Election Day: Here’s the Alachua Chronicle Voter Guide for the 2024 General Election
OPINION
BY LEN AND JENNIFER CABRERA
Local and state offices
Just in the past four years, the current County Commission has:
- Spent taxpayer money pursuing a meat processing facility that was eventually voted down;
- Purchased three motels for homeless people, one of which taken over by squatters;
- Paid a $3 million settlement to a workforce housing developer after withdrawing previously-approved matching funds;
- Forced all commercial entities in the unincorporated county to use a single company for solid waste collection services;
- Passed a rental unit permit and inspection program that was later preempted by the legislature and repealed;
- Passed a resolution opposing the Parental Rights in Education act;
- Declared a traffic violence crisis;
- Declared gun violence to be a public health crisis;
- Voted to subsidize jail phone calls with taxpayer funds, making them free for inmates;
- Eliminated fees that prevented the frivolous use of jail resources such as the clinic;
- Voted to make up a $500,000 gap in the City of Gainesville’s funding for homeless services;
- Passed a landscape code that strongly discourages grass and irrigation systems.
In addition to all of that, we believe that Mary Alford is disqualified for previously being dishonest about where she lived.
There are enough registered Republicans in County Commission Districts 1 and 3 for the two Republican candidates to have a chance – if Republicans turn out. Early voting starts on October 21 and goes through November 3 at eight locations, so don’t take a chance that something could go wrong on Election Day – go vote during Early Voting.
We recommend voting against all local county-level incumbents except two: We strongly recommend voting for Sheriff Emery Gainey, who has improved morale at the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ASO), leading to a continuing reduction in the staffing deficits left by former Sheriff Clovis Watson. Chad Scott was part of Watson’s command staff; enough said. We also recommend voting for Brian Kramer.
Vote for:
- Legislature: Chuck Brannan (District 10)/Chad Johnson (District 22)
- State Senator: Stan McClain
- Sheriff: Emery Gainey
- State Attorney: Brian Kramer
- Supervisor of Elections: Judith Jensen
- County Commission District 1: Liz Doebler
- County Commission District 3: Jenn Garrett
Constitutional Amendments
Our full discussion of the amendments is in a separate article: Click here to read our reasons for the recommendations below.
Amendment 1. Partisan Election of Members of District School Boards
Our recommendation: Yes
Sponsor: The Florida Legislature/House (HJR 31)
Full text here.
Ballot summary:
Proposing amendments to the State Constitution to require members of a district school board to be elected in a partisan election rather than a nonpartisan election and to specify that the amendment only applies to elections held on or after the November 2026 general election. However, partisan primary elections may occur before the 2026 general election for purposes of nominating political party candidates to that office for placement on the 2026 general election ballot.
Amendment 2. Right to Fish and Hunt
Our recommendation: No
Sponsor: The Florida Legislature/House (HJR 1157)
Full text here.
Ballot summary:
Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to preserve forever fishing and hunting, including by the use of traditional methods, as a public right and preferred means of responsibly managing and controlling fish and wildlife. Specifies that the amendment does not limit the authority granted to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission under Section of Article IV of the State Constitution.
Amendment 3. Adult Personal Use of Marijuana
Our recommendation: No
Sponsor: Smart & Safe Florida
Full text here.
Ballot summary:
Allows adults 21 years or older to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise; allows Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers, and other state licensed entities, to acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell, and distribute such products and accessories. Applies to Florida law; does not change, or immunize violations of, federal law. Establishes possession limits for personal use. Allows consistent legislation. Defines terms. Provides effective date.
Amendment 4. Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion
Our recommendation: No
Sponsor: Floridians Protecting Freedom
Full text here.
Ballot summary:
No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.
Amendment 5. Annual Adjustments to the Value of Certain Homestead Exemptions
Our recommendation: No (against our personal financial interest)
Sponsor: The Florida Legislature/House (HJR 7017)
Full text here.
Ballot summary:
Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to require an annual adjustment for inflation to the value of current or future homestead exemptions that apply solely to levies other than school district levies and for which every person who has legal or equitable title to real estate and maintains thereon the permanent residence of the owner, or another person legally or naturally dependent upon the owner is eligible. This amendment takes effect January 1, 2025.
Amendment 6. Repeal of Public Campaign Financing Requirement
Our recommendation: Yes
Sponsor: The Florida Legislature/Senate (SJR 1114)
Full text here.
Ballot summary:
Proposing the repeal of the provision in the State Constitution which requires public financing for campaigns of candidates for elective statewide office who agree to campaign spending limits.
Local issues
Our full discussion of the local issues is in a separate article: Click here to read our reasons for the recommendations below.
At-Large Voting
Our recommendation: No
Ballot language:
Shall the five members of the board of county commissioners of Alachua County, Florida, be elected by all electors within the county at large?
School District “One Mill” Referendum
Our recommendation: No
Ballot language:
Shall the Alachua County School District’s existing one mill ad valorem tax be renewed, beginning July 1, 2025 and ending four years later on June 30, 2029, for necessary operating expenses to fund school nurses; music, art and drama programs; school library programs; school counseling programs; band and chorus programs; academic magnets; career technical programs; and to update classroom technology, with oversight by an independent citizens’ committee?
GRU Authority (City of Gainesville voters only)
We recommend: No
Ballot language:
Shall the City of Gainesville charter be amended to delete Article VII, eliminating the governor-appointed Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority and its appointed administrator that manage, operate and control the City of Gainesville’s local public utilities, and placing that responsibility with the elected city commission and charter officer; and eliminating limitations on the government services contribution and utility directives, as proposed by Ordinance No. 2024-448?
High Springs charter amendments (City of High Springs voters only)
We recommend: Yes
Four ballot questions:
- Shall the City’s corporate boundary be updated to that of the present-day boundary and provide for the ability of the City to change its boundary as prescribed by law?
- Shall the City’s Charter be amended to allow for electronic advertisement of public notices in the event the City has followed the requirements of Fla. Stat. 50.0311 and require five weeks of online publication in the event of electronic advertisement?
- Shall the City’s Charter be updated to require commissioners and charter officers to assert they are not precluded from holding office pursuant to Article VI, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution prior to taking office and to allow the City Commission to make supplemental appropriations or reductions and to require the City Manager to inform the City Commission when revenues will be insufficient to meet appropriation amounts?
- Shall the City’s Charter be amended to update the names of public parks and add the Sports Complex to the list of publicly owned lands?
Kramer and Darry Lloyd are corrupt.
True. I wonder why, specifically, AC recommends Kramer. We know he has been questionable (corrupt as you say) and he’s absolutely been softer than expected. Both candidates have boilerplate language on their campaign websites so it’s hard to tell the difference. Maybe Yvens has a big downside I’m unaware of (ie source of funds)…wish we had access to more info. I’m not comfortable voting for the status quo or the complete unknown for DA
Pierre-Antoine is a Democrat who is a public defender. Pay attention to how much he talks about “root causes” – that phrase is used to blame problems on society, not individuals.
Much appreciated. Blaming society is ridiculous. I didn’t pick up on that while briefly researching. Looks like we can vote for soft or softer.
Looks like there’s 5 others who think it’s society’s fault as well.
THAT IS PART OF THE PROBLEM.
It’s clowns whose backwards and obsolete worldview can’t grasp or acknowledge at the most basic level the existence and validity of “root causes” that are the WAY bigger problem here. Best to save that topic for people who aren’t deluded and unserious.
Thanks for clarifying, sounds like I’ll be voting Pierre-Antoine for sure!
Like it says, ‘You can’t serve both God and money.’ What if we focused on taking care of folks’ needs first? That’s the kind of place we’re called to build—where everyone shares in the blessings, plain and simple
The bulleted items should be enough reasons for any common sense voter to see through the litany of lies being propagated by Democratic leaders.
It is a rare day I agree with something posted on this opinion.
” Chad Scott was part of Watson’s command staff; enough said.”
Alachua County needs to rid itself of all traces of the stench left by Watson. Never vote for ANY of Clovie’s Lackys.
Enough said.
And remember the reason Clovis was elected in the first place was the action of now City Commissioner Bryan Eastman. Actions that locked out Republicans from voting
And remember Clovis was a Republican in lock step with his right wing Alachua City Commission before running for state rep and then sheriff. Clovis chose the track that advanced him each time, not a set of principles.
And he was Democrat before he switched to Republican and then switched back. Yes, I agree he is a zebra politician who goes with the flavor of the day. He has no moral or ethical compass let alone a set of principles.
In 2012, when Florida House districts were reconfigured, Watson opted to run in the newly created 20th District. In the Democratic primary, Watson defeated Marihelen Wheeler, receiving 59% of the vote. He was only opposed by a write-in candidate, Robert W. Brinkman, in the general election, and received 99% of the vote against him.[4] While serving in the Florida House of Representatives, Watson sat on the House Committee on State Affairs from 2013–2014, served as the Ranking member on the House Committee on State Affairs in 2015. In 2017 he sat on the House Committee on Government Accountability and was later on the Joint Committee on Administrative Procedures, State Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Agriculture and Natural Resources.[3]
Watson was re-elected to the House for three consecutive terms in 2014, 2016, and 2018 and ran unopposed in each race.[4] He was term-limited in 2020 after serving four terms.
TV20’s 25-30 minute debate/interview with the sheriff candidates is very telling. After listening you’ll know exactly who you want to vote for. To sum it up…Gainey wants to continue what he’s been doing over the past year or so. Scott more or less wants to go back to how ASO was prior to Gainey. Koons is more so focused on mental health issues. If you’re unsure who you prefer, watch it.
https://www.wcjb.com/video/2024/10/17/alachua-county-sheriff-candidates-face-off-wcjb-tv20-debate/
That is a nice list of the horrible job the county commission has done in just the past four years. But I have to ask one question. Why did you leave off the two biggest boondoggles of the past four years?
1. The $38 million plus plus paid for a crappy $20 million unneeded building called the Alachua County Sports Center in Celebration Pointe? This money losing project ($1 million a year) is one of the biggest mistakes of the current BOCC. The two bond issues to fund this with massive balloon payments are government irresponsibility at its finest. You have an investigative reporter called Len who loves to list examples of tax money wasting by the BOCC, but he is completely silent about the Sports Center.
2. The continued millions for the total waste called the World Masters Track Meet for Europeans over age 35 to relive their high school track glory years. Republican County Manager Lieberman slid this item on a non agenda item during manager comments and has been full time prompting it ever since. The BOCC has been suckered by a county manager who needs to register as a lobbyist for Celebration Pointe.
Your silence on these two massive mistakes by the BOCC is telling. Sad.
Are you claiming there is a hidden agenda? What is your point?
Yes, but none of it can be posted here. Steps on the toes of too many powerful players in the local area. Just about all of them.
This is a private blog, and as such the owners/operators have a 100% right to not post anything they do not like. I totally agree with this.
IMHO references that hit too close to the truth will not make it past the AC Delete-O-Meter.
Posts that contain too much truth that do get posted are verified by the other readers here, because I get 32 thumbs down from you all on the “other side.” 🙂
I agree that nepotism played a huge role in the sports complex and World Masters projects. They both should absolutely be publicized more.
But as somehow who very often aggressively calls out corruption, incompetence and anything else in between on this site, I cannot see how anyone can honestly say that AC censors comments. That just isn’t true.
Vote NO on more $$$ for the school board as they need to get their wasteful spending under control. A 6% increase in property taxes is enough already.
If you want a cesspool of voter suppression, voter purges, and other crazy things listen to Len and vote Judith Jensen for SOE. She is a Republican election denier.
As proof I offer this: on her web site is an endorsement from Mike Lindell, the My Pillow guy and Trumpian hater of Dominion voting machines and sanity and reality.
Alachua County, did you not learn to never again elect incompetent hacks after electing Clovis Watson? Clovis was a better Sheriff that Judith would be as Supervisor of Voter Suppression, Republican style.
Thanks for the heads up. Yeah, Mike Lindell’s endorsement prominently displayed on her web page tells us all we need to know. Hopefully Len and Jennifer just made a mistake on this one and are not zombie Trump believers. Of course, most Republicans either are Trump zombies or have to pretend to be one, but hey, you have to come back to the real world at some point and this will not look good on anyone’s resume.
She would probably get rid of David Arreola’s roommate/longtime companion/whatever who is currently in charge of counting the votes although he lacks a degree and the normal professional credentials required to obtain such a position. Is that what you are having a meltdown over? It sounds like all of you guys need a stress-relieving weekend getaway with Arreola’s mentor, Andrew Gillum.
Why don’t you call out all the 2000, 2004 and 2016 election deniers? Hypocrite.
No one seriously challenged the presidential election results in 2004 and 2016 (Gore legitimately challenged the vote count in 1 state and then graciously conceded and then presided over the EC vote count on the floor of the House). There were a handful of Democratic reps who registered protests, not fully coordinated attacks on the system like Trump and his GOP tools – like Kat – did in 2020. In fact, Biden and Gore each oversaw the election verification and shut down BS challenges on the House floor. Trump was such a loser puss, he couldn’t even make it to the inauguration – Hillary, besides conceding the night of the election in a phone call to him and made it to his inauguration. Unlike that baby, she had balls. In fact every major party losing candidate since our inception has. He’s a classless low life selfish loser who only thinks about himself. There is something seriously wrong with you if vote for this guy.
PS Hey Reckoning, thanks for giving me the open door to recite the facts about 2020, an unprecedented act of treason meant to overthrow an election result, and which almost all GOP elected officials – to their eternal shame – were part of. I’m trying to get how “swing state” voters can possibly pull the lever for the guy who tried to throw out the votes of their state in 2020. WTH?
From someone who was there in 2000 (not me), the only way they were ever able to replicate the “hanging” and “pregnant” chad issue was by punching 5 or 6 ballots at once. Once they threatened to reveal this fact, Gore conceded. Draw from that what conclusions you will.
In 2004 there was nothing gracious about Gore’s losing. He acted just like Benghazi Clinton did. It’s a Russian plot. Right….. She is a POS just like her Husband Willy (inventor of the human humidor). Camel and Elmer Fudd will blame Trump for her loss with her made up story of Russian interference. Russia and the rest of Marxists countries want her to win so they can keep doing what they want to the USA.
You need to get out more. Clinton did not challenge the election EVER – she did later protest Comey’s October bombshell where only one of the presidential candidates then under FBI investigation was noted by him, as well as the proven Russian interference which Trump’s team welcomed and coordinated with – and as I have already accurately noted, she called Trump to concede the night of the election and showed up at his inauguration. Unlike him, she has class and balls.
Also of note Trump stonewalled the usual administration transition team interactions while Obama welcomed his into the WH. Hey, no metal for Obama, that’s what all patriotic American presidents do. Unfortunately Trump is not a patriot, he’s a selfish stick who will tear down the country to save and serve his own fat hide. You know this is true or you’re an idiot.
Here’s Gore’s concession speech. Try to imagine Trump doing anything remotely like this – yeah, I know, you can’t – and remember Gore also personally oversaw the EC vote validation in Congress, including shutting up a few Democrats who protested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq5YdkYSyEE
Now, read this. It’s about the Senate Intel Comm Report of Aug 2020 when the GOP was in charge. Their conclusion (with accompanying facts)? Russia interfered in the 2016 election in favor of Trump and Trump asked for and received the help, coordinating with them and Assange (he’s a Russian asset according to the report) through Roger Stone. The “Russia Hoax” is claiming it never happened.
“WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump campaign’s interactions with Russian intelligence services during the 2016 presidential election posed a “grave” counterintelligence threat, a Senate panel concluded Tuesday as it detailed how associates of Donald Trump had regular contact with Russians and expected to benefit from the Kremlin’s help.
The nearly 1,000-page report, the fifth and final one from the Republican-led Senate intelligence committee on the Russia investigation, details how Russia launched an aggressive effort to interfere in the election on Trump’s behalf. It says the Trump campaign chairman had regular contact with a Russian intelligence officer and says other Trump associates were eager to exploit the Kremlin’s aid, particularly by maximizing the impact of the disclosure of Democratic emails hacked by Russian intelligence officers.
The report is the culmination of a bipartisan probe that produced what the committee called “the most comprehensive description to date of Russia’s activities and the threat they posed.” The investigation spanned more than three years as the panel’s leaders said they wanted to thoroughly document the unprecedented attack on U.S. elections.
The findings, including unflinching characterizations of furtive interactions between Trump associates and Russian operatives, echo to a large degree those of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and appear to repudiate the Republican president’s claims that the FBI had no basis to investigate whether his campaign was conspiring with Russia. Trump has called the Russia investigations a “hoax.”..”
Don’t forget about Gore’s lying about global warming. Our planet should exist based on his end timers calender. Oh and don’t forget the big lie ” I invented the internet.”
I know you are going through Trump Anxiety and it’s going to hurt your feelings when Nov 6 rolls around and Elmer and Camel are out.
“Since 2001, 34 national science academies, three regional academies, and both the international InterAcademy Council and International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences have made formal declarations confirming human induced global warming and urging nations to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The 34 national science academy statements include 33 who have signed joint science academy statements and one individual declaration by the Polish Academy of Sciences in 2007…..Since 2007, when the American Association of Petroleum Geologists released a revised statement, no longer does any national or international scientific body reject the findings of human-induced effects on climate change….”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_statements_by_major_scientific_organizations_about_climate_change
“Al Gore never claimed that he “invented” the Internet, nor did he say anything that could reasonably be interpreted that way….
When asked to describe what distinguished him from his challenger for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey, Gore replied (in part): “During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country’s economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system.”….
…a spirited defense of Gore’s statement penned by Internet pioneers Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf (the latter often referred to as the “father of the Internet”) in 2000 noted that “Al Gore was the first political leader to recognize the importance of the Internet and to promote and support its development” and that “No other elected official, to our knowledge, has made a greater contribution [to the Internet] over a longer period of time”.”
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/internet-of-lies/
You’re not a bear, you’re a loon.
Lol. After Tuesday I need to send a thank you card to Biden for maybe giving the election to Trump after someone let get on a computer.
Bear9765
Biden’s comment was on point, though, for a change. Hope it didn’t make you melt like a snowflake.
Ok merlot, the last six weeks have been nothing by a comedy show to me. The demoncrats can’t make anything go positive for their failing election. Every day a demoncrat flees the party and supports Trump. And don’t forget Bill Clinton’s talking points about the Biden/Harris economy and immigration failures. He indicated Trump did better. I rather be lumped in the half of the country that is actual sane and lives in reality instead of haze of broken promises, failures, and pink unicorns. TRUMP 2024. Make a liberal Whine and Scream till it hurts.
Better a “Demo(n)crat” than a Republikkk’nt.
Brian Kramer pursued the convictions of felons who voted while in jail under the mistaken idea that they could under the voter amendment and were counseled such by the Supervisor of Elections office. In the meantime, he didn’t pursue the case against Keith Perry for receiving and using dark money from FPL in his 2018 election which he cheated to win a squeaker against Dr Enneking. Screw him for persecuting little guys and kissing big guy GOP butt!
“So far, State Attorney Brian Kramer’s office has chosen to prosecute more former inmates with voter fraud than any other district attorney in Florida. Some blame the state for failing to secure a system that easily identifies whether convicts have paid all associated fines and sentencing, while others blame lawmakers for changing the intention of the voter-approved Amendment 4.”
And
“The long-kept secret of who funded an independent candidate’s campaign to help ensure Republican state Sen. Keith Perry retained office has finally come to light.
Last week, the Miami Herald reported receiving a trove of documents, including emails, texts and financial records, showing that Florida Power and Light, one of the state’s largest utility providers, was behind a nonprofit that bankrolled $200,000 in dark money for former Gainesville city commissioner Charles Goston’s state Senate run.
FPL and Goston’s campaign had one mission: siphon votes from Democratic challenger and University of Florida physician Kayser Enneking. Doing so would give Perry the needed edge in a closely contested race that would help ensure Republicans kept control of the Florida Senate.
It worked.
Perry narrowly won his re-election campaign by about 2,000 votes, while Goston, a longtime Democrat-turned NPA, pulled about 4,300 votes.
The Gainesville Sun’s award-winning coverage of the 2018 race showed that Republicans working on Perry’s campaign also coordinated dark money mailers and TV ads in the Democratic primary race, in an effort to pin candidate Olysha Magruder against their client. When that didn’t work, Goston’s campaign saw a sudden influx of cash from similar sources, as well as GOP operatives.
It worked.
Perry narrowly won his re-election campaign by about 2,000 votes, while Goston, a longtime Democrat-turned NPA, pulled about 4,300 votes.
The Gainesville Sun’s award-winning coverage of the 2018 race showed that Republicans working on Perry’s campaign also coordinated dark money mailers and TV ads in the Democratic primary race, in an effort to pin candidate Olysha Magruder against their client. When that didn’t work, Goston’s campaign saw a sudden influx of cash from similar sources, as well as GOP operatives.”
And then Chuck Clemons beat her “fair and square” in 2020. But she’s still a victim from 2018? I think she puts the voters to sleep (she’s an anesthesiologist).
The numbers show she would have beat that cheating jerk and criminal Perry in 2018 and because the race for Clemons seat was so close they gerrymandered more Alachua County voters out his district and Perry’s, me among them. My Rep is in McClenny and my state senator in Orange Park and I live 2.5 miles from the Gainesville city limits.
Maybe you like being ruled by voters in Marion and Levy county and for our county and city not having a voice in state politics, but quit pretending you have any pride.
Sounds remarkably familiar to rural residents being ruled by city voters.
Yvfi,ygi, Excellent comment and Spot on!
So two wrongs make a right in your world?
Rural Alachua County residents are butt hurt they are a minority, so in your world the legislature can gerrymander the liberal Gainesville voters into obscurity by splitting the county among several surrounding rural counties?
Anything to keep the Rethuglicans in power is fair game and proper in Trumpian World. The lust for power over principal rules all. And you wonder why I find Republicans so unAmerican and disgusting
Speaking of someone’s butt hurting.
I’m sure Harvey’s got some cream that’ll help you with that.
Wondering, You Voted apparently goes to Howard Bishop and thinks insinuating those he disagrees with are gay is brilliant argumentation.
Ignore him.
Jizzy just enjoys the salve.
What do you have against Howard Bishop? Your kid didn’t get accepted to magnet program?
Try to control yourself You voted, and keep me out of your disturbing sex fantasies. No one wants to hear them.
Still sore or just sore about the Howard Bishop thing?
Get over it already.
Quit being an election denying conspiracy theorist bro! not a good look even for you!
The dirty tricks played by Perry with FPL dark money in 2018 is a fact, not a fantasy put out by the leader of a cult. Gerrymandering by the Florida GOP is a fact – I’m living it – and how Alachua County/Gainesville has only 1 person representing it in Tallahassee, and how Florida has 8 out of 30 Congressional seats when party affiliation is almost even and all state wide elections until 2022 were decided by less than 1% of the vote.
Facts, Freedom.
PS On this page, my point is that Kramer went after people who voted thinking that was their right – and who’s paltry numbers had zero impact on anything – and they got a couple of years for that, and Perry dumped all over our election and literally stole his win by dirty illegal tactics and Kramer did nothing.
WHAT ABOUT THE JUDGES?
There are no local judges on the ballot, and we do not have enough familiarity with the other judges to make a recommendation. If you find another source, feel free to post it in the comments.
In every election there are all these “shall Judge Xyz be retained, yes or no” on the ballot. I do not recall hearing that ONE judge was not retained, showing that they all get retained and having them on the ballot is a waste of time. Accordingly, I vote No on every judge, knowing that they will be retained anyway, but perhaps giving them a reality check that not every voter loves them.
so basically do the opposite of all of your positions.
Vote yes on 2. The reason it is needed is to preempt county or municipalities from regulating hunting and fishing out of existence, kind of like they have done about cutting a tree down on your own property without paying the gods in office an exorbitant fee while they let developers slay the wooded lots next door or any of the other restrictions placed on citizens by do-gooder visionaries!
Hunting and fishing are closely regulated by the legislature and its agencies.
As for local interference the legislature has demonstrated time and again its willingness to override local solutions to local problems, so no danger of the locals going rogue on restricting these activities.
One phrase of serious concern is the enshrinement of the overly broad and undefined term “traditional methods”. What does this mean? We talking about bringing back steel leg traps, digging pits lined with punji sticks along a trail, setting off dynamite charges in a pond?
I’ve yet to hear a good reason for this amendment other than there’s a hidden agenda somewhere from some very special interests that DON’T WANT to be identified thus, the legislature’s involvement in placing this amendment on the ballot.
You speak HOGWASH.
Hunting & Fishing are not threatened in FL.
What is at risk is Floridas Wildlife, State Parks & Private Property Rights. Wake up Dazed & Confused. Stop being an IDIOT.
VOTE NO TO 2
https://noto2.org/
What tree? When you burn everything up, no evidence.
Mussolini, Hitler, and Franco would be proud of all you republicans. And no doubt Putin, DeSantis and felon Trump too.
Trump is probably going to win so you need to get a grip. How about 20 year politician like Harris can go to a one person debate with CNN and lose says it all.
@Bear9765
In your dreams.
It’s about time all you fascist republicans get locked up in prison forever! And the keys thrown away. And good riddance!
Lower the temperature Liberal. The same thing could be said about Democrats and liberals. Just wait for the P Diddy case to start dropping the Hollywood kamela lovers
Paulie, people like you have a lot to do with why independents like me are disgusted with the Democrat party. I don’t like either party but you guys have gone insane and constantly drone on about nonsense. You no longer live in reality.
Dude:
“Donald J. Trump’s closing rally at Madison Square Garden on the second to last Sunday before the election was a release of rage…
A comic kicked off the rally by dismissing Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage,” then mocked Hispanics as failing to use birth control, Jews as cheap and Palestinians as rock-throwers, and called out a Black man in the audience with a reference to watermelon.
Another speaker likened Vice President Kamala Harris to a prostitute with “pimp handlers.” A third called her “the Antichrist.” And the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson mocked Ms. Harris — the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father — with a made-up ethnicity, saying she was vying to become “the first Samoan-Malaysian, low IQ former California prosecutor ever to be elected president.”
By the time the former president himself took the stage, an event billed as delivering the closing message of his campaign, with nine days left in a tossup race, had instead become a carnival of grievances, misogyny and racism….”
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/27/us/trump-msg-rally.html
It is laughable to cite a rag that is the sworn enemy of a person in regard to reporting anything associated with the person.
Why are you recommending people vote no to One Mill? The funds pay for approximately 352 teaching and staff positions in Alachua County Schools. Those positions – and the programs they support – are not secure if it doesn’t pass.
There is a link at the top of each section, linking to our reasoning on each initiative.
One Mill expenditures are managed by an independent oversight committee, per statute. You can view their meeting minutes, as well as lists of actual expenditures here. Other counties that don’t have specific One Mill taxes have other local school-related taxes.
https://fl02219191.schoolwires.net/Page/31592
The more tax money you ‘give’ the liberal school board the more $$$ they waste and then come back asking for more. Vote NO on school millage renewal.
Vote yes. This is some of the partisan nonsense that Amendment 1 would make more common.
Won’t approval of Amendment 1 put us back into the situation locally where we only have democrat candidates for each board seat and so they are elected by only by democrats?
Possibly, but only if no Republican candidate runs AND there is a write-in candidate (that law really needs to be changed). If there is no write-in, the Democrat primary would become an open primary.
I agree, that law needs to be changed. If there are no other candidates for any position, the remaining primary should be open.
That being said, vote no on Amendment 1, unless you like mindless hyper partisan elections primarily decided on manufactured culture war issues. I can’t understand any well meaning advocates – as opposed to power seeking politicians – supporting this amenment.
All primaries should be open. A quarter to a third of voters are not affiliated with Dems or Reps.
Agree about amend #1.
Disagree respectfully on this one. Political parties should be able to select their candidates without input – including purposeful sabotage – from those outside it. If no other parties have candidates – write ins should not count – then the primary should be open.
Good grief! We agreed on something again!
When I become King of America, general election ballots will not display the party of the candidates. The goal being people must become informed about the candidates they vote for if they want to follow party lines.
Voted Thursday
Well, it took longer than I thought it would for the lefties commenting on this article to start the name-calling, but they didn’t let me down. Thanks for reminding me why I vote Republican.
This kind of name calling?
“Donald J. Trump’s closing rally at Madison Square Garden on the second to last Sunday before the election was a release of rage…
A comic kicked off the rally by dismissing Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage,” then mocked Hispanics as failing to use birth control, Jews as cheap and Palestinians as rock-throwers, and called out a Black man in the audience with a reference to watermelon.
Another speaker likened Vice President Kamala Harris to a prostitute with “pimp handlers.” A third called her “the Antichrist.” And the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson mocked Ms. Harris — the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father — with a made-up ethnicity, saying she was vying to become “the first Samoan-Malaysian, low IQ former California prosecutor ever to be elected president.”
By the time the former president himself took the stage, an event billed as delivering the closing message of his campaign, with nine days left in a tossup race, had instead become a carnival of grievances, misogyny and racism….”
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/27/us/trump-msg-rally.html
I think comedy might not be for you.
Any other City of Gville residents notice that the City-GRU Authority Charter Amendment was left off of the mailed sample ballots?
Yes!
I believe this is because it’s a municipal election (High Springs commissioners were also left off the sample ballots). Municipalities can request that their races appear on the General Election ballot, but they’re technically the responsibility of the municipality.
It’s on our sample ballots online. (https://www.votealachua.com/Elections/Sample-Ballots)
Not printed on the mailed sample ballot though. Not sure why they’d post one online and mail another. If it’s on the real ballot it should be on the sample ballot that’s mailed out and says ‘OFFICIAL SAMPLE BALLOT’. Not acceptable.
The online sample ballots are specific to each voter (you have to enter your name and birthdate); the mailed ones are for the whole county and don’t show municipal elections. I’m speculating on the reason, though, based on the fact that no municipal issues are printed on the mailed sample ballot, not just the GRU referendum.
Thanks and I get where you’re coming from but this is just a first for me. The mailed ballot was specific enough to properly not list a county commission race or the state senate race. It also correctly had the right state representative race listed and excluded the other.
At a minimum the city-specific votes or district-specific votes were always printed but perhaps outlined with a red box. I’ve just never seen a sample ballot that excluded something that will be on my ballot.
I’ve asked the SOE for the reason, not sure when I’ll get an answer.
Here is the response from the SOE:
“For the General Election, we mailed voters their version of the sample ballot according to their precinct’s ballot style. For example, city of High Springs voters received sample ballots with the High Springs municipal contests and referendums, but not the city of Gainesville referendum.
“The aim was to ensure voters were receiving a sample ballot that, to the maximal degree, accurately reflected the ballot they would see in the voting booth. We also used an actual ballot image (without timing marks) so that the sample ballot looked even more like the real ballot. We put content on the margins of the mailer so voters wouldn’t try to vote with the sample ballot.”
I have personally seen a sample ballot from a city of Gainesville voter that did not have the GRU referendum.
Anyone who lives in the city of Gainesville and received a sample ballot without the GRU referendum can send photos of the inner pages of the sample ballot and their address to info@alachuachronicle.com (I will not publish your name or address, but I need to verify that the address is in the city limits.)
I’m dumbfounded. So Kim Barton’s office is just going to call us liars? Wtf is going on?
And thank you, Jennifer!
Voter guides should help people know ALL the candidates and what they stand for so they can make an informed decision based on their beliefs, needs, etc
This should be labeled “Alachua Chronicle’s Voting Recommendations”
It literally says
“OPINION”
Right at the top of the story.
There are two sides to the ballot. Be sure to flip it over to cast your votes for issues on the other side.
Florida early voting statistics (by party affiliation and county) in the 2024 general election. Updated every 10 minutes.
https://flvoicenews.com/florida-ge-live-data/
Disagree with yes on 1. school board elections are still pretty partisan. only change would be making it so they could lock out voters by running a write-in candidate if only Democrats were running to close the primary. the way it is now all voters get a say no matter what party or independent.
Hopefully Kim will not fall in the Elections Office racing around to cover up her incompetence. She might hurt her knee again and want to sue Republicans for pointing out her errors.
STOP THE VIOLENT RHETORIC & BULLYING of EVERYTHING & EVERYONE.
GROW UP.
I ENCOURAGE YOU TO FIND A MENTAL HEALTG THERAPIST !
☮️☮️☮️
NO on 3 & 4 — or you’ll grow to regret the day you were born. They were whipped up simply to get gullible non-voters to vote once.
👿💩👺👹🤡ACLUSPLCDNC
Please Lord, let this election be over. I cannot wait till the day I no longer get the lying misleading mudslinging Republican dirty tricks flyers in my mailbox from the Social Justice PAC. Amen
What was misleading? The NAACP resolution or the 4As support of Single-Member Districts? What was the mudslinging?
And, what gives with Rodney Long now supporting Single-Member Districts?
Inquiring minds want to know.
You know what was misleading and you’re doing it here.
The “NAACP resolution” was the national organization in 2018, not the local chapter now.
Other falsehoods:
“Recent mailers have highlighted a 2018 resolution by the national NAACP in opposition to at-large districts. These mailers drew flak from Yes At-Large Districts Campaign. The campaign and the Alachua County NAACP issued a joint statement condemning the mailers and indicating the NAACP supported single-member districts locally.
Some of the mailers also used quotes by Chestnut that seem to support single-member districts, but Chestnut is on the record as opposing single-member districts and supporting the effort to go back to at-large districts.
In 2022, supporters of single-member districts also used Chestnut’s past statements in mailers, despite his opposition.
Many local African American leaders have supported at-large districts, including Chestnut, state Rep. Yvonne Hayes Hinson, D-Gainesville, school board member Tina Certain and Foxx.
“Would you rather have five Commissioners that are accountable to you? Or one? That’s why the Alachua County NAACP is supporting YES on At-Large Districts,” Foxx said in the release. “We pray you won’t believe the deceptive statements in these mailers.”
Stafford’s crocodile tears over black representation is a smoke screen for just another GOP power play from Tallahassee against blue Alachua County, instituted by our 2 local traitors – Clemons and Perry – who represent Marion, Levy, and Gilchrist county while cutting up our county into smaller and smaller pieces.
Maybe you didn’t actually understand the question . . .
The mail piece specifically references the National organization. That language is enshrined in their voting rights resolution.
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has NEVER fought for at-large voting, anywhere.
The NATIONAL organization for the NAACP 2018 resolution on voting rights does not qualify, “unless it leads to fewer crazy leftists in office.” It’s unequivocal.
The 4As have endorsed single-member districts. They held a forum, voted on by members. Did the NAACP, Alachua County Branch? No. Oh, the National NAACP Board and the body voted on the 2018 resolution.
So, what was misleading about the mail piece?
That it is a political inconvenience for Evelyn Foxx is not my problem. It’s hers, and well, seems to be yours.
What gives with Rodney Long coming out and giving an endorsement of single-member districts? He says that the makeups of the districts give them a fair shot at electing another person of color to the county commission. Having actually run full district analysis, I can guarantee you that is true.
As for me, having been a treasurer for 5 African-Americans in just the last year, for various offices across the state, I would suggest to you that you don’t know the first thing about me and my motivations.
And, yes, there are a lot of black Democrats I will take on the commission, any day, over the leftist crowd that is there, now.
Let get real, here, Jazzman, you and Evelyn Foxx are out and out lying to the public.
Stafford, unfortunately it is impossible to follow local politics and not know about you, your motivations, and tendencies to dirty money politics bordering illegality. Primarily you’re hired money bags gun for Republicans and I think it safe to assume your “some of my best friends are black” defense above involved candidates who were Republicans. You have help saddle us with both of our now thankfully term limited traitors Clemons and Perry who represented the GOP, not Alachua County, and with a more principled and aggressive states attorney you might have been prosecuted along with Perry for the FPL money used to cheat his reelection in 2018. I’m sure you know that the other GOP politician who pulled the same stunt in central Florida was successfully prosecuted for it.
You have no principles beyond electing your clients and promoting whatever the GOP hires you to do, and that includes the current campaign to force a system for selecting county commissioners that the GOP thinks will help their party. Even though most Florida counties do not have single member districts – the GOP sees no need because they are mostly as red as we are blue – and you personally were hired to overturn Sarasota county’s single member districts – again an advantage for the GOP was the motivation you are here lying your butt off, 1st in 2022 by falsely quoting local leaders, and now here again trying to convince voters that the NAACP is on your side, when the local chapter does not.
Cut the crap. Anyone who takes your advice needs to know you’re bought and paid for it, and your client is not Alachua County, Rodney Long, or anyone black who is not a Republican. It’s the state GOP, unfortunately a sworn enemy of Alachua County as proven by numerous assaults and blatant usurpation of local autonomy. We are not the only local government that is targeted, but we are popular one.
Cynthia Chestnut supports single member districts, too.
LIAR.
STOP LYING.
PLAGIARISM IS A CRIME.
AND, WHAT THE ” SPINDOCTORS ” LIKE YOU DID IN 2022.
HAS BEEN EXPOSED.
CREATOR ABOVE SEES ALL.
STOP LYING.
COMMISSIONER CHARLES CHESTNUT DID NOT SAY ANY of YOUR LIES !
STOP BULLYING.
I ENCOURAGE YOU TO GET MENTAL HEALTH HELP.
FIND A THERAPIST.
☮️☮️☮️
I’m not lying. I was at Souls to the Polls on Sunday. Cynthia Chestnut and I spoke with each other. She thanked me for what I’m doing and said that she was with us on this.
After somebody spoke on stage in support of SMD and rejecting at-large, right on the stage, she gave that person a high five. . . for all to see.
In addition, Rodney Long, Larry McDaniel and Ed Jennings Jr, all people that I have known for many years, wanted to all get our picture together, since we were all in the same place and supporting staying with SMD. It’s a great picture!
Larry McDaniel and I have been friends for many years. Rodney and I have always been friendly, and Ed and I are brothers . . . both sons of a common mentor, Howard Wallace, who passed a few years ago.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=571985988842173&set=pcb.571986908842081
“some of my best friends are black” defense above involved candidates who were Republicans.””
So, what you are saying, Jazzman, is that black people who are Republicans aren’t really black.
Understood. I’m sorry you feel that way. That’s sad.