marilyn Bainter, filed to run for re-election to the new NorthEast District Seat 1. She supported the new law and oversight.
- Last minute filer Catherine Hanson, a former County Commissioner and real estate broker in the Sorrento area, also filed to run against Bainter in NE District 1. UPDATE: A Democrat, Bill Smalley, also filed at the last minute for this seat. Both Smalley and Hanson are from the Sorrento area and both are well known in political circles. Smalley will win the Democrat slot for the primary, and the winner in the Republican primary between Hanson or Bainter will oppose him.
- Last minute filer Davis Talmadge filed for NE Seat 3 and opposed by another VERY last minute filer, Ralph Smith. Talmadge is a financial consultant in Tavares, and has been active in local political committees. Smith has a Tire business and is well known in political circles in Lake County, and he also hosts a one hour radio show "Lake County Roundtable" on WLBE AM790 every Wednesday at 11am. We will wait and see which candidate opposes oversight of the Hospital District, and which one supports oversight.
- Recent filer Paul Soule filed for NW Seat 5, and is not opposed. We only know he seems to be in the insurance industry.
FiscalRangers.com readers will know that there is a split in Board support for a new State law reforming the North Lake County Hospital District to improve oversight and spending rules. The law, written by FL Rep. Larry Metz, established much more specific operating rules and caps on types of spending. The old law had no spending restrictions, procedures or oversight over about $10-million collected by the District from property taxes and paid without guidelines to two local hospitals, Leesburg and Waterman. The tax reform law was supported by many taxpayers and Tea party Groups and is now active.
Our analysis of the people filing for the position is that Bainter is a supporter of spending reforms, but the other three candidates may be supported by hospital interests - we will see. One reason for monitoring that is that the new law allows the Board to establish a tax millage rate ranging from 0 TO 1 mill, while the prior law only allowed 0 OR 1 mill, and hospital supported Board members continuously voted for the maximum 1-mill tax every time. There never has been a solid analysis of the NEED for the taxes, especially using the spending rules in the new law. For instance, why collect $8-million in taxes when maybe only $5-million is allowable under the new spending rules?
So, how did it happen that the most well known candidates, incumbent Marilyn Bainter, and opponent Catherine Hanson filed to run against each other for Seat 1? According to my discussions with them, it was not planned. Originally, Bainter was going to file for Seat 3, but then Davis Talmadge filed for it this week. So, Bainter figured it would be better to run for a vacant seat, and she filed for Seat 1. But, then Hanson filed for Seat 1, thinking Bainter was running for Seat 3, not knowing Bainter had changed to Seat 1. So, that resulted in them both running for the same seat and Talmadge lucked out and has no opponent. That all happened in the last two days.
Now, if the above Board members are elected, we expect them, even with Bainter being elected, to have a majority to vote against property owners and support maximum taxes and medical payments to hospitals and clinics by approving the maximum tax of 1%.
What are the Contentious Candidate Races other than the North Lake Hospital District race for seat 1?:
- Property Appraiser - Including write-in candidate Pam Lee, there are three candidates trying to replace 30+ year incumbent Ed Havill, including a certified Appraiser, Walter Price, and a former FL Senator, Carey Baker. Lee had the most research on reasons for Havill to be replaced and we expect her to still be at forums. We will have stories on this later. Havill is in the Florida State DROP program, where he collects a full salary and a full retirement.
- Sheriff - Incumbent Gary Borders against Sandy Carpenter. Mark Thompson filed as an NPA and has not been that visible in the elections so far. Expect a lot of dirt to come out.
- Elections Superintendant - Incumbent Emogene Stegall is being opposed by highly visible Margie Eaton, less visible Keith Farner, and longshot Paul Richardson. Stegall has been in office over 30 years and is considered by her opponents as ready for retirement.
- Jimmy Conner, County Commissioner, is being opposed by NPA candidate Michael Odette. We put this here just to make Jimmy nervous. Odette is finishing work in the Phillipines and has only been able to send emails to various groups in Lake County, and he is an NPA, so a longshot.
- Welton Cadwell, County Commissioner, has no opponent except write ins. Nervous yet, Welton?
- School Board District 1 candidate Bill Mathias is running for a vacant seat against a much less experienced candidate. Mathias has significant business experience and runs a local, successful distribution business.
- School Board incumbents Jim Miller and Rosanne Brandeburg are running AGAINST each other for District 2 because the new district maps were drawn so that they both live in a new district. That will be a brawl. They think entirely differently. One surprise could be if one accepts support from the SEIU Union and the Teacher's Union, and how voter's perceive that.
- School Board District 4 incumbent Debbie Stivender is being opposed by Cheryl Thomas, and Thuy Lowe, who has been active in school activities as a parent. Stivender has name recognition, but Lowe has a strong business and marketing background.
- Water Authority positions - I don't know the background of those candidates, but only District 2 is contested. If you are unhappy about blockages in the Dora Canal, or ground water issues, let the candidates know. They don't have authority over the water flowing into Lake Dora, Harris, etc - that is the St. John's River Water Management District, and Lake County doesn't even have a representative on that Board.
Effect of NPA or Write In Candidates
In the past, if several candidates might get a straw man candidate to run as an NPA or Write In candidate to favor one party. That really hasn't happened this year.
Conclusion
Let the election games begin - expect to start seeing campaign signs soon, and watch for legal and illegal flyers. For instance, during the last election two years ago, three hospital supported candidates for North Lake County Hospital District were touted on a mailed flyer that was illegal and did not follow election code, or explain who funded it. The mailing house was fined by the FL Elections Division after a complaint was filed, and an investigation into the funders of the illegal flyer for North Lake County Hospital District candidates is ongoing. So KEEP any mailed political flyers you get in case any are illegal. We will be watching this year.
Be sure to subscribe to FiscalRangers.com to get updates on local Lake County elections by sending your email to FiscalRangers AT comcast DOT com . Or, LIKE our Facebook "FiscalRanger" page to get the most frequent updates.
vj
