ON THE BALLOT: THE TEA PARTY VOTES ON AMENDMENTS AND JUDGES

[FCTP]

CLICK HERE FOR THE PDF ABOUT CANDIDATES AND AMENDMENTS ON THE BALLOT.pdf

On October 5, 2010, the First Coast Tea Party held a Ballot Town Hall to discuss the Amendments and Judges appearing on the November 2 ballot in Duval County. The Supervisor of Elections, Jerry Holland, emceed a panel of legal experts and another panel of citizens who had performed their research on all Amendments and Judges. This event was limited in size and 114 people attended. The attendees listened to the presentations and voted on each amendment and judge. Those votes are noted below. These votes reflect the overall consensus of the attendees at the 10/5/10 FCTP Ballot Town Hall. To contact First Coast Tea Party, please go to www.fctpcommunity.org or contact us at [phone].

Information you should know:

 It takes 60% of the votes cast to pass the amendments and to 50% of the votes cast to retain a Judge.

 The language of a citizen amendment is limited to 75 words; amendments placed by the legislature are not limited in length

 To fully understand who is asking for this amendment helps you understand the "agenda" behind it. It is important to know who put the amendment on the ballot and check out the organization, individuals, etc. and their motives.

 Follow the motives and follow the money. What will this amendment cost the people and who will benefit from the amendment?

 Amendments to the Constitution will change the Constitution. In California they have passed so many amendments that the Constitution is almost a joke. And let’s take a look at California and ask ourselves, "Do we want to be them?"

 There are two organizations that have done a very good job in explaining the Amendments. One is the Collins Center at http://www.collinscenter.org/page/FL_Amend_Home and the other is James Madison Institute at http://www.jamesmadison.org/. Both have documents you can download and print out or forward to others and share the knowledge. The James Madison document will help explain some of the reasons why a Yes or No vote were made. We suggest you check out their sites and become engaged in their work. Both have some great tools and will make you a better, informed citizen activist.

 The Judges are more difficult to "judge." There was a lot of discussion about the fact some judges simply judge based on laws that relate to "auto accidents, civil disputes, etc." and you may not be able to determine if they are Constitutionally-driven. Where there was information about their "conservative" or "liberal" leanings, we had a conversation about them. The votes regarding the judges were made after a long discussion and from the eyes of many attorneys who must stand in front of them. Those votes are reflected in this document.

 We encourage you to share this document with everyone you know. We ask that you encourage everyone you know to vote on November 2nd. It is important that we secure Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness for all.

[Rosemarie Brenneman]

The Soil and Water Conservation should be done away with. Their job description is already being fufilled by St. John's River Water Management. Why are we double paying for the same effort?

[Theresa Pletcher]

Thank you Debbie!

[Theresa Pletcher]

That's where I'm leaning Joanna. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't reading between the lines. I don't like getting fooled by a small paragraph and nothing else to go by.

[Joanna B McDermott]

Theresa there is info on the back of the sample ballot...personally I went with those who did not favor working with the Federal Government and/or were concerned about not raising taxes....just a thought.

[Theresa Pletcher]

Any comments on the Soil and Water Conservation Districts Group 1, 3, and 5?

[Debbie G]

A fellow member, John, spent hours compiling data on candidates and putting it into a very simple format that juxtaposes the candidates stances on issues.

http://fctpcommunity.org/forum/topics/general-election-research?com...

[Theresa Pletcher]

I agree Debbie!

[Joanna B McDermott]

Thanks Debbie....makes perfect sense.

[Debbie G]

With regards to amendment 2

I am a 10 year veteran, my husband a 30 year veteran and our daughter is currently serving, soon to retire. I am voting no on this amendment because this is not a reason to amend our state's constitution. It is dangerous to open the door of amending a state constitution, this should be taken up either as a local or statewide legislative issue. That being said, this amendment also has a statewide negative financial impact of approximately $13million. Local budgets are a fixed amount each year. If our daughter gets an extra tax credit for being deployed the local budget does not change, but rather that credit for her becomes a debit for other citizens. The amendment sounds good, and it is noble that civilians wish to recognize our service; however, changing a state Constitution to do so is not the avenue. This is my view on this amendment and does not reflect the organization of the First Coast Tea Party.

Debbie G.

[Rosemarie Brenneman]

Look at the posting below