ACTION ITEM..Duval County CITY COUNCIL ACTION AND CONTACT THE MAYOR

[Leanne King]

   

  URGE DUVAL MAYOR BROWN AND OTHERS THIS WEEK TO APPROVE ELECTION OFFICE MOVE TO IMESON FACILITY TO SAVE MILLIONS

     First the good news: Kudos to First Coast Tea Party members - your voices to Duval Councilpersons is helping in the approval process for the Supervisor of Elections to get the needed electronic poll books for all precincts. These poll books reduce fraud, save labor cost and can be paid for with a reallocation from a Gateway Mall budget item that is not needed if the Election Office moves to the significantly less expense and far superior One Imeson Property. The Supervisor of Elections Fact Sheets for the proposed move is provided below. Your continued support to the overall plan is again needed quickly.

Action Item 1.

     Let Mayor Brown know THIS WEEK that you support Bill 2013-117 for leasing the Imeson facility for the Election Office. The One Imeson property is the best value for the taxpayer with $573,000 savings for the first year and $3.3 million over the next ten year. As of last Tuesday, the Mayor had not decided whether to sign the lease ordinance passed by City Council last Tuesday, veto it or let it become law without signing. Hopefully, the Mayor will approve the move the bill this week but if not, the City Council may override a veto. Also, let the Mayor know if you are super voter and never miss an election.
Contact Mayor Brown at: [e-mail] or 630-1776 or make an appointment to visit him or an Assistant at 117 W. Durval St., Suite 400.

Action Item 2.

     City Council passed bill 2013-179 to move to the Imeson property by a vote of 13 in favor and 6 opposing. Councilpersons Anderson, Brown, Crescimbeni, Daniels, Gaffney and Jones opposed these huge taxpayer savings and should be contacted and asked “WHY”. These Councilpersons should be held accountable for their financially impudent vote to stay at Gateway Mall. Let them know if you are super voter and never miss an election. Their contact information is below.

Anderson:   [e-mail]   630-1398

Brown:   [e-mail]    630-1684

Crescimbeni:  [e-mail]     630-1381

Daniels:  [e-mail]     630-1393

Gaffney:  [e-mail]     630-1384

Jones:  [e-mail]     630-1395

Action Item 3.

     US Rep. Corrine Brown, who has operated a campaign office at Gateway, announced intentions to look for ways to stop the move to Imeson, including the chance of suing, which would only add further taxpayer costs to deal with the suit. Rep. Brown should be contacted and asked “WHY” she opposes a move that will save taxpayer money and is accessible to all voters. Let her know if you are a District 5 super voter and never miss and election. Don’t get your feelings hurt if she answers “Lose my number” as she responded when asked about another message a voter sent (according the Times Union).

Her email is: https://forms.house.gov/corrinebrown/webforms/contact-me.shtml

Phone numbers are [phone] or [phone]. FAX [phone] or [phone]. Local office is 101 E Union St., Suite 202.

References: Fact Sheets  (For your information)

Supervisor of Elections

Elections Center Recommendation

 

 One Imeson Property:

“The Best Value for the Taxpayers”

 

FACT SHEET

 

 

Lease Highlights Include:

 

·   $573,000 savings in first year

·        Allows Supervisor of Elections Office to achieve

Mayor’s 14 percent budget deficit obligation

·        $0 cost to taxpayers for move and build out

·        Total savings of $3.3 million over ten years

·        Politically neutral site

·        Newest facility

·        Built to suit

·        Easily accessible from I-95, I-295 or Main Street

·        Located on a city bus route

·        Four loading docks for moving election equipment

·        Exclusive use of secured loading docks

·        One story building, maximizing efficiency

·        Free and secure equipment storage during the build out

·        New air conditioning and heating system

·        New roof with fifteen year warranty

·        Two thousand parking spaces

·        One Imeson rent $371,529.62 less than renting at Gateway

and is $242,848.11 less than Southgate over ten years.

·        

Gateway

FACT SHEET

 

 

     *  Landlord would not submit to a commercial inspection report.

         “Necessary Repairs” are just that: Repairs a landlord should make for a tenant. Landlord has refused to make repairs while city has been renting the space for years.

·        * Spent millions of dollars to paint and mulch the property instead of making necessary repairs.

·         * Would not fix AC during tenancy, this endured for years with millions of dollars of climate sensitive voting equipment at stake.

·         * Would not fix roof during tenancy: voting equipment was covered with plastic when it would rain.

·         * Would not fix the escalator.

·         *  Rejected ADA compliance (access for the disabled).

·        *   Incentives of free rent are at the end of the lease period: if the landlord won’t make repairs now while the city is paying, there is no reason to believe they will at the end when rent is free.

·         * The value of free rent at the end of a lease is worth less (the present value of delayed rent is $23,867 not the future value of $32,075).

·         * Troubling financial risks for taxpayers in the fine print.

·           * Current landlord has a bad relationship: refused tenants offers to meet, refuses tenants requests for repair work.

·         * Landlord was not forthcoming in negotiations, worked in secrecy and missed all deadlines.

·         * No good faith effort made to reduce the rent during the month-to-month negotiations: Landlord offered but then took the offer away when the city met its end of the bargain.

·         * Created delays to continue to get higher rent.

·         * Political and controversial site: there were rallies and protests at a Gateway campaign headquarters after saying on the record that the political issues were gone.

·         * Landlord stated the government should anchor Gateway businesses.

·          * Changed the fire escape locks the day after the vote, even though Elections Office is still a paying tenant.

Th   Thanks to Beth Heath for her assistance in pulling this information together.  Thank you to each of you who takes the time to make a difference.

  May God Bless You and may God Bless Our America!

Leanne

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[Leanne King]

Here is the letter that Mayor Brown sent to the City Council related to their vote to move from Gateway.

[Leanne King]

Mayor Brown has returned the lease for Imeson to City Council without signing it, which means that the bill will become law without his signature. Attached is a copy of his letter informing Council President Gulliford of his decision along with the Mayor's reasons. I interpret the reasons as political double talk to stay on both sides of the different camps...but that's just me.

Kudos should go to the First Coast Tea for voicing your support on this issue and congratulations to Supv. Holland for standing strong.

[Martha Carlson]

I did not have to read this latest post to know that Corrine Brown had some crony wanting a favor. That is how she conducts business....unrestricted cronyism. Thanks Leanne for all your hard work. I was not happy with the tone from the post by Amanda. It was just critical without any value.

[Leanne King]

And it gets more interesting. Look at Mr. Bittles campaign donations.

http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/stephen-bittel...

Terranova Corporation/Chairman $2,426 08/29/2011 G DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ FOR CONGRESS - Democrat

Terranova Corporation/Chairman $1,400 09/27/2011 P DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ FOR CONGRESS - Democrat

Terranova Corporation/Chairman $10,000 06/28/2011 P OBAMA VICTORY FUND 2012 - Democrat

Terranova Corporation/Chairman $25,800 09/30/2011 DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE - Democrat

erranova Corporation/Chairman $2,500 03/03/2011 G BILL NELSON FOR U S SENATE - Democrat

Well you get the idea.

[Leanne King]

And the plot thickens:   

"According to U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, Terranova Corporation filed a lawsuit asking for an injunction to prevent Brown from signing a lease with Imeson Center.Two weeks ago, City Council voted to move the Supervisor of Elections Center out of Gateway Mall."

 Now look at this:  Check this out it's the owner of Terranove from Miami, FL http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Stephen-Bittel/346681

And who is Mr. Bittle?  

Mr. Bittel is a member at large of the Democratic National Committee, serving on the Rules and Bylaws Committee.

[Leanne King]

Thank you Marty and being with the FCTP has been and will continue to be an honor.

[Marty Cleghorn]

Well, of course I meant we are the greatest Country on Earth in my prior comment.

[Marty Cleghorn]

Well said, Leanne. Why so many are confused about the Tea Party - just regular folks properly concerned about the decline of our Country - still amazes me. Of course the media are unapologetically misrepresenting us but other citizens with any common sense can see that Tea Partiers are proud Americans trying to bring awareness to our history, our remarkable place in the world, and that it was through struggle and strength of patriots that we are the Greatest County on Earth. It can be lost but it won't be with us sitting still or in denial. God bless you for all you have done and continuing to pour your energies into this just cause.

[Leanne King]

Amanda, just a little information about the FCTP and how it really operates. Yes, there are elected positions but I can tell you this. There is not one person, not one who really carries that title on their shoulders. EVERYONE on the Council is a volunteer. (Including me). We give of our time for a cause that could not be more important. There is no push for power, there is no "Look at what I did." For without each other there would not even be a tea party. We all bring our skills, educations, and experiences to the table. We all do whatever needs to be done to keep the movement alive and make a difference. We seek a win -win in everything we do.

There is not one voice. There are many voices, the voices of the people who take the time to get involved and make a difference at any level they can. I worked for a major company for many years and I understand the difference between Leadership and Management. I have seen people soar to levels that they never thought possible for themselves because they were given the freedom to excel.My reward was watching people grow and watching them succeed. Watching them rejoice in their victories was all I needed. Different? Yes, but just the way I needed it to be.

This women does not make the "position", she provides guidance and helps the team to develop the vision and then together they achieve. Any success I ever had in my life was not obtained by a solo attempt. Any victory experienced was the result of those who came together as a team and worked together towards the attainment our defined goals.
The same philosophy is at work with the FCTP. There are people working hard in many different areas doing great things. There is no COMMANDER IN CHIEF, I was just a coach and a protector of the organization. The FCTP is made up of ordinary people doing some great things because they have the love of country and lots of passion. Are we perfect? No, but I will tell you this, you couldn't find a more dedicated and caring group of people. It has been my honor to work with them and I will continue to be at their side as this fight for our America continues. Maybe someday you will come to a meeting, join a Community Group or Action Team and be part of this great group. While it appears that we often disagree on issues or on how to resolve them I would believe that we share the love of this great country. Be well

[amanda choate]

Glad to hear it, though the woman makes the position, not the other way around.
It is just that the numbers Mr. Holland provided were not from the final offers.