Have fun district 5

First time I met this guy I knew he was crooked.  Well, Clay County loves the "Good Ole Boys" and he is definitely one of them.  Congratulations Clay County Voters you let them fool you again!  Corruption is everywhere, you just have to know it when you see it.

You can't make a difference if you don't vote!  Our voter turn out is pathetic in Clay County.  Better luck in November.  Please go to the polls and VOTE responsibly.

Scoop;

Just out of curiosity, when and where was the first time you met him?

You can't make a difference if you don't vote!

You can't make a difference sitting on the sidelines watching either. Get out there and run for the office. Then you'll know the guy that the people are voting for isn't corrupt.

Mike Heemer

I should have used the word dishonest not crooked, but I am a bit of a redneck and figured that most people would know what I meant.

I would not run for a political office for ANY reason.  If one is not corrupt before they win, they have a hard time staying straight (Honest) after they've been there a while!  Plus, I would want to punch someone out for the lies and half truths that are flung around at election time.  It just isn't worth it to me.  My wife and family are more important.  The forums are a waste of time.  The same people come to them and most who attend already know who they will vote for.  It is a seen and be seen circus.

This guy didn't bother to show up at most of the shindigs, but he won anyway.  Does that tell you anything?  (Name recognition)!

I met him long before he planned to run for office (years ago).  Can't remember the exact place, but he was a talker.  You couldn't get in a word edgewise.  That good enough for you Mr. Heemer?

My wife tells me all the time that she can't believe how my first impressions are pretty much right on target about people.  It sometimes takes others a longer time to figure tem out (even my wife), but I seem to have a sense that shows me what a person is the first time I meet them.

Yep!

Just curious has to how serious you were about getting honest people in office.

Speaking of name recognition, one would think that after 4 years in office that everyone in D5 would have recognized their commissioner's name. But then again maybe they did and that is why RR won.

Who is to say? I'm not in D5 but as a county resident I like the choice they made.

I hope you'll keep some of those thoughts in mind when you have to decide whether to just check the box or write in a name for the Chair in November.

Mike Heemer

When voter turnout is lower, I have even more trouble than usual buying that "dumb voter" argument that says the number of signs or name recognition determines who wins a local election.

For whatever reason, about 70 percent of the county's registered voters didn't make the effort to cast their ballots in the primary election that determined the outcome of so many local positions.  But the 30 percent who did vote are people who cared enough to make the effort.  And if they cared enough to do that, they are the kind of folks who know what they're doing.

They are at their precinct to cast their ballots because they want to count when it comes to determining their government representation.  A small voter turnout will always include the people who vote regularly, and those are the people who do their homework before stepping into the booth, not the folks who are influenced by road signs and TV commercials.

The District 5 incumbent didn't lose this election because ignorant voters recognized his opponent's name.  He lost because, in his four years of office, he didn't prove to enough voters that they should make the effort to vote and hire him for another four years.  If enough people thought he'd done a good job, it really wouldn't have mattered who his challengers were.

Michael S. Mann

michaelsmann@comcast.net

You both have more experience in the political realm than I and some of what you say is reasonable.

Why do you think that JD did so poorly at the polls? 

I am not in district 5 either by the way but I felt that JD would have bee a better choice than RR.

I suppose that people were looking at the fact that JD was another realtor and maybe wanted another point of view on the board.  Who knows what people think?

Thanks for your comments.

Ouch scoop that hurt. 

I don't have experience in the political realm. What I do have is lots of experience in getting the job done. And managing to get the very best out of the people who I served and worked with.

Your question about JD is a good one. Unfortunately I haven't got an answer. Maybe I should have been a little more specific about what I thought of my choice for D5. If it were my choice I would have voted for JD.

I liked his ideas, I liked how he thought things out and knew his area. The fact that he spent less than $1000.00 I liked also. He wasn't like a lot of others that were spending hand over fist as if it didn't matter because it wasn't their money.

I don't think RR was a bad choice, he just wouldn't have been my first choice unless RR and HR were the only two choices. 

Mike Heemer

In my humble opinion, name recognition is the key.  JD didn't lose the election because he's a realtor, but because most of the voters didn't know him.  Everyone knows Ronnie Robinson because he's been around forever, and Rutledge lost by not serving the best interests of the citizens of District 5 and the County (i.e. garbage tax).  JD said he'll run again and has four years to make a difference and get his name out there so people will know who he is and what he stands for without spending a ton of money.

Before the primary election, knowing that I wasn't going to vote for the incumbent, I emailed both Ronnie and JD and asked their opinions on 10 or 12 of my concerns.  Ronnie came to my house and we discussed issues and did not agree on several, and JD spent a great deal of time responding via email.  He and Ronnie were actually in agreement with each other on issues that I had different views on.  They each gave me food for thought on some.  I appreciate their input and taking the time to answer my questions.  I hope JD does run again, as I think he has a lot to offer to this county.

www.CTLAC.com

It's apparent that the majority of District 5 voters were dissatisfied with their representation on the Board of County Commissioners and went looking for an alternative.  And in making their choices between the available alternatives, it's probable that name recognition came into play and heavily favored Robinson.

Of course, when one candidate receives more than 50 percent in a three-person race and another person gathers less than 10 percent, there's more to it than just name recognition.  Voters saw something in Rutledge they didn't like, and more they liked in Robinson than they saw in JD.

In my aborted campaign, I learned one thing.  The key to winning isn't getting people to put signs in or stroke a check for the campaign account.  The winner is the person who can get people interested enough to actually remember it's Election Day and then make the effort to vote.

Michael S. Mann

michaelsmann@comcast.net

I attended several of the forums, and it was evident from the very beginning that Mr. Robinson was in the race because he had an axe to grind with the county.  It was also evident that he knew very little about how government operates.  And he didn't get much better from the first forum to the last.  He has a real education process in store for him before he can become an effective commissioner.

 I was not in Mr. Rutledge's district, but I thought he did a good job for the county.  Apparently his district was more than a little upset over his vote on the mandatory garbage pickup, but I'm sure he thought he was making the best decision for the county.

It will be intersting to watch Mr. Robinson over the next few months. 

No harm intended finder.  I don't always agree with you, but I, too think JD would have had my vote if I had been in District 5 and able to cast it for him.

All good observations!  That is why it is said that everyone has a different point of view which is directly related to their own experiences in life.

What a world this would be if we all thought exactly alike on everything.  Life would be so boring!

I sincerely hope that I will be amazed and pleasantly suprised with RR and his contribution to the BCC. 

I just wanted to thank each of you that have offered a "post-election" vote of confidence.

I got into the race mainly because I had disagreed with Mr. Rutledge votes on each issue which affected our quality of life and taxes. I could tell from the grublings around me that there was probably never a better time to take on an incumbent than this year.

I have been a person that has watched from afar the goings on inthis county for over 30 years. Even when I was transfered out of the area my friends I had left behind would keep me abreast of the goings on. Not just in Clay County but also Duval and St. John's.

Why I did so poorly you may ask. Actually I did great! I did not enter the race until Mid-April, many months after Mr Rutledge. I did not gather together a large group of people to help me in my campaign. I did not have a clue about fund raising and many of the groups that do endoresments had already held their interviews and made a decision.

I went out door to door but ended up visiting with people between 30 to 120 minutes. That's a long time to spend on one vote when you don't have much time.

Work also got in the way of campaigning. I needed a surgery and I got the doctors to put it off until after the election.

YEs, I have a zillion excuses. But, I firmly believe that Mr. Robinson won was because of the effective campaigning that his handlers did on his behalf.

Yes, I say handlers. I really believe that he does not have a goal or a plan for the district or the county. I believe that his handlers told him he could run and they would tell him what to do and what to say. I believe that is why he refused to go head to head in a real debate, his handlers probably told him to not go, that the votes were in the bag, etc.

He also did not appear on the MCS video. It is apparent that he had no respect for the voters of the county.

Did you ever count the signs he had? He out numbered Mr. Rutledge by about 3-1 in signage and with my limited budget I was luck to get 30 signs out.

No, my friends, I believe that I made a great showing for the first time and very limited budget.

I do have a strategy to have better name recognition next time out.

As far as being in the real estate business, there are good ones and bad ones in this business. When you find a good one they are as good as gold and will always be worth more to you than they cost. The important thing is that they work in the area, they know the people in the area, they know the concerns in the area.

I actually wonder if Mr. Rutledge knows about drainage problems in some of our subdivisions in District 5. I know Mr. Robinson hasn't a clue....but he will.

As a side note, I hit a huge pot hole on 220 last week, it tore up my McPherson Strut on the right front. The next day I saw where it caused an accident and the public works people were out there doing there usual patch and dash. Today I saw it was already starting to fail again. I wonder if Mr. Robinson will say it's EASY to fix the road right.

Thanks Again Gang,

JD

As I read through these blogs the majority start out saying " Im not even in this district but..." Then why are you complaining so much?!?!?  I'm sure each one of you went out and voted for who you thought was the best candidate and i'm sure you did your research because you do sound like you know what your talking about, but thats not going to change the outcome of the election. The people in District 5 apparently voted for who they wanted, and if they didnt vote, well then thats their own fault. Numbers dont lie, and if it was a win because of name recognition, well then so be it, he obviously had a "good" name in the county or people wouldnt have voted for him.  I personally think the Mr. Robinson will do a good job on the board, but then again I dont know and neither do you, he might turn out to suprise everyone and be one of the best commisioners we've had in a long time.

Mann you are wrong.  Commissioner Rutledge lost because of two things.

1)      People in District 5 did not like the garbage fee, when a majority of the county did.

2)      Ronnie’s name

Have fun with the crooked, I mean dishonest, car salesman D5.  You got what you wanted, not what you needed.   

You may need to add in the mix the entire neighborhood who Rutledge dissed due to a speed limit study and his support. Then he pulled his support and voted against the citizens at the BCC meeting. When you have low voter turn out and an entire neighborhood working against you the odd are not in your favor.

I'm not a D5 guy either, and would have voted for HR if I could have.  As imperfect as he may have been as a Commissioner, he was the ONLY one who ever made the effort to visit all the districts with his traveling town hall meetings; I appreciated his effort, he was making an effort to involve citizens, who barely bothered to attend.  I would have voted for him because he DID vote for the universal collection of trash; 65% of the County was already paying for curbside pick-up and universal collection has virtually eliminated roadside garbage bags in D4.  I would have voted for him because he had 4 years OTJ; you can say what you want, but knowing the ropes helps a person perform better - in any job.

I've never met RR and will give him the BOD.  As a successful business man, he obviously has something going for him (unless of course he's one of those dreaded special interest guys, in which case the County is surely doomed).  If he doesn't pan out, we can just un-elect him in 4 years.  Or at least the people in D5 can.  The rest of us just have to live with how he votes.

HR was in favor of the neighborhood (Sleepy Hollow) RAISING the speed limit, until someone got up to speak during public comment and stated the only reason the neighborhood wanted the speed limit RAISED was too many residents were tired of getting SPEEDING TICKETS. 

So it sounds to me you didn't want to slow down and obey the traffic law...and be safe with sidewalks so close to the road and children walking on those sidewalks...you just wanted to stop getting SPEEDING TICKETS.

Remember the vote was 5-0 shooting it down...when ALL the FACTS came to light during the meeting.

This was an area that had a low speed and you could not even drive down the road that went down a hill without your foot on the brake and drive the posted speed limit.

They had a speed study done by the county employees. The results of the speed study reconized the problem and recommended the speed be increased 10mph.

Everybody in the entire neighborhood almost got a tickets because they would sit up a speed trap at a certain location that would ensure tickets. It was a revenue generating location for the Sheriff's Office.

I think if the speed study reconized the problem and recommended the speed be increased. Then the Commissioners should have honored the study and not the fact the neighborhood didn't appreciate the Sheriff's Office speed trap and revenue generating actions of the Sheriff's Office.

When the speed limit was set it was a dirt road and it had been paved without changing the speed limit.

Now I'm in favor of speed enforcement but almost every person in that neighborhood was given a ticket in the same location. However, I'm not in favor of entrapment for easy revenue.

Once the speed study was done and the county reconized the problem. It should have been changed. I think the neighborhood agreed.

5-0 what else is new in Clay County.

One needs only to look at the history of Mood Road's 30 MPH speed limit to see the BCC, led by HR acted with indifference towards the publics voice.  Moody Road was at one time 25 MPH and it was very difficult to maintain that speed, especially going down the hill towards Montclair.  The same scenario existed, a side walk next to a roadway.  We got the DOT to agree the speed limit shouls be raised and presented it to a different BCC who approved a 5 MPH raise.  During that time in history BCC members certainly listened to the citizens throughout the county because that's where the votes came from.  HR, who spent his time with the SO in the school system rather than the road patrol felt he was more qualified to speak on speed limits than the citizens and DOT.  He was absolutely wrong in this instance as was his BCC followers.  I personally went to Sleepy Hollow on several occasions at various times just to observe the traffic.  I felt that the speed limit could have been raised to 30 MPH and with a system of blinking orange lights similar to those at school zones the residents would know to slow their speed to another designated MPH  when children were walking home or to school. Sleepy Hollow is a very long, very straight roadway with only a coulple turnoffs to businesses and the Deputies actually hide at the very end of the road and run radar. Yes-it is a speed trap of the worst type.  I side with the residents on this issue.  I'm positive HR lost a few HUNDRED votes from that area.  The least he could have done was tabled the issue until he had a chance to personally go to the area, talk with the residence, talk with the Deputies, talk with DOT, talk with Public Works, talk with the County Manager, and then make a decision on what was best for the safety of the children and the residents.

I forgot to add one thing.  I asked a sitting Commissioner who had voted against the speed limit increase if he had been to Sleepy Hollow to look at the situation.  His answer was "no".  I then asked, "why did you vote the speed limit increase down?" and the reply was-- "well, that's Harolds' district and he knows whats best for them".  Besides, he was a Deputy before".  The Commissioner went on to say that they follow the vote of the Commissioner from the District that has the issue.  I then said " What your saying is that if a Commissioner votes on something in their district everyone will follow suit without knowing the issue ? and the answer was "yes".  I appreciated his honesty but hated his reasoning.