Our City of St. Augustine is still wasting scandalous sums of money, while polluting our environment. Last night's City Commission meeting was a farce I did not attend. Last year, I asked 140 questions (plus subparts) on the budget, affording the City weeks to answer them. The answers never came. Our City lavishes $50 million on 350 Full Time Equivalent employees for a city of only 13,000. Meanwhile, our City is a serial, recidivist polluter, dumping solid waste in the Old City Reservoir, E coli into the marshes and rivers, and mindlessly refusing to answer public questions.
City Manager For Life WILLIAM B. HARRISS has never even received a performance appraisal since his illegal coronation on April 13, 1998, unadorned by Sunshine notice or public comment. HARRISS hates America, hates free speech, and fancies himself the Republican Caudillo of all that he surveys, harassing artists, entertainers, vendors, students, Gays, Lesbians and homeless people, running St. Augustine as if it were a poilce state, even carrying weapons and listening to police calls. He's ruined our town and destroyed the busker ambience of St. George Street, thereby ruining the tourist business that depended on tourists watching the artists and entertainers on St. George Street.
Our Seventh District Congressman JOHN (The Butthead) MICA just butted his head into a camera, refusing to answer ABC News investigative reporter Brian Ross' questions about attending Tom Delay's reception at the Republican National Convention. In WILLIAM B. HARRISS, JOHN MICA has a kindred spirit, a possible friend/fiend, someone who actually shares his emetic values.
Is there nothing that MICA and HARRISS will not do? See below.
Friday, September 05, 2008
St. Augustine Record: City raises millage, utility and trash rates
City raises millage, utility and trash rates
By PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 09/05/08
St. Augustine City Commission in special meeting Thursday unanimously passed a tentative property tax rate of 6.8232 mills dubbed "the rollback rate" in governmentspeak which will collect the same amount of money as last year.
"Instead of bringing in more revenue, we have cut expenses to make this budget work," said Mayor Joe Boles.
Property tax revenues collected in the city will jump only about $100,000, from $10.56 million in 2007 to $10.66 million for 2008. Total general fund revenue amounts to $20.5 million.
Chief Administrative Officer Tim Burchfield said that, since housing values have dropped over the past year, "Eighty to 85 percent of St. Augustine residents will see a reduction in residential taxes paid to the city."
The board also hiked utility and trash collection rates 4 percent but left fire assessment fees the same.
In the utility ordinance, higher fees were imposed for new construction, but minimum monthly rates were raised from $14 to $15.42. Homeowners who use more than 3,000 gallons per month would pay $4.24 per thousand.
Sewer rates went to $21.32 from $19.97 up to 3,000 gallons.
For trash collection, rates went up $2 per month.
City staffers said their recommendation was to raise the fire fee from 4 cents per square foot to 7 cents per square foot, but dropped that idea after objections from Commissioner Errol Jones.
Overall, the fire assessment will raise $710,500 on a total 5,825 city buildings.
The second and last public hearing on the millage rate is scheduled for Sept. 18.
Only two city residents, B.J. Kalaidy and Dwight Hines, spoke against the increases.
Kalaidy said taxes on her home had doubled, not dropped.
"We can do something to cut our taxes. This commission has not done so," she said.
Hines said the city was wasting money but when challenged strongly on that by Jones, he said, "We'll let an auditor look at this."
After the meeting he passed out copies of petitions for people to sign and send to the state Auditor General that said "serious problems exist in the management of St. Augustine city funds because of material misstatements and violations of generally accepted accounting principles."
City Comptroller Mark Litzinger said if the budget is cut any more, "We'd have to start cutting services fire, police, building code enforcement. If you want to reduce the budget, choose which one of those services you want cut."
Litzinger said the city recently was told that its sales tax returns from Tallahassee would be $60,000 less then estimated.
"We had to tighten our belts even further," he said.
Commissioner Don Crichlow said the city needs to keep up with inflation.
"Everything goes up every year," he said. "That's just a fact of life." He said city employees would get flat raises of 3 percent for the second year in a row.
"We're trying to maintain the same level of services that we've always had in St. Augustine. I'm not hearing people say cut the police department, cut the fire department," he said.
No employees would be laid off, but people retiring from certain jobs would not be replaced.
Burchfield said the city cut $1.2 million in capital expenditures, and some trucks past 10 years old will be "nursed along for another year." In addition, he said, street repairs have virtually stopped.
Hines said the city could save money by improving its record-keeping system and increasing efficiency.
"If you can optimize what you're doing now, you don't have to cut services," he said.
Jones said he wouldn't allow the city to go through a "year of suffering" while those ideas are tested.
"The ship has left the port," he said.
Bayfront resident Pat Parets asked the board to do something about the old 1842 granite seawall on Avenida Menendez, breached multiple times during Tropical Storm Fay. Downtown streets flood to a depth of nearly two feet every time a major storm hits the city at high tide.
"That's a disaster waiting to happen," she said. "The wall will become undermined. Try to find the funding for restoration or repair of that historical artifact."
City Manager Bill Harriss said there's already a "beautiful plan" for bayfront renovations, but the city doesn't have the $2.5 million to $3.5 million necessary for construction.
"We're trying to develop a plan to save the seawall," he said.
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/090508/news_news01_007.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
By PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 09/05/08
St. Augustine City Commission in special meeting Thursday unanimously passed a tentative property tax rate of 6.8232 mills dubbed "the rollback rate" in governmentspeak which will collect the same amount of money as last year.
"Instead of bringing in more revenue, we have cut expenses to make this budget work," said Mayor Joe Boles.
Property tax revenues collected in the city will jump only about $100,000, from $10.56 million in 2007 to $10.66 million for 2008. Total general fund revenue amounts to $20.5 million.
Chief Administrative Officer Tim Burchfield said that, since housing values have dropped over the past year, "Eighty to 85 percent of St. Augustine residents will see a reduction in residential taxes paid to the city."
The board also hiked utility and trash collection rates 4 percent but left fire assessment fees the same.
In the utility ordinance, higher fees were imposed for new construction, but minimum monthly rates were raised from $14 to $15.42. Homeowners who use more than 3,000 gallons per month would pay $4.24 per thousand.
Sewer rates went to $21.32 from $19.97 up to 3,000 gallons.
For trash collection, rates went up $2 per month.
City staffers said their recommendation was to raise the fire fee from 4 cents per square foot to 7 cents per square foot, but dropped that idea after objections from Commissioner Errol Jones.
Overall, the fire assessment will raise $710,500 on a total 5,825 city buildings.
The second and last public hearing on the millage rate is scheduled for Sept. 18.
Only two city residents, B.J. Kalaidy and Dwight Hines, spoke against the increases.
Kalaidy said taxes on her home had doubled, not dropped.
"We can do something to cut our taxes. This commission has not done so," she said.
Hines said the city was wasting money but when challenged strongly on that by Jones, he said, "We'll let an auditor look at this."
After the meeting he passed out copies of petitions for people to sign and send to the state Auditor General that said "serious problems exist in the management of St. Augustine city funds because of material misstatements and violations of generally accepted accounting principles."
City Comptroller Mark Litzinger said if the budget is cut any more, "We'd have to start cutting services fire, police, building code enforcement. If you want to reduce the budget, choose which one of those services you want cut."
Litzinger said the city recently was told that its sales tax returns from Tallahassee would be $60,000 less then estimated.
"We had to tighten our belts even further," he said.
Commissioner Don Crichlow said the city needs to keep up with inflation.
"Everything goes up every year," he said. "That's just a fact of life." He said city employees would get flat raises of 3 percent for the second year in a row.
"We're trying to maintain the same level of services that we've always had in St. Augustine. I'm not hearing people say cut the police department, cut the fire department," he said.
No employees would be laid off, but people retiring from certain jobs would not be replaced.
Burchfield said the city cut $1.2 million in capital expenditures, and some trucks past 10 years old will be "nursed along for another year." In addition, he said, street repairs have virtually stopped.
Hines said the city could save money by improving its record-keeping system and increasing efficiency.
"If you can optimize what you're doing now, you don't have to cut services," he said.
Jones said he wouldn't allow the city to go through a "year of suffering" while those ideas are tested.
"The ship has left the port," he said.
Bayfront resident Pat Parets asked the board to do something about the old 1842 granite seawall on Avenida Menendez, breached multiple times during Tropical Storm Fay. Downtown streets flood to a depth of nearly two feet every time a major storm hits the city at high tide.
"That's a disaster waiting to happen," she said. "The wall will become undermined. Try to find the funding for restoration or repair of that historical artifact."
City Manager Bill Harriss said there's already a "beautiful plan" for bayfront renovations, but the city doesn't have the $2.5 million to $3.5 million necessary for construction.
"We're trying to develop a plan to save the seawall," he said.
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/090508/news_news01_007.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
St. Augustine Record: Camera, Congressman collide
Camera, Congressman collide
By CHAD SMITH
chad.smith@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 09/05/08
You say "butt out," I say "head butt."
That is essentially the discrepancy in the respective stances of ABC News and U.S. Rep. John Mica, who on Monday had a run-in with an ABC reporter and producer in Minneapolis while attending the Republican National Convention.
In a video that made the Internet rounds, Mica, who represents the Florida district that includes St. Johns County, is seen Monday night walking along a sidewalk before bumping into a producer's camera, a hand then shoving it away.
In a telephone interview from the convention Thursday, Mica said he didn't "head butt" the camera, as ABC reported Tuesday, but the producer hit him with the camera.
"All I tried to do was just get away from him," Mica said, adding that he didn't think the incident was intentional.
Mica was filmed trying to skirt around a group of young people who assembled between the journalists and himself.
As he got closer, the producer said, "Look, I don't mean to pester you. I'm just curious with a couple of questions."
Before he could finish that last sentence, Mica tried to duck under the camera and asked, almost with a little laughter, "What do you want? What do you want?"
Then, the contact.
"Ooh, you hit me in the head," Mica said, alarmed. "Don't hit me in the head again."
"I didn't do that, sir."
Then a hand, seemingly Mica's, pushed the camera away, as the congressman said, "I'll knock that thing out of your hand."
"Don't touch my camera, sir."
Then a police officer or a security guard yelled in the background, "Hey, hey," to break up the quarrel.
As Mica walked over to the officer or guard, the producer repeated, "Don't touch my camera. Please don't touch my camera."
A man in a white button-down shirt then ran up to the camera and pushed it away, saying, "That's enough."
The producer then said, "I'm just a journalist. I'm on public property."
The man in white then told a cop that the producer hit Mica in the head.
"No, I did not," the producer said, walking away. "Oh, my God."
In the interview, Mica said he didn't know who the man in the white shirt was, and he didn't know whether the journalists were legitimate journalists because they never identified themselves as such, and he didn't see their press credentials.
Mica said the U.S. Capitol Police, traveling with the politicians at the convention, warned them that some protesters might pose as reporters. Also taking into consideration that some violent protesters had reportedly been throwing urine and feces, slashing tires and breaking windows, Mica said he was skeptical.
"We didn't know if he was a reporter or a protester, and he came at me," he said. "I did not know who he was or what he was trying to do."
In a phone interview, also from the convention, Brian Ross, ABC's chief investigative correspondent who was around the corner when the conflict ensued, said the reporter and producer, who he would not name, did indeed say they were from the news agency. However, that isn't heard on the video.
Ross and the reporting team were working on a story about the power of lobbyists at the convention, focusing on the appearance of former House majority leader Tom DeLay, who stepped down from his post in 2005 after he was indicted in a Texas campaign-finance case.
The producer was attempting to ask Mica what he thought about DeLay's return to the GOP spotlight.
"If he had said something like, 'I don't have any thoughts on that,' we would have left him alone," said Ross, who felt Mica ran into the camera not the other way around.
An online ABC News story co-reported by Ross briefly mentioned the encounter: "Asked his reaction to DeLay's appearance in Minneapolis, (Mica) declined to answer and then head-butted the ABC camera."
Mica said he felt the bump on his head for a while afterward but didn't plan on taking any action because he didn't think the producer bumped him with malice.
But he said, "That's not professional journalism or responsible action."
Ross said essentially the same about Mica.
"He wouldn't dream of doing this in a Washington hallway."
Click here to watch the video.
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/090508/news_news01_006.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
NEW YORK OBSERVER: NYC-DC Bullet Train Backer: 'People Think I've Been Smoking the Funny Weed'
NYC-DC Bullet Train Backer: 'People Think I've Been Smoking the Funny Weed'
by Eliot Brown | September 4, 2008 | Tags: ConventionReal EstateAmtrakJohn Mica Transportation
Getty Images.
ST. PAUL--One of the more headline-grabbing stories involving Amtrak and New York of the past few months was a congressman's proposal for the federal government to take bids to create a two-hour train from New York City to Washington, D.C.
The far-off, years-long, multi-billion dollar idea, which has passed the House and awaits a final resolution with the Senate, came not from anyone in the city, or from the Northeast at all, but rather from a conservative Republican from northeastern Florida, Representative John Mica.
On Wednesday, I briefly caught up with Mr. Mica, who was speaking on a forum on transportation issues here at the University of Minnesota.
Originally from Binghamton, the ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee sounded a bit out of place in the Twin Cities this week, calling in a manner atypical of Republicans for billions upon billions in investment in the nation's highways and other forms of transportation.
"Some people think I've been smoking the funny weed, hanging around with college students when I proposed a $1.5 trillion federal highway bill," he said at the forum. "But I didn't pick that out of the sky--I think that's the number that the American Society of Civil Engineers did in assessing society's infrastructure needs."
He clearly has a passion for infrastructure, evident in both his criticism of the Bush administration on the issue (he said the administration has been "myopic" about using creative financing for infrastructure), and the first-person manner in which he speaks on the topic (he tends to refer to "my airports" and "my rail lines" when referring to national trends).
Still, Mr. Mica said after the forum that he approaches this issue from the right, with parsimony in mind.
"See, I'm a rightwing fiscal conservative, [a] tight S.O.B. with my own dollars and the taxpayers' dollars, and when you look at the money we have, I try to stretch it so you get the most in return for projects," he said. "But I've got to define that."
With regard to the high-speed rail line from D.C. to New York, and then on to Boston, he acknowledged that the cost would be astronomical (many transportation experts have derided it as a waste of time to explore, given that it takes at its quickest about 2 hours 40 minutes to get between the two cities already).
"It'll cost billions--it'll cost probably $30 to $40 billion," Mr. Mica said. But the private sector will do the bidding, not Amtrak ("Soviet-style," he said of the rail carrier), and new money could come from revenue sources on the existing rail lines that Amtrak owns, which he calls "one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in the world."
"You take that corridor," Mr. Mica said, "and I get high-speed rail on it, I separate it out, I get better commuter service, I get better freight service, and the big bonus is, it helps me solve my aviation congestion problem."
by Eliot Brown | September 4, 2008 | Tags: ConventionReal EstateAmtrakJohn Mica Transportation
Getty Images.
ST. PAUL--One of the more headline-grabbing stories involving Amtrak and New York of the past few months was a congressman's proposal for the federal government to take bids to create a two-hour train from New York City to Washington, D.C.
The far-off, years-long, multi-billion dollar idea, which has passed the House and awaits a final resolution with the Senate, came not from anyone in the city, or from the Northeast at all, but rather from a conservative Republican from northeastern Florida, Representative John Mica.
On Wednesday, I briefly caught up with Mr. Mica, who was speaking on a forum on transportation issues here at the University of Minnesota.
Originally from Binghamton, the ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee sounded a bit out of place in the Twin Cities this week, calling in a manner atypical of Republicans for billions upon billions in investment in the nation's highways and other forms of transportation.
"Some people think I've been smoking the funny weed, hanging around with college students when I proposed a $1.5 trillion federal highway bill," he said at the forum. "But I didn't pick that out of the sky--I think that's the number that the American Society of Civil Engineers did in assessing society's infrastructure needs."
He clearly has a passion for infrastructure, evident in both his criticism of the Bush administration on the issue (he said the administration has been "myopic" about using creative financing for infrastructure), and the first-person manner in which he speaks on the topic (he tends to refer to "my airports" and "my rail lines" when referring to national trends).
Still, Mr. Mica said after the forum that he approaches this issue from the right, with parsimony in mind.
"See, I'm a rightwing fiscal conservative, [a] tight S.O.B. with my own dollars and the taxpayers' dollars, and when you look at the money we have, I try to stretch it so you get the most in return for projects," he said. "But I've got to define that."
With regard to the high-speed rail line from D.C. to New York, and then on to Boston, he acknowledged that the cost would be astronomical (many transportation experts have derided it as a waste of time to explore, given that it takes at its quickest about 2 hours 40 minutes to get between the two cities already).
"It'll cost billions--it'll cost probably $30 to $40 billion," Mr. Mica said. But the private sector will do the bidding, not Amtrak ("Soviet-style," he said of the rail carrier), and new money could come from revenue sources on the existing rail lines that Amtrak owns, which he calls "one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in the world."
"You take that corridor," Mr. Mica said, "and I get high-speed rail on it, I separate it out, I get better commuter service, I get better freight service, and the big bonus is, it helps me solve my aviation congestion problem."
ORLANDO SENTINEL: Mica opponent joins pledge to hire wounded veterans
Mica opponent joins pledge to hire wounded veterans
Darryl E. Owens | Sentinel Staff Writer
September 4, 2008
A candidate for a congressional seat that includes Central Florida counties is among several Florida hopefuls piggybacking on a New York politician's pledge to enlist wounded veterans as congressional staffers. But the move has left some veterans wary of a campaign ploy -- while still hoping for a windfall for injured service members.
Faye Armitage, a Democratic challenger to the 7th Congressional District seat held by U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, joins Mark Mulligan, R-Panama City; Allen West, R-Plantation; and Marion D. Thorpe Jr., R-Fort Lauderdale, among a group of candidates nationwide that have committed to the vet-friendly, nonpartisan hiring plan announced last month by Robert Straniere, a Republican from Staten Island.
Under his proposal, "The Wounded Warriors Workplace Initiative," Straniere pledges to fill at least one-third of his congressional staff with wounded vets and their immediate families. He has challenged other congressional candidates to march in his footsteps.
"It is the right thing to do for the over 600,000 returning service members from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars," Armitage said. "Vets [who would be] hired have earned their employment through their service to our country. To offer vets gainful employment is an appropriate way to thank them."And, some vets suspect, a way to court votes.
"It's probably good politics," said Jerry E. Pierce, a retired Army first lieutenant and president of Central Florida Veterans Inc., "and there will be a lot of related issues concerning affirmative action, et cetera, but we must put those feelings aside to help those who have sacrificed for our country. Having wounded warriors working in congressional offices also would be a constant reminder to those who send others off to war, as to what the human costs of war are."
Straniere's initiative would benefit veterans wounded in any U.S.-involved conflict. The Staten Island Advance reported that he estimated about 25 to 30 staffers support each Congress member, meaning vets could fill jobs such as researcher, community staffer and federal liaison.
"My goal is to have the halls of Congress staffed with wounded warriors and their family members," Straniere said in a news release.
That notion attracted Armitage, whose son was paralyzed by a soccer injury and whose son-in-law is serving in the Army in Iraq. She understands "the difficulties in finding employment as a disabled person," she said.
For Thorpe, the proposal dovetailed with his belief that "America must do more for our vets. . . . The time has come for our nation to resist any and all ancillary reasons that prevent us from doing what is inherently right."
Army Lt. Col. Dennis Freytes of Orlando couldn't agree more. He sees the initiative as a win-win for vets saddled with combat injuries and legislators hampered by martial inexperience.
"This is not an affirmative-action program, but an opportunity to give American veterans a voice in their American government, [which] owes them for the freedom and prosperity America enjoys today," Freytes said. "Today, the vast majority of congressmen have not served. . . . They need some experienced American veterans to advise them."
Indeed, the prospect of wounded warriors landing work on Capitol Hill helps ease some vets' worries that candidates may be using wounded vets to bank political capital.
"All politicians have an ulterior motive in their actions," said retired Army Lt. Col. Earle L. Denton, who served in Korea, including the Battle of Pork Chop Hill, "but at the same time, [Straniere and the others] are getting publicity, and good publicity will help the veterans gain more visibility in their interests and concerns."
Darryl E. Owens can be reached at dowens@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5095
Darryl E. Owens | Sentinel Staff Writer
September 4, 2008
A candidate for a congressional seat that includes Central Florida counties is among several Florida hopefuls piggybacking on a New York politician's pledge to enlist wounded veterans as congressional staffers. But the move has left some veterans wary of a campaign ploy -- while still hoping for a windfall for injured service members.
Faye Armitage, a Democratic challenger to the 7th Congressional District seat held by U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, joins Mark Mulligan, R-Panama City; Allen West, R-Plantation; and Marion D. Thorpe Jr., R-Fort Lauderdale, among a group of candidates nationwide that have committed to the vet-friendly, nonpartisan hiring plan announced last month by Robert Straniere, a Republican from Staten Island.
Under his proposal, "The Wounded Warriors Workplace Initiative," Straniere pledges to fill at least one-third of his congressional staff with wounded vets and their immediate families. He has challenged other congressional candidates to march in his footsteps.
"It is the right thing to do for the over 600,000 returning service members from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars," Armitage said. "Vets [who would be] hired have earned their employment through their service to our country. To offer vets gainful employment is an appropriate way to thank them."And, some vets suspect, a way to court votes.
"It's probably good politics," said Jerry E. Pierce, a retired Army first lieutenant and president of Central Florida Veterans Inc., "and there will be a lot of related issues concerning affirmative action, et cetera, but we must put those feelings aside to help those who have sacrificed for our country. Having wounded warriors working in congressional offices also would be a constant reminder to those who send others off to war, as to what the human costs of war are."
Straniere's initiative would benefit veterans wounded in any U.S.-involved conflict. The Staten Island Advance reported that he estimated about 25 to 30 staffers support each Congress member, meaning vets could fill jobs such as researcher, community staffer and federal liaison.
"My goal is to have the halls of Congress staffed with wounded warriors and their family members," Straniere said in a news release.
That notion attracted Armitage, whose son was paralyzed by a soccer injury and whose son-in-law is serving in the Army in Iraq. She understands "the difficulties in finding employment as a disabled person," she said.
For Thorpe, the proposal dovetailed with his belief that "America must do more for our vets. . . . The time has come for our nation to resist any and all ancillary reasons that prevent us from doing what is inherently right."
Army Lt. Col. Dennis Freytes of Orlando couldn't agree more. He sees the initiative as a win-win for vets saddled with combat injuries and legislators hampered by martial inexperience.
"This is not an affirmative-action program, but an opportunity to give American veterans a voice in their American government, [which] owes them for the freedom and prosperity America enjoys today," Freytes said. "Today, the vast majority of congressmen have not served. . . . They need some experienced American veterans to advise them."
Indeed, the prospect of wounded warriors landing work on Capitol Hill helps ease some vets' worries that candidates may be using wounded vets to bank political capital.
"All politicians have an ulterior motive in their actions," said retired Army Lt. Col. Earle L. Denton, who served in Korea, including the Battle of Pork Chop Hill, "but at the same time, [Straniere and the others] are getting publicity, and good publicity will help the veterans gain more visibility in their interests and concerns."
Darryl E. Owens can be reached at dowens@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5095
ORLANDO SENTINEL: Faye Armitage: Mica head-butt a "childish antic"
Armitage: Mica head-butt a "childish antic"
posted by Orlando Sentinel on Sep 4, 2008 3:59:55 PM
Discuss This: Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Linking Blogs | Add to del.icio.us | Digg it
Daphne Sashin of the Sentinel staff just filed this post:
Congressional District 7 candidate Faye Armitage has seized on a video showing her opponent, U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, head-butting an ABC cameraman outside a party for disgraced former House leader Tom DeLay in Minneapolis this week.
The incident, as captured on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBhe7d36BHs ) occurred while the cameraman was asking Mica if it was good to see the former House GOP majority leader, who is awaiting trial on state election law violations in Texas. Mica is clearly uncomfortable at being spotted -- and abruptly head-buts the camera.
Armitage called the footage evidence of Mica's "childish antics."
"If John Mica is so afraid to be caught leaving this meeting, what else is he hiding from us?" Armitage said in her e-mail newsletter. She said she would represent the district with dignity.
Mica told Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell (http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_local_namesblog/2008/09/mica-he-almost.html#comments) that the cameraman didn't identify himself. He also said he didn't know DeLay was going to be at the party, adding that he wasn't embarrassed to be seen with the embattled politician because DeLay hasn't been convicted of anything.
Armitage Events:
On Saturday, Armitage, of St. Johns County, will make several campaign stops in Orange and Seminole. She will be visiting Too Jays in Lake Mary, the Winter Park Farmer's Market and Park Avenue.
On Sept. 13th, she will hold a rally/ press conference in front of the DeLand Courthouse on Indiana Ave at 11 a.m. She encourages early birds to stop by the Potato Patch (635 S Woodland Blvd, DeLand) and meet her for breakfast.
Filed under: 2008 congressional elections, Faye Armitage, John Mica
Comments
Mica is way wrong on this and I am sure he will have to apologize. But how about the Orlando Sentinel publishing the details of his opponent's campaign events?
Wow!
posted by Orlando Sentinel on Sep 4, 2008 3:59:55 PM
Discuss This: Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Linking Blogs | Add to del.icio.us | Digg it
Daphne Sashin of the Sentinel staff just filed this post:
Congressional District 7 candidate Faye Armitage has seized on a video showing her opponent, U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, head-butting an ABC cameraman outside a party for disgraced former House leader Tom DeLay in Minneapolis this week.
The incident, as captured on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBhe7d36BHs ) occurred while the cameraman was asking Mica if it was good to see the former House GOP majority leader, who is awaiting trial on state election law violations in Texas. Mica is clearly uncomfortable at being spotted -- and abruptly head-buts the camera.
Armitage called the footage evidence of Mica's "childish antics."
"If John Mica is so afraid to be caught leaving this meeting, what else is he hiding from us?" Armitage said in her e-mail newsletter. She said she would represent the district with dignity.
Mica told Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell (http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_local_namesblog/2008/09/mica-he-almost.html#comments) that the cameraman didn't identify himself. He also said he didn't know DeLay was going to be at the party, adding that he wasn't embarrassed to be seen with the embattled politician because DeLay hasn't been convicted of anything.
Armitage Events:
On Saturday, Armitage, of St. Johns County, will make several campaign stops in Orange and Seminole. She will be visiting Too Jays in Lake Mary, the Winter Park Farmer's Market and Park Avenue.
On Sept. 13th, she will hold a rally/ press conference in front of the DeLand Courthouse on Indiana Ave at 11 a.m. She encourages early birds to stop by the Potato Patch (635 S Woodland Blvd, DeLand) and meet her for breakfast.
Filed under: 2008 congressional elections, Faye Armitage, John Mica
Comments
Mica is way wrong on this and I am sure he will have to apologize. But how about the Orlando Sentinel publishing the details of his opponent's campaign events?
Wow!
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Congressman Mica Head-Butts ABC News Cameraman Outside Indicted Alleged Felon Tom Delay's Fancy Lobbyist-Driven Party at Republican Natl Convention
From San Jose Mercury News:
"Close encounters of the media kind
"Kudos to ABC for capturing footage of Tom DeLay, former GOP congressional leader, using a back door through a loading dock to get into a big fundraiser for his organization, Coalition for a Conservative Majority."
"Inside, there was 'the Hammer,' who still faces criminal charges in Texas in a campaign finance case, smoking a cigar and glad-handing Republicans. A few GOP congressmen rushed through the front door past ABC cameras. Rep. John Mica of Florida refused to answer Brian Ross' questions, and then gave a good head-butt to an ABC camera. Hammer, meet 'the Head.'"
For video go to http://www.staugustine.com/promo/Vid01.html
Headbutting butthead Philistine plutocrat John Mica does bear a certain uncanny resemblance to Porky Pig. Mica is the July "Porker of the Month" for Citizens Against Government Waste.
Head-butting butthead Mica, like Bush and Cheney, resembles uncouth Beavis & Butthead. Cheney and Bush didn't even make it to the Republican convention, the quadrennial assemblage that Gore Vidal in 1968 called the greatest assembly in the world dedicated to the celebration of human greed.
Reckon jejune U.S. Rep. Mica's videotaped head-butting was in psychiatric terms a "cry for help?" http://www.staugustine.com/promo/Vid01.html Watch the drunken Republican's maniacal glee (and that of his youthful bully-boy intern enterouage).
Seventh District voters will give Rep. Mica the help he needs -- it's time for him to go!
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