Official Sample Ballot

stryker;

Thank you for your confidence and vote. Either Mike or Michael will work.

But the arrow needs to be filled in also. The machine won't pick it up otherwise. They sure like to make people work hard at voting for a write in.

But then, nobody said I was going to have an easy time of it.

BTW, thanks for voting for the three Charter amendments. I hope there is a resounding vote of yes on all of them. It will show the Judge that the citizens of Clay County support them and that they should be counted and passed.

Political advertisement paid for and approved by, Mike Heemer, write-in, for Commission Chair.

Stryker,

I simply looked at who the incumbents were and voted against them....

Stryker, when it comes to judges always vote your conscience and just say NO to retaining them. Remember, any of our loved ones could be abused by any judge on any given day. Look what they have done to our right to vote for certain ammendments. (Look what Judge Collins has done for Elmer Polite. Sadly, Collins is not up for retention.) It is a collective mind group. They will never do anything for an individual, only what the power brokers want.

Lily's Lore "I don't ever want to be rescued And I don't ever want to be saved I got a feelin' that I'm gonna be alive forever Dancin' on the edge of a grave..." Jim Steinman

Have never voted for a 'write-in' before, do I have to write in your name and connect arrows or will connecting arrows suffice?  Just gotta get it RIGHT    Thanks

Gotta do both. Like I said, they don't want to make it particularly easy.  

Political advertisement paid for and approved by, Mike Heemer, write-in, for Commission Chair.

Now Mike I got to thinking about connecting the arrow and writing in your name which I intend to do.  What if I have a senior moment and forget how to spell your name.  Will they accept various descriptive phrases in lieu of correct spelling?

Think about it if it rhimes with any of your names it should be counted.  What if some can only remember your screen name will they count the vote for Finder?

I think it is important that they be willing to accept any name that is written in to be counted under you.  After all 26 years in the Navy you have been known by so many different names that you qualify as having.

I will not mention some of the names but I am sure other Vets can figure out some of the beloved names to which you have been addressed.

As you know I have accepted the offer to visit the SOE's office to make sure the machines are not rigged in your favor on Friday so I will ask if they will accept a vote for you on any of the thousands of names you have been called over the years.

So a vote for Heemer is a vote for a man with a thousand names.

Vote for all the charter amendment petitions and demand they be counted. YES on 1&2&4

lilyslore, I asked for 'some light'.  Geeze, you not only opened all the windows,  but turned on every bright light.  THANKS     I got your message LOUD and CLEAR ......  my conscience has been awakened. 

Marking my Official Sample Ballot which will be my quide Nov. 4th.

Stryker

Anyone who participates here who does not get a sample ballot I'd like to hear about it out of curiosity.

I am not happy that the SOE made a point of putting the following statement on the sample ballot in three different places.

"Important Notice County Charter Amendment Referendums (Nos. 1,2, and 4) are currently being challenged in Court, and as such, results may or may not be released based upon the courts decision."

1. I don't care what the merits are anytime a Judge tells the voting public they don't have the right to know the outcome of a vote that is an indication that the Judge has little respect for what this country is all about.  When it's a Judge who on record has refused to deal with the Constitutional Issues in the lawsuit against the peoples right to petition their goverment then you know you have a Judge that needs to go.

2. The SOE dissapoints me once again. I "HEAR" so much claptrap about not confusing the voter yet the above language is repeated three times on the sample ballot but where is the clear instruction that the Amendments while under litigation are still viable and should be voted on.  The blocking for the sample ballot clearly shows that there was space to be had yet what I see could confuse the voter if they were not involved with these Charter Amendments and the lawsuit.  My best friend who is a very intelligent woman gets updates from me about what is going on and even she had to ask me last night "Do I vote on these or not"?

Before I make the next statement let me insert a disclaimer. When I use the term "SOE" I am referring to an Office, an entity, not one single person. If I am going to say something about Mrs Kirkman or Mr Chambliss I will use their name.

With the three recent mistakes of the SOE, two of which have been directly connected to the only one true "public interest group" in the county, and now looking at the sample ballot I have even more concern about what is going on there. 

I sent a letter either earlier this week or last week to Mrs Kirkman inquiring about what they were going to do to let the voter know that this amendments are still viable so long as they're being litigated.  She was out of town so Mr Chambliss responded to my email and gave me the language I quoted above and told me this notice would also actually be in the voting booths themselves.

But the question still begs an answer.  Why has the SOE done nothing to tell the voter in plain english that this Charter Amendments while under litigation are still viable and should be voted on?  It doesn't take up much space, it informs the voter, even clarifies for those who haven't been reading,hearing or otherwise have some form of information other then that sample ballot.

If you want to get technical about it "the challenge" to a degree has been won, it is now on appeal and will continue to be on appeal till someone quits and I think there are alot of people who underestimate the resolve of the CTLAC and their supporters. Words are a powerful tool, the ones chosen in this notice to me are a poor choice considering what was available, odds are an Attorney did it but it was written in such a way that may keep some from even bothering to vote on it which I believe is intentional.

I keep hearing about concerns for voter confusion, members of the CPVR have admitted to being willing to cause confusion in order to use that against the Citizens Petition Initiative.  There is a difference between being transparent and being clear and from where I sit the only people being clear is the CTLAC.

This is all about the Chair, all about the beltway, all about the profit of a few at the expense of many.  Our best bet at the moment is to elect a Chairman who doesn't have a gazillion other jobs all connected to the county in one way or another and one who is not in favor of this particular project as it stands.

Write in Mike Heemer for Chairman, contact your friends and let them know.  Time is running short and now is the time for a push.  I've been handing out flyers, cards and am standing by ready to stand at an intersection with a sign saying write in Mike Heemer for Chairman.

http://www.ctlac.com/ Support the defense fund for the CTLAC.

SOE couldn't print instructions that the amendment questions are still viable and should be voted on, because that may be inaccurate by Election Day.  And SOE doesn't want to make a mistake on the sample ballot while trying to cover a mistake on the real ballot.

The real ballot mistake, printing the wrong version of the Charter Amendment question on County Commission salaries and par raises, has effectively changed this election and stripped voters of their rights.

Assuming the question has not been judicially disqualified and enough voters aren't confused into thinking they shouldn't even bother voting on the amendments, and it passes ... voters won't decide they have the right to approve any pay raises from the 37K salary for County Commissioners.  Thanks to the SOE error, they'll now be deciding if they want a judge to make the decision based on the minutiae of law instead of the outcome of the election.

Clay County's SOE does many things well, but this mistake is as egregious as it gets.  It has stripped local residents of their citizenship rights to decide a legitimately qualified Charter question by majority vote.

Michael S. Mann

michaelsmann@comcast.net

Mike, you suggest the question of what is represented may be moot on election day.  Remember this may be a Supreme Court Issue as such a simple notice of appeal by the CTLAC will stay the action if they are ruled against and it will remain to be voted upon.

It is important that the vote be made, I have been assured that if the case is decided against the CTLAC that an immediate appeal would be initiated.

Mike I do not think a single voter with a 5th grade education would be confused by the petitions, only technocrats, lawyers and judges whose motives are always in doubt would be confused. They always try to make mountains out of mole hills.

 As far as the wrong petition on the salaries being on the ballot it is only missing the effective date, you must have believed too much of the Scruby spin.  Cases of first impression revert to Common Law or common sense.  In this case voters stating yes would want it in place immediately.

Let us simply support the vote and not try to second guess what the Courts will do.  Vote YES for amendments 1,2, & 4 demand a count.

When the Judge refused to hear the Constitutional arguments of the Amendments as a citizen he challenged me on principle. It is my belief that the CTLAC is going to rise to answer that challenge regardless of how far they have to go. I believe they have a very large number of supporters who are prepared for the long haul.

I hope those numbers will continue to rise as more people realize that the battle is the Amendments, the war is about your right to effect change in your goverment. I believe the higher it goes in the Court system the more publicity it will generate and more people, even out of county and state people who believe in the inherent right of the people.

I believe the goal should be to have legal precedent set in the county, and/or the state as it exists elsewhere. Taking these issues into court could very well backfire on those that chose this course and could very well end up giving solid support to the Citizens Petition Initiative in the County.

This is why I want everyone to vote, yes it would be wonderful for you to vote yes to all three because I intend to.  However, it's more important that you just vote period and like Fred said demand that voters be told the count.  Not releasing those results is just another attempt to suppress the people and should not be accepted.

http://www.ctlac.com/

Of course, people should cast their votes on the Amendment questions that appear on the Nov. 4 ballot.  There's always the chance that, after all the judicial wrangling is completed, the wishes of the majority will actually be fulfilled.  If votes aren't cast, those wishes won't be known.

And I'll be supporting each of the CTLAC-sponsored amendments with my vote because I believe each will ultimately play a part in making local government more accountable to its constituents.

Most of the time, voters know the wishes of the majority will be fulfilled and what's going to happen as soon as the votes have been counted.  SOE's error has taken that assurance away from voters on the BCC pay amendment.  If voters approve the amendment, its error has affected the outcome of an election by virtually guaranteeing the final decision is made in court instead of the ballot box.

As for me listening to the Scruby Spin, that spin is actually official legal advice of the County Attorney to the Board of County Commissioners.  It is, more often than not, the foundation of decisions and actions of the BCC concerning matters such as the legal implementation of Charter Amendments.  How much I listen to Scruby's specific advice doesn't matter in the least.  He's the BCC's lawyer and it listens to him.

Michael S. Mann

michaelsmann@comcast.net

Marsha, every time I come back to peruse the blogs related to the shenanigans of judges I find it more and more difficult to tell the "good" guys from the "bad" guys. For the life of me I do not understand why our elected officials and appointed judges are not rotting in some prison where they belong.

Did you notice the latest whitewash in Duval County with Head Judge Moran? It seems the hanky panky surrounding the courthouse public trough is not going to be exposed. I wonder how involved Moran is in that fiasco.

Right up to and including the striking down of the CTLAC ammendments, all involved with stripping the right to vote from the citizenry should be banished to a gulag. That is the one thing the Russians developed we could use over here.

Lily's Lore "I don't ever want to be rescued And I don't ever want to be saved I got a feelin' that I'm gonna be alive forever Dancin' on the edge of a grave..." Jim Steinman

"This is worse than a divorce.  I've lost half of my net worth and I still have my wife"

You see for years we have elected the choices of the special interests, now look at your retirement and then look at those special interests are they hurting as much?

The amendments are there to help reduce the affect special interests have had on your county taxes.  The challenge to those amendments is brought by special interests, not public interests.

So vote yes on 1,2,&4 and demand a count be pubished.  The poor guy overheard above could be from Clay County and if special interests have their way you could end up with 25% and still have your wife. lol

Remember Abe Lincoln said it best about elections:

“Elections belong to the people. It is their decision. If they decide to turn their back
on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
—Abraham Lincoln, U.S. President

So even Abe Lincoln wants you to vote on the amendments.

Fred;

I'm afraid if I listed some of those names here that Jonathan would have to ban me from the blogs.

And if you write them on the ballot you might get banned from Clay County.

But they are pretty liberal on spelling etc. It is the intent that counts not so much accuracy of the name. I'm pretty sure that Hemmer or Hemer would count.

But a big part of that is connecting the 'Arrow'. Voters don't have to worry about connecting any dots with me. I haven't got any to connect. Though I have had to dodge a few arrows in the past several months.

I did write Ms. Kirkman and Mr. Chambless another email asking a question about that arrow thing. I'm waiting for a response.  

Political advertisement paid for and approved by, Mike Heemer, write-in, for Commission Chair.

I was thinking what would Abe do to make sure that the only surviving write in is given a fair chance to succeed. 

I was thinking Mike needs some poll sitters and some signs outside the voting areas advising those entering his name should they like an alternative.

Any others have any solutions?  After all his opponent has raised Obama numbered funds against him.  Ok people let us know how to get Mike out the vote.  I promise I will call him by his God given name and not the names his shipmates gave him.

Vote November 4 for all issues

Saw  in the MCS today, page 2, an article titled: 'District 3 forum will be held without 1 of the candidates'.  I didn't even know there was going to be a forum.  I see that since Ron Raymond has publicly stated he'll be there and Travis Cummings won't, but is welcome to send a repersenative in his place, the forum is going forward.  Good opportunity for you to go and take some signs. 

I saw that. I plan on being there.

There is also a debate for the SOS candidates that same night at Fleming Island HS. I'd like to see that one too, but obviuosly can't do both.

Political advertisement paid for and approved by, Mike Heemer, write-in, for Commission Chair.