Rep. Raymond Rodrigues invites his constituents to attend his kick off celebration. see invite>>
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Over the last few months, I have had some great opportunities to meet people throughout Southwest Florida. My supporters weren't party insiders or big money lobbyists. My supporters were the people; average folks that wanted their voices to be heard.
Each and every one of you has a voice – it’s your vote. Your ability to stand up and use that voice is something which makes America the unique nation that it is. read entire report>> Dear Friend:
Today I officially submitted my qualification papers to be placed on the August ballot as a Republican candidate for the Lee County Commission District 4! Since launching my campaign at the end of 2013, I have met with small business owners from every corner of Lee County to listen to their ideas on how we can improve our economy. I've met with firemen and policemen; teachers and students; moms and dads; community leaders; retirees; and veterans. Their opinions and the advice I've received have been tremendous, beneficial, and insightful. What I've learned is that the residents of our community want precisely the type of common sense conservative leadership I plan to bring to the Lee County Commission. My family has lived and worked in this community for five generations. My grandparents taught me the value of hard work and helped shape my conservative values. My parents taught me the importance of giving back to our community. After college I came back home and joined the family business. I'm proud that over the years it has grown and become diversified. Frankly, the lessons learned in growing and managing a business are the very types of experiences our county government needs. Lee County is an amazing corner of the world. We're blessed with an incredible quality of life. Our job is to make sure we preserve it for the next generations. That starts by making sure our economy creates, grows, and maintains good jobs. It includes protecting our environment, since that is the cornerstone of our quality of life and our tourist based economy. We need to revitalize urban areas with new development and growth. We also need to make sure we honor our heritage as we invest in our future. It also means infusing the Lee County Commission with new ideas and out of the box thinking - like ensuring the county undergoes an outside independent audit. I want to make sure our tax dollars are being used the right way on the right things, and that county programs and operations are being managed in the most efficient and effective way possible. As we enter the final two months of the campaign I'll continue to meet with as many people as I can from every walk of life throughout the county. I hope you'll join me along the way on my Listening to Lee tours and my Meet and Greets. And, by August 26th, I hope and trust I will have earned your vote. I look forward to seeing you soon. Best regards, Sawyer Smith Friends,
This week our campaign kicked off its College Affordability Tour where we are visiting Floridians across the state to talk about the importance of affordable higher education. I come from a family that struggled to get by. Growing up, I lived in public housing. My adoptive dad had a tough time keeping a job, and my mom worked two jobs just to make ends meet. But no matter what, my mom made sure we received a good education to prepare us for jobs to give us our chance at the American Dream. I want everyone to have the same shot I did. That’s why when I became Governor, my commitment to Florida families was simple: to hold the line on tuition. I made that promise and I am proud to say we’ve accomplished our goal! Our students now are able to receive quality educations, start successful careers and live the American dream right here in Florida. Over the weekend, I signed legislation that righted Charlie Crist’s wrong and eliminated the 15 percent annual increase in tuition he signed into law. Florida has a great education system that prepares our students for success in college and a career. If we want to make college more accessible, we have to make it more affordable. For the remainder of this week, I’ll be traveling up and down the state talking to Floridians about making college more affordable. Thank you for your continued support! Let’s Keep Working! Rick Scott POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT PAID FOR AND APPROVED BY RICK SCOTT, REPUBLICAN, FOR GOVERNOR. News-Press.com | Sawyer Smith June 2, 2014
It's budget season in Lee County. It's the annual ritual in which the county's staff, special interests, interested citizens and, hopefully, our commissioners jockey amongst themselves to fund their priorities and projects. Newspapers write about impact fee debates, the Conservation 20/20 program and other parts and pieces of the budget. Sadly though, the debate usually doesn't include a thoughtful, methodical and critical look at the budget overall. That is to say, a holistic look at our local priorities and funding needs, the taxes, fees, and other revenue that the county collects, let alone innovative ways for the county to create new efficiencies in how we do business and enhance the productivity of our resources. The current budget process largely ignores the way we tax our citizens and spend their money, and how we deliver key services at a price we can afford. In the private sector, successful organizations engage in a deliberative process to review the performance of business units and implement innovative improvements that will drive success. They frequently utilize outside experts to audit their financial statements in order to provide the highest possible degree of confidence for investors, shareholders, and others and to ensure that every penny is properly accounted for. The notion of improving performance by methodically reviewing complex programs shouldn't be limited to the private sector. Lee County should embrace this concept and hire outside experts and auditors to review how the county conducts business. The new knowledge, transparency and efficiencies that are likely to be gained by these efforts would no doubt give taxpayers significantly increased confidence in how their tax dollars are used. Certainly, the Lee County clerk of court's office does an effective job in carrying out one of its missions by conducting internal financial audits. But these compliance audits are fundamentally different than outside performance and accounting audits. Over the past 20 years, Lee County's population has doubled. The complexity of formulating policy and delivering world-class service has increased. If Lee County is to set a long-term sustainable path for our children and grandchildren, we need to change the fundamental ways in which the county does business. That is if we truly want to be able to develop and implement innovative policies that help us successfully manage the challenges of preserving our environment, building new homes and places of business, revitalizing areas that need redevelopment, and attracting and retaining good jobs, great employers and a talented and creative workforce. That starts by supplementing the hard work of the Lee County clerk's office and others with outside experts to conduct a truly independent performance review and financial audit of our county. Then, and only then, will we be able to ensure that we have the best, most efficient and highest productive policies and services in place and that we are operating a local government that is lean, efficient, and responsive to its communities. Sawyer Smith is a Fort Myers-based attorney and small-business owner. He is a candidate for the Lee County commission, District 4. Early voting locations are: Early voting begins on 6/14 and ends on 6/21. Polls during early voting open at 10am and close at 6pm
1. TERRY PARK, 3410 Palm Beach Blvd., Fort Myers 2. LEE COUNTY ELECTIONS CENTER, 13180 S. Cleveland Ave., Fort Myers 3. RUTENBERG PARKS & REC FACILITY, 6490 South Point Blvd., Fort Myers 4. EAST COUNTY REGIONAL LIBRARY, 881 Gunnery Rd., Lehigh Acres 5. CAPE CORAL PUBLIC LIBRARY, 921 SW 39th Ter., Cape Coral 6. CAPE CORAL—ELECTIONS OFFICE, 1039 SE 9th Place, Cape Coral 7. BONITA SPRINGS—ELECTIONS OFFICE, 24987 S Tamiami Trail #105, Bonita Springs You can also vote by mail. Please call the Lee County SOE to request a ballot. The contact # is 239-LEE-VOTE. NEW ORLEANS – Southwest Florida Republican Congressional Nominee Curt Clawson will address the 2014 Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, LA on Saturday, May 31. Clawson’s remarks are scheduled to start at 12:30 PM CT, immediately following Senator Ted Cruz and preceding former Presidential candidate Herman Cain.
Republicans in Southwest Florida first heard Clawson’s message of party unity the night of Clawson’s Primary victory on April 22nd. Since April 22nd, at a series of Unity events throughout Southwest Florida, Clawson has been discussing how staying true to Constitutional conservatism is a message of opportunity to the African-American, Hispanic and other non-traditional Republican communities. Republican Leadership Conference Hilton Riverside Hotel New Orleans, LA Saturday, May 31, 2014 Address by Republican Congressional Candidate Curt Clawson 12:30 PM CT Governor Scott has a phrase he uses often: “It’s your money.” Floridians should keep more of their hard-earned money. This seems like common sense, but there are some people who think your money would be better spent by the government. \Your choice this election is between a job-creator who knows the struggles of building a business from the bottom up, and a career politician, who TALKS a lot about jobs but whose record tells a different story. Despite the TALK, here’s the RECORD: Charlie raised taxes by $2.2 billion, drove up state debt to record levels and presided over 800,000 Floridians losing their jobs. The numbers show the difference: The June 24, 2014 Special Election Voter Guide by the League of Women Voters of Lee County Florida includes information about the candidates for the June 24, 2014 Special Election for the U.S House of Representatives Florida's 19th Congressional District. Candidates responded to League questions about issues including Campaign Finance, Climate Change, Election Reform, Health Care, Immigration, and Taxes. To access the Voter Guide, click on this link http://www.lwvlee.org/2014Elections/leecountyspecelecvoterguide.pdf or copy and paste it to your browser. League of Women Voters of Lee County Florida encourages eligible voters to participate in the June 24, 2014 Election: Friends,
Our campaign is gaining momentum daily and I wanted to let you know of some exciting news about our progress. Last month we led all the candidates in fundraising and remained the most fiscally responsible campaign in the race. I need your help so we can keep the momentum going! Click here to read the News-Press article about fundraising results. I also want to let you know about two upcoming fundraising events. We have an event scheduled in Cape Coral on Thursday, May 29th. And then on Thursday June 5th we have another event scheduled in Bonita Springs. Please join us at one or both and help us keep our momentum going! Thank you for your continued support of my campaign. Regards, Brian |
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