Monday, May 03, 2010

Videos of 3 Candidates for County Commission District 8. By Geniusofdespair

This blog post gives you a chance to hear 3 of the 7 candidates for District 8 (Katy Sorenson's Seat) who spoke at the Comprehensive Development Master Plan meeting on April 28. Lynda Bell was at the meeting and so was Pam Gray. Lynda did not speak, Pam could not speak as she is a member of the Planning Advisory Board. I am looking for a tape of her remarks at the PAB meeting.

Please do not make up your mind on your vote by these brief presentations. The item that Annette Taddeo, Eugene Flinn and Albert Harum Alvarez were to speak on was pulled from the agenda so they didn't have prepared statements. The subject they were speaking on instead, was a truck parking lot outside the UDB line near a drinking water wellfield. Think of this as an opportunity to get to know them not to judge them. Culler and Piedra did not show up for this meeting.


Link to Albert Harum-Avarez on Youtube.


Link to Annette Taddeo on Youtube if you do not see the video.


Link to Eugene Flinn on Youtube.



27 comments:

Anonymous said...

I live in the district and will send this link to my friends here. I like that Taddeo actually was able to get away with talking about the pulled application. if Martinez was the chair he would have stopped her.

Steve said...

It is better than voting based on a campaign flyer. I hope we have a few debates before the election.

Anonymous said...

So do I Steve. I don't think this helps any of the candidates who spoke. I'd like to see more of them about issues facing us in Dist. 8 and I don't mean sound bites, I mean real issues and answers.

Anonymous said...

AHA said he is 50% Italian and 60% Everglades. If that is what he believes, fiscally we are doomed.
A little advice, if you have nothing to say and are trying to advertise and commercialize your campaign at the county's expense, stay home and practice in front of a mirror.

Geniusofdespair said...

What he was saying last poster, was that his ethnic make up was not as important to his life as his water consumption. It was not meant to add up to 100%. These videos are an example of how the candidates think on their feet. I do not consider any of them to be bad speakers they all hit some good points. This is how they think County wide. It is not just about the district. These candidates are representing all of us anonymous number 2. You can grill them on local issues within your district, here we are interested countywide.

Anonymous said...

I agree Genius, we all care about this election. Katy was good for the entire County. All of these candidates did make some good points and it is the first time I have seen any of them speak. I wish Pam Gray also had a video. She is a champion environmentalist. I live in Moss's District but District 8 is important to me.

Anonymous said...

It's a good thing that 'Genius' told us not to judge the candidates by their presentations, otherwise, time to search for new people. It's amateur hour out there!

Although all were terrible, at least Flinn was coherent. I literally rolled my eyes when I heard AHA's "I'm 60% Everglades."

And don't get me started on Annette Taddeo. She was waay better when she ran for Congress - Can we all spell C L U E L E S S?!

If this is what we can expect, its gonna be a long, long Summer!

Anonymous said...

I do believe ALL the candidates need work on UDB issues and how they effect the whole County...the cost to all of the other districts, the natural resource value, etc. You could see trying to wing it was not working very well for any of them although Flinn was able to bring up a cerp project in his City. But: is that all he cares/knows about: His City.

Anonymous said...

Last anon, I'm not sure what defines "expert" but Gray is pretty close, if not one, in regard to the UDB, Master Plan, Land Use and Zoning throughout this County. What concerns me about Flinn is his constant reference to his "City" and partner "Cities". The bulk of Dist. 8 is unincorporated and I can assure you, what works in Palmetto Bay will not translate to some of the unincorporated areas who do not support a lot of Government interference!

Anonymous said...

CLUELESS is right! You can tell Taddeo doesn't know the issues that affect us here in District 8"the Everglades is our gem" - DUH!there's a news flash.

All she knows about is business and at that, she does excel - You gotta give it to her on that!

But to represent us at the County, we need someone who is not just about business - we have enough "businessmen" there already.

Anonymous said...

Gray understands business (small business owner) and the UDB and the Master Plan and water and traffic problems and overdevelopment and finance and agriculture. She showed this over and over on the PAB as countywide issues. She also understands community as she established a homeowners group for Redland's Edge. She has been in the trenches for many years. Too bad she could not speak but that goes to her intregity and involvement.

Pinecrest Lady said...

Flinn was the best speaker.

Anonymous said...

Harum Alvarez s p o k e v e r y s l o w l y. M u c h t o o s l o w.

Anonymous said...

I don't think that Flinn is a one trick pony. He understands the community and far as the village goes, I believe that he was a good leader in Palmetto Bay. The village has had a very very clean audit under his governance, which is more than many of the other county cities can claim, and most probably, better managed than the county.

Albert and Annette were somewhere out in space.

Anonymous said...

I think Flinn understand his Village. What he is now and what Katy does are two very different things.

But, yes, I do agree AHA and Annette are somewhere out there in a place I don't live in and can only hope they find something else to do other than make us squirm watching them try to piece words together in a coherenet fashion, on topic, of what they' supposed to be talking about.

This is not going to be a "talking point" election. Voters here are going to want to know you know what you're talking about. So far, those two have fallen far off the radar of that debate.

Water (pause) trucks (pause) repeat two more times, say nothing. Then the Everglades, it's very important! OMG, do they really thing this works? If this is how they think on their feet, they can think somewhere else on their planet!

Anonymous said...

Last anon, I couldn't agree more with your comment. We need experienced leadership.

Not "on the job training"!

Anonymous said...

Three goals when speaking before the county commission, from least to most common:

3. Add something to the record for appeal.

2. Make an expository presentation that deals with the issue as a whole. Usually only the first speakers for or against an item can do this. Everyone else has two minutes. [Note how well each speaker filled their time: well done.]

1. Cut through an overwhelming amount of information to get to the core issue, and leave the commission with a simple message. This requires understanding the commission and understanding the way they're processing the info that's already been presented.

There is really only one mistake you can make before the commission, and that is to talk off point and bring up extraneous issues that will bore them, confuse them or annoy them.

It's not an easy thing to do...

Anonymous said...

They don't listen, what is the point?

Anonymous said...

Where is Lynda Bell's Campaign Financial report???

Anonymous said...

Yea, and what about Annette Taddeo and Obdulio Piedra's financial reports as well!!!

Who's funding these people?

Oh yeah, Taddeo is fundig herself. I forgot. My bad.

Geniusofdespair said...

The ones who haven't filed entered the race late so they probably had no expenses/donations.

Anonymous said...

Correction: Bell filed in March, should have a first quarter report. Piedra and Taddeo are ok they filed in April.

Anonymous said...

Albert Harum-Alvarez was clearly the best speaker. He his point which was thoughtful, clever and well documented by quoting reports made to the commission. We need this kind of clarity on the county commission. I am impressed with what I read about this candidate and will watch this race closely

Anonymous said...

Albert Harum-Alvarez is a good man but the jury is still out on him - particularly after his perfomance on the County Commission last week.

"I'm 50% percent Italian and 60% Everglades" - How 'hoakie'can you get. Poor man looked like a fool out there. In his defense, all 3 of them looked foolish.

People, if the main issue you were to rally for or against is off the table, be smart, don't grandstand. Save your debate for a later date.

And Annette Taddeo - don't get me started on her. Her comment reminded me of a typical answer a "Miss USA" contestant would give to a question from the host. C'mon, you were thinking it too.

Miami Native said...

"Poor man looked like a fool" . . . poor man is a former teacher and successful international business man who knows the tenets of effective public speaking: be candid, be clear and be concise. You all remembered what he said, so he did it right.

Anonymous said...

I agree with you about Taddeo, she came across like a school kid not prepared for oral exam. Flynn...making no apology for being before the commission? What was that? He seems to jabber in political sense.
Harum-Alverez...I like the 60% everglades thing. It made me think of where all of the water in me came from.

Anonymous said...

"You all remembered what he said, so he did it right."

Yes, and we all rolled our eyes as he was saying it. Go back to the books.