Political Archives - Page 12 of 14

This Sheriff Doesn’t Ride a White Horse

April 14, 2009 by Jerry Waxman Leave a Comment

As submitted to The Huffington Post April 6, 2009

*Author’s note-When I started this assignment in February ACORN was heavily in the news. Since that time we’ve heard less about foreclosures due in part to the Government’s asking for a moratorium and some banks actively working to modify their mortgages, however, the crisis is about to heat up again as the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae moratoriums ended on March 31. The other players in this drama are the mortgage bankers, who as of this posting have not responded to my request for an interview, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office acting as officers of the court. We know who the bankers are and basically what they do, but very few people know what a modern day sheriff does, so I thought this would be of interest.

Author’s Update:

Huffington Post published today 4/14/09, however they did a heavy edit and lost some of the flavor of this article.

When we think of the Sheriff most of us evoke images of the Wild West and with good reason. Early 50’s television made icons of Bat Masterson, Wild Bill Hickock, Pat Garrett and Wyatt Earp among others who actually were lawmen that made their reputations with their guns. In the 30’s through the 70’s John Wayne made a slew of movies where he either played a sheriff or marshal and some movies where he actually exposed the sheriff as a crook. These films usually showed the evil banker who holds the mortgage on the ranch and his accomplices (usually a corrupt businessman, in most cases the saloon owner, and a crooked sheriff) who steal the cattle and then foreclose on the property, sometimes with the help of a corrupt judge, because the rancher can’t pay. Normally the reason is because the railroad is coming through and all these corrupt people are looking to cash in at someone else’s expense. It appears that, given the situations, some things haven’t changed all that much. The concept of the evil or corrupt sheriff comes from the many stories of Robin Hood where the evil, plotting and mostly inept Sheriff of Nottingham still gets his due on the screen. Our concept of small town sheriff is permanently etched in our memory from The Andy Griffith Show. Reality Check: these Wild West Sheriffs did help bring law and order to the West. The Sheriff of Nottingham is based on a real person, most likely William de Wendenall, and Sheriff Andy Taylor is not unlike his modern day counterpart in our less populated counties.

History of the Sheriff

The word sheriff is actually a contraction of two words, shire and reeve. Prior to the Norman invasion of England the King appointed someone, usually a lord, to be the chief legal official (Reeve) of each shire. This person had the responsibility to keep the peace, collect the taxes and sometimes settle legal disputes between parties. As the English language evolved the title became Sheriff. When Great Britain first colonized the North American continent the separate colonies appointed their own sheriffs to uphold the law. After the American Revolution the sheriff became an elected position. The Sheriff, in most cases, is the highest law enforcement officer in his county and has control of the county prison system. In the northeastern US the Sheriff doesn’t normally have to be the law enforcement arm. They are responsible for prisoner transport and for serving warrants and writs. State Police and city police forces take care of the law enforcement. In southern and western states where there are fewer big cities, less population and more territory to cover the Sheriff’s office plays a larger role. The Orange County Florida Sheriff’s Office is a perfect example of a modern day operation. The office now has 2400 uniformed, non-uniformed and clerical employees, serving over 1,000,000 residents and 45,000,000 tourists annually. They patrol the entire county as many of the Orange County municipalities are too small to have their own police force so they sign contracts for that protection. They have criminal, investigative, undercover, narcotics, and civil process units and act as any large municipal police force with the added responsibility of running the county prison system, serving writs and handling a number of civil duties.

My interview with the Sheriff’s Office

I contacted the Sheriff’s office on Feb 27 as a follow up to the articles we were doing on ACORN home defenders. I felt it was only fair all that sides were presented and had the opportunity to explain their positions. It took almost a month to get a response, and then it was the wrong person and wrong department. Capt. Tina Gordon who is in command of an enforcement unit called me as my request had filtered down to her. I explained my position to her; I wanted to talk to the people who actually do the foreclosures to get their side of the story. She apologized to me. Why? I don’t know. It wasn’t her fault. She did offer to find out who I should talk to and, true to her word, two days later Lt. Robert Corriveau called me to set up an appointment.

Robert Corriveau looks like he played fullback in the pros. He is solidly built and rugged with a mustache that is beginning to turn gray. He’s been in law enforcement for 27 years, 25 years in Orange County. For many years he was a street officer and spent time in the Drug Enforcement division. He entered the civil unit on 9/9/01 which was tantamount to a baptism by fire. My first question to him was “What is it exactly that your department does?” He named a bunch of duties including transporting prisoners, extraditions, serving the writs of possession and intervening in domestic disputes, all within the jurisdiction of the courts. His division does not choose what actions to take; it is ordered to do so by the courts. I asked him how he felt about the record number of evictions that his division participates in. His answer was that it is not pleasant and no one in the department looks forward to it, but it is part of the job and it needs to be done. He emphasized that the Sheriff is a public servant who is an impartial third party. He acts under court order and not at the direction of the landlord or the mortgage company. He is there to insure the orderly transfer of possession. When I asked how many foreclosures his department was handling he told me that there is no specific number. Foreclosure sales are not handled by the Sheriff’s Office-they are handled by the County Clerk’s Office at the courthouse. He receives a Writ of Possession from the court that is served on the property. It may be from a landlord or from a bank and there is no way of knowing until the actual writ is received by his office. All Writs of Possession are handled in the same manner. He offered instead the figures from 2001 through 2008 plus the first two months of 2009.

In 2001 his office handled less than 1000 eviction orders. By the year 2006 that number had increased to 7,180. In 2007 the number increased again to 8,400 and in 2008 alone there was a 26% increase to 10,243. Figures for Jan-Feb 2009 are even higher. January had 1089 scheduled evictions and February had 891. At the same time, Corriveau noted that his domestic violence unit had 13% less activity for 2008 but he stopped short of asserting that there is clear correlation in those figures. That would probably take a separate study.

Lt. Corriveau arranged for me to travel with one of his deputies during his normal shift so that I could get a feel for what his department does. This is not something special because it is a service that is offered to any county resident who requests it, as long as they fill out an application and pass a background check, which I had to do. The specific date was Wednesday, April 1 at 7:00 AM.

When do we stop for donuts?

Back in the 1980’s there was an episode of Hill Street Blues that featured a local TV news crew following officer Renko on his daily rounds. The agenda of the reporter was to point out all of the time wasted by Renko at coffee shops or lunch counters making it seem that most of the time he wasn’t on the job. I know it’s a distorted picture, but I can’t help thinking back to that episode every time I see a uniformed officer doing exactly what we all do at coffee break time or lunch, especially since Charles Haid’s Renko character was a dedicated cop who was seriously wounded in the line of duty. I didn’t want to have any preconceived ideas about what was about to take place. I met Master Deputy Stan Spanich at the courthouse just before the appointed time. He was dressed in gray slacks and dark blue plaid sport shirt just like any other civilian, although the nine millimeter automatic on his hip and the handcuffs gave me a clue that he was in law enforcement. Physically he could be a stand-in double for Governor Crist. We introduced ourselves and went to his car, a late model Chevy Impala. Any prior ideas I might have had were quickly put to rest now that I’m with a regular guy riding in a family sedan getting ready to do the peoples’ business.

Stan Spanich has been a policeman for 35 years. A native of Chicago, he spent 15 years on the force there as a street cop and in other units including narcotics, investigations and a stint as a mounted policeman. He’s been in Central Florida for 20 years and has been in the civil division for 5 years. He is capable of handling any situation that arises, and as I discovered during the day he is strictly by the book, and a gentleman at all times. His territory covers Orange County west of John Young Parkway to Lake County and south of US Route 50 to Osceola County. It’s a large territory that encompasses wealthy communities like Windermere as well as Universal Studios, The Greater Orlando Convention area and Sea World. Today he has 22 postings that include some evictions and notices to vacate. He always starts in the southern end in order to clear the tourist areas before the traffic gets too heavy. He remarked that today is a lighter than usual day, but he expects things to get busier soon due to the lifting of the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae moratoriums. Our day starts off at the upscale Northbridge Apartments which is a large complex that boasts a few Orlando Magic players and other personalities that should be well able to afford the rent. Some people, however, have fallen on harder times and have fallen behind. He has three final notice postings in this complex which means that either he or one of the unit’s process servers have been there prior to now. Once this notice has been posted he will return within 72 hours to assure that the tenant has vacated. He also leaves his secret mark on the door (which I will not divulge) to avoid any tenant’s claim that they were never notified.

This is a definite route. Every security guard and maintenance man is on a first name basis with him at every complex we visit. He is probably in these places at least twice a month. The only foreclosure eviction he had today was at a complex where there are apartments as well as condos. This one was a little complicated because the tenant had been paying on time every month, but the owner was not making the mortgage payments and this was the day that she had to vacate. A property management firm was there to change the locks; however the tenant was not fully moved out and needed some more time. Spanich intervened and diplomatically convinced the representative to give her some extra time. There was no screaming, no histrionics and no pressure. In this case there had been a lengthy legal proceeding and the tenant had found another place to live. Spanich felt satisfied that it worked out.

Spanich had cleared the tourist areas by 10:30 and we had also managed to get through two thirds of his postings for the day. I offered to buy breakfast so that we could talk for a while without the radio or any other official stuff happening. He intimated that today was the first time in years that he forgot to bring his own lunch, and he never takes the time for a coffee break, however he was far enough ahead that it would be OK.

During our conversation I learned that the Sheriff’s Office encourages all of their personnel to be involved in community affairs. Sheriff’s deputies are involved in homeowner associations, little league, community theatre and all the things that people do who aren’t in law enforcement. This was also told to me by Lt. Corriveau. We compared pictures of our grandchildren and we discussed the economy and the effects it has on his department. He told me a humorous story that happened to him about a month ago during an eviction in Windermere. As the tenant was vacating the 3,000,000.00 property he told Spanich “I just can’t afford the $14,000.00 per month rent anymore.” Well, some people have their priorities. I also asked him what he would do if anyone ever refused to vacate. He answered that he would have to warn them that if they don’t vacate he would have to arrest them and put the cuffs on them. He said that it has never happened to him in the civil division and he has never had to draw his weapon in a domestic situation. When I pressed him about ACORN’s home defenders, he said that he’ll do what’s necessary when faced with that situation, and he obviously will not act on his own. He hopes that the situation will never arise.

Keep on truckin’

The further north we travelled there was a definite difference in the quality of property we visited. These were smaller units that were definitely not upscale. The rents were lower and the maintenance budgets were less expensive. Needless to say, there were no swimming pools or tennis courts as in the units further south. A few people had already abandoned before the final notice was put up, however, in one complex two people scheduled for final notice had actually paid the back rent, late charges and court fees and were not leaving. This brought a smile of satisfaction to Spanich’s face. The last two postings were in public housing projects. These are not part of his district and he is covering for an associate who was on vacation, and it’s on his way back to file his reports and set appointments for tomorrow and Friday.

Other people’s trash

It’s really amazing what people leave behind when they leave their property. What happens is that after the formal eviction the landlord takes whatever personal property is left behind and puts it on the sidewalk for anyone to recover. The tenant has no legal right to the stuff anymore but it’s there if they want to reclaim it. If not the scavengers will get it. There’s always broken furniture or kitchen gadgets left behind, but in one particular apartment there was a Bendix entertainment unit from 1949 in the living room that housed a 7” TV, radio and 3 speed turntable in a beautiful wood cabinet. The unit, whether working or not should be worth something to a museum or curio dealer. In other units there were working television sets, vacuum cleaners, blenders, blankets and sheets, etc.

Once Spanich was off the route we parted company as I didn’t need to witness his phone calls or reports. He promised to call me if he had a hot foreclosure coming up so that I could meet him and see how he handles it. Summing up it was a learning experience, informative if not exciting. Since I didn’t really know what to expect I wasn’t disappointed, but I did wonder if the other deputies in his division had similar days in their areas, and if they ever had to draw their weapons. That might be a follow up question for Robert Corriveau. Frankly, I walked away with a positive view of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

The ACORN office is located about four blocks from the courthouse, so I decided to go see Meredith Adrion and tell her of my day. Acorn had requested a meeting with Sheriff Jerry Demings around the same time as I did. Adrion said that he has not met with them so far and she doesn’t know if or when he will. She’s also going to inform me of any future actions Acorn will be taking.

Lieutenant Robert Corriveau

Lt. Robert Corriveau

ACORN launches Home Defenders in Orlando

February 26, 2009 by Jerry Waxman Leave a Comment

It started to rain at 1:30 Thursday afternoon, unusual for Central Florida in February. The press conference was called for 2:00 PM in front of Inez Batista’s Avalon Park home. Tiffany, an ACORN organizer said “somehow, it always rains when we do things like this.” ACORN volunteers, being fully prepared, handed out disposable ponchos to any in the crowd who requested one. Slowly, the group assembled as more people came until the crowd reached about forty, not counting the Batistas or the organizers or the press. Considering the weather, it was a sizable crowd.

William Moore, Chairman of the Anti-Foreclosure Committee for ACORN, spoke briefly about the nationwide initiative to keep people facing foreclosure in their homes. He then introduced Travis Munnerlyn, whose successful efforts to save his home through bold action with ACORN garnered national attention last year. Munnerlyn spelled out the principles of keeping people in their homes and working to get President Obama’s initiatives passed through Congress.

Moore then introduced Inez Batista whose foreclosure is scheduled for March 19. Batista explained that they had bought their home in 2003 and for several years they were making timely mortgage payments, however, business reversals in her husband’s construction company necessitated them to refinance. Their business never recovered and they are now faced with much higher payments than their original mortgage, even after mortgage modification. Inez Batista is ACORN’s first initiative in the Orlando area, which is, according to Moore, the highest foreclosure rate in the country.

Avery Salkey, whose story was reported previously in this post, was a special guest who told the assembled that her home was scheduled for that day, but through a last minute effort by ACORN her service company granted her a sixty day extension. There were several people in the crowd who were also facing foreclosure actions and were seeking help from ACORN. Carlos Saenz, who worked for an architectural firm was laid off from his job, had tried to work with his bank. He had gotten a 90 day forbearance which ended in December 2008, but he had not gotten another job so he asked the bank for an additional 90 days and at the same time he would go into his retirement account and bring his mortgage current. The bank refused his offer.

After the interviews Tiffany rallied the crowd with cheers and chants such as “Hey hey, ho ho, predatory loans have got to go” and “The people, united will never be defeated.” As the crowd dispersed the sun broke through.

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub.

February 26, 2009 by Jerry Waxman Leave a Comment

Avery Salkey has spent many sleepless nights over the last year or more in apprehension of what’s to come. She doubtlessly will spend many sleepless nights in the future, but for the next sixty days she’ll be safe in her home. She went to court on Tuesday and filed a motion to delay the sale of her home. Yale Mortgage finally agreed to give her sixty days to work things out. She and ACORN are doing whatever they can to bring the mortgage company around to work with her. For the next several nights she can sleep more easily than she has in the past and maybe she’ll even have some pleasant dreams, but until things can be worked out in her favor she’ll have this sword of Damocles hanging over her bed.

On the street where you live On Monday and Tuesday teams of ACORN volunteers walked the neighborhoods enlisting community support for the Batista family. Many of the houses that were visited were vacant with For Sale signs on the property. The Avalon Park Neighborhood Association had all the foreclosure signs taken down so it was difficult to determine which properties were in foreclosure; that is until you talk to the residents. One resident asked “where were you a month ago when the people next door had to leave?” The people they were able to talk to were mostly sympathetic and signed the petitions. Some of them expressed interest in attending the demonstration scheduled for Thursday afternoon at 2:00 PM.

Some people wouldn’t answer their doors even though the dogs were barking and the kids looked through the venetian blinds. One resident told why; there had recently been a rash of break-ins all over Avalon Park resulting in robberies, vandalism and worse. On Monday night a resident had been raped, and the neighbors are up in arms. Things like that are not supposed to happen in Central Florida’s version of Stepford, where everything is neat and clean, and all the grass is neatly mowed and all the garages are in the rear of the house hidden from street view.

The original purchase price of the Batista house was $390,000.00. Despite a large down payment and a few years of paying on time they needed to refinance because of business reversals. With all of the penalties and interest owed the Batistas now owe $410,000.00 and they’ve been living in the house for several years. An identical house across the street sold recently for just $200,000.00 so under the current system the Batistas can never get whole, and neither can the banks. ACORN thinks it is in the bank’s best interest to work with the Batistas. Property values aside, the neighborhood doesn’t need another vandalized or vacant house. Nor does it need another property off the tax rolls, and Stepford needs to save face.

ACORN to lenders: “Prey no more!”

February 26, 2009 by Jerry Waxman Leave a Comment

Avery Salkey is about to lose her house. It’s similar to a lot of stories throughout the country and it affects millions of people. She purchased a new home on December 4, 2003 and that’s when her troubles began. The purchase price on her house at 1502 Running Oak Lane in Royal Palm Beach was $234,550.00. At the time she was living in New York and made the decision as a single mother to start her life anew in Florida. She paid a substantial down payment, and secured a mortgage from Bank United that cost her $1500.00 per month, including taxes and insurance. She said that she could afford it.

What she didn’t count on was the time it took her to find another job in Florida that would allow her to continue her payments and live her life. She was late on some mortgage payments and at some point the bank threatened to foreclose. She then went to a mortgage broker who steered her to a hard money lender, Yale Mortgage. Yale gave her a variable rate mortgage however the terms of the mortgage were, in her opinion not the terms she was quoted. Her broker suggested that she pay the mortgage on time for six months, which she claims she did, while they continued to look for another lender with better terms. Her payment to Yale was $2800.00 monthly, almost twice what her payments were to Bank United. Additionally, Yale does not report to any credit agencies which adversely affected her credit, and if she were able to find another lender there would also be a huge prepayment penalty. She finally found ACORN who has been working with her to avoid foreclosure on her house. She and Yale Mortgage have been at odds since August, 2007. Her house was originally scheduled to be foreclosed on in November, 2007. She has been interviewed on NPR, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89856332, and was referred to on Good Morning America, http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=5459044&page=1. Salkey claims that as a result of her NPR interview Yale Mortgage refuses to deal with her. Her home is scheduled to be taken Thursday, Feb. 19.

The ACORN training session

The ACORN headquarters are located at 120 Colonial Drive in Downtown Orlando. The meeting room was filled to capacity. Many of these people were either in or being threatened with foreclosure. William Moore chairs the Foreclosure Committee for ACORN in Orlando, Florida. He cited that the State of Florida is number two nationally behind California in the number of foreclosures and, given the two populations, it is number one on a per capita basis. Orange County leads all other areas in the state, so the nation will be focused on what happens here. Monday, February 16 starts an initiative called Home Defenders. Moore explained that ACORN members and volunteers will be visiting the neighbors of homeowners threatened with foreclosure to enlist neighborhood support. On Thursday, February 19 there will be active teams in place to prevent city or county officials from taking possession of the property. These teams are designed to offer non-violent resistance to any and all people trying to force people out of their houses. Certain team members are also designated to go to prison if the situation arises. These tactics have been used recently in Baltimore and Oakland and they worked. According to Moore the bank had auctioned off the foreclosed property and as a result of ACORN’s actions they withdrew the acceptance and renegotiated with the original owner. Moore intimated that the banks really wanted to do the “right thing”; they just needed a little push in the right direction with ACORN’s help. The key is the number of people that can turn out in support of ACORN’s efforts. “The more people, the more homes we can save” says Moore.

Moore is no stranger to predatory lending techniques used by the banks. His parents are also victims. Moore has an MBA and a law degree and still needed ACORN to accomplish what he needs to. His parents owned a dry-wall installation business and were getting ready to retire. They wanted to make improvements to their home and enjoy their retirement. They were not sophisticated in the world of finance and wound up in the hands of a predatory lender. By the time Moore got involved it was almost too late. Moore was also hampered last year by life threatening surgery which rendered him ineffective for a long time. His experiences led him to ACORN where he is an active member of the organization.

You can do something about it

Travis Munnerlyn fought back and won. Munnerlyn and his wife raised their children in the same house and were preparing to make improvements in order to raise their grandsons. They wanted to add a bedroom. Their lender was Countrywide, a now failed bank that specialized in predatory loans, was taken over by Bank of America. The interest rate on their mortgage ballooned at the same time that his wife, Patricia, was laid off after seventeen years with the same company. Munnerlyn also had health problems. Munnerlyn sought out the aid of ACORN and worked with several officials including Governor Charlie Crist to reverse his situation. Last year he received a lot of attention nationally. He was profiled in AARP Magazine http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourmoney/personalfinance/articles/millions_of_americans.html and made appearances on Good Morning America http://acorn.org/?4316. His story is on Youtube in his own words www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2hEjNcbpNI.

A brief history of ACORN

ACORN was founded in Little Rock, Arkansas by Wade Rathke, an organizer for George Wiley’s National Welfare Rights Organization. The goal was to unite welfare recipients with working people in need around issues of free school lunches for schoolchildren, unemployed workers’ concerns, Vietnam Veterans’ rights and hospital emergency room care. Thus, an idea of low and moderate income community activism was born that would grow and adapt, thrive and flourish, and become a powerful movement from coast to coast. ACORN quickly became a powerful force in Little Rock and Arkansas politics and grew within ten years to active chapters in twenty states. The 1990 ACORN convention in Chicago focused on the fast-breaking housing campaign. The convention also included the ACORN Elected Official Conference which developed strategies for independent electoral organizations.

In 1991The housing issue was still a constant sore point. ACORN fought back against bank lobbyist efforts to gut the CRA. ACORN members staged a two- day takeover of the House Banking Committee hearing room to be sure their voices were heard by Congress. They stood in line overnight and took seats normally occupied by bank lobbyists. As a result, they won the Congressional vote to preserve the CRA in a power move that got national attention.

ACORN has continued to grow and is now in 42 states with over 400,000 member families. It claims responsibility for registering over 100,000 new voters in the state of Florida for the 2008 election. ACORN continues to build community organizations that are committed to social and economic justice, and continues to take action on thousands of issues.

Home Defenders prepare

Inez Batista is scheduled to lose her house on March 19. She lives in Avalon Park, east of Orlando. Avalon Park is a planned community with single and multi-family homes, apartments and retail enterprises. The publicity for the area advertises the benefits and spaciousness of small town living. Home prices range from the low 200,000’s to the high 500,000’s. Inez’s husband had a construction business and in 2003 the business was doing well. They had three small children and Inez was a stay at home mother. They bought the house in 2004 and for a short while life was good, that is until the downturn in the construction industry. Inez and her husband both got jobs, but they seriously fell behind in their payments and received notification of foreclosure in August 2008. The Batistas then hired Advantage Mortgage of Miami who claimed that they could help get a modified agreement with Countrywide. Advantage required an immediate payment of $1500.00 up front in certified funds. The Batistas paid the money and waited. Unfortunately for them, Advantage never contacted Countrywide about refinancing-they talked to them about selling the property. The Batistas then called Countrywide directly to see if they could get a modification and were told to contact a firm called The Home Team. They also went to court to get an extension, which will keep them in their house legally until March 19. When the modification documents were delivered to them they were for a lot more money and monthly payments than the original mortgage. The Batistas refused to sign so they are now facing foreclosure.

The first Home Defenders project will be to rally around and protect Inez Batista and her family. Monday and Tuesday ACORN will be walking the neighborhood to gather community support, and Thursday the kickoff event will take place at the Batista house starting at 1:00 PM. There are several thousand homes in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties that are being foreclosed on. This is only round one.

Inauguration Blues

February 26, 2009 by Jerry Waxman Leave a Comment

Orlando, Florida Jan 20. I can’t adequately describe the feeling inside me. It’s not merely joy, pride, relief or any range of those emotions. It’s rather a combination of some degree of them all tinged with a little apprehension for the work that still lies ahead. Of course this is an historic event and we should celebrate it, all in our own style. I chose not to attend the inauguration; I watched and have recorded the event to DVD so my grandkids can have it. The trip wouldn’t have cost me much because my daughter lives in the area. No, I chose to be here where it all started.

Our group in East Orlando was a driving force in taking Orange County by over 80,000 votes. We are hosting our own celebration and we have vowed to stay together to become a political force here. We are in the process of forming a Democratic club through either a state or county charter. The point is that we are staying involved. Statistically, Democrats did not do well in local, county and state offices. We also failed to defeat Amendment 2. Local politics has to be an important priority now. The 2010 elections are around the corner and we can’t afford Charlie Crist again in any elected office. Jeb Bush and Mel Martinez wisely saw the future and left the field open. I for one do not want to prove them wrong, so my apprehension is whether or not we will let this opportunity pass.

Watching on TV is frustrating because I can’t stand the constant chatter from the same talking heads. Sometimes their perspectives are so out of kilter that I wonder if I’m watching the same event they’re describing. Some people I never need to see again are Pat Buchanan, Peggy Noonan, Wolf Blitzer, George Will James Carville, Mary Matalin, Chris Matthews and others too numerous to mention. As far as I am concerned they contribute nothing except their own hot air. Not a fresh perspective in the bunch.

I really wish we could get past this race thing as much as I wish we could get past gender and lifestyle issues. People should be measured by their abilities and accomplishments and nothing more. Perhaps this inauguration is the beginning of the end of that kind of biased thinking, but it struck me as I watched the ceremonies on our 50” high definition screen that I wanted to throw a shoe at Rick Warren as he spoke. I might have too if the economy and our business income were better-it’s too expensive to fix or replace right now. Another curious thought occurred when Aretha Franklin was singing; why did they choose My Country Tis of Thee which is really a British song, God Save The (King/Queen) with different lyrics? I would have preferred God Bless America written by Israel Baline, a Russian Jewish immigrant whose name was changed to Irving Berlin. It is much more appropriate for the occasion. How wonderful it would have been for Marian Anderson, or Paul Robeson, or Nat King Cole to have had the opportunity to contribute to earlier inaugurations, all of them compelling performers who were on the front lines of the civil rights battles since the 1930’s. Their vindication came today.

So, tonight I’ll celebrate with my kindred spirits and tomorrow we’ll go out into the trenches and wage the battle for 2010. There’s a lot more work to be done.

Campaign Journal:Can We Go Home Now?

November 11, 2008 by Jerry Waxman Leave a Comment

*Note: This was just Submitted to Huffington Post and is awaiting publication.

By Jerry Waxman

Tues. Nov 4 5:30 AM. The office opens. At least, I think it does. I’m still asleep. It’s not necessary to be there since we won’t start canvassing until 9:30, so there’s no real rush, and I have to get today’s school programs ready to go.

7:00 AM. The song, Ooh My Feet! My Poor, Poor Feet! from Frank Loesser’s brilliant folk opera, The Most Happy Fella, comes to mind as I get out of bed. Of course, I could say the same about my back, neck, knees and lumbars too-it just doesn’t rhyme as well.

9:00 AM. “What’s today’s agenda?” I ask, fully expecting to be driving people to the polls since I have a seven passenger van. I’m told by our organizer that we are again canvassing and this time we are not just dropping off reminders to vote, we are talking to the residents and if they have not voted we’ll arrange to get them to the polls. It takes a little more time, but so far, everything we’ve been doing has been effective.

1:00 PM Finished up my walk pack and returned to the office. There is time enough to walk another pack as long as I don’t eat lunch. This pack has over 100 addresses and at that rate I won’t get back until 6:00. Almost everyone that I talked to had already voted and the others were waiting for their spouses to come home. That’s a good feeling.

5:45 PM The office is now calmer now than at any time since last Friday. Reports are coming in about the long lines at the poles and we are ready to go there with cases of bottled water. I went to four polling places where there were no long lines at all. Then the call came in to get to UCF where the estimated wait in line was about three hours.

7:30 PM The polls here are closed but our work isn’t done. We are now calling New Mexico and other Western states urging those that haven’t voted to get out and do so. Those of us not on the phones are tracking the results on our computers through various websites.

9:00 PM New Mexico polls have closed. Someone has brought in a wide screen TV so we can all track the results together. I stay at my computer. Every time favorable news happens we erupt into cheers. I was on the Florida Dept of State website getting updates frequently. We were ahead from the beginning and it looked like it was going to be a cakewalk, but with memories of 2000 still fresh in our collective memory everyone was hesitant. When Pennsylvania and Ohio and New Mexico were declared we knew the election was in the bag, however, we wanted our work to be validated. They finally called Florida at about 11:00 PM and then abruptly called the election for Obama. In an earlier column I stated that Central Florida was the key to winning the state and that East Orlando was the key to winning Orange County and Central Florida. Our East Orlando offices did the job. The vote difference in Orange County was 80,000, almost half the difference in the state. Last election the Democrats won Orange in a1000 vote squeaker. Because of this we were also able to send two new Democrats to Congress. The only drawback to the whole evening was the passage of Amendment 2, which denies gays the right to marry.

I opted not to go downtown to the victory party. I’ve developed an aversion to the noise and mayhem. I’ll celebrate my own way and in my own time-with my family.

Wed. Nov 5 Lots of work to do cleaning up the office and returning all of the rented and leased equipment. My organizer, Erin, lost her car keys last night, and someone took her laptop computer, which had to be reported to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. Security has not been a problem until now-I hope she gets it back.

One of our volunteers, Lyman, is hosting a party for our three field offices tonight. That one I’ll go to. This is a crowd of people as diverse as can be from all walks of life who, for two months, came together for a common purpose. People whom I would have never met otherwise and now have common bonds with. We have all agreed to stay in touch and stay active. Many of us signed up at the party to go to Georgia and work in the runoff election. I even volunteered to go to Minnesota if they wanted me. What we have in place now is a support system for anyone in this area if they choose to run for local political office. That’s a nice feeling to have.

Thur. Nov 6 Reality sucks. All the time I spent on the campaign has taken its toll. The house is a mess. Our supply room is totally disorganized and lacking in things we need for today’s programs. There is a load of mail that has yet to be opened and the lawn hasn’t been touched in five weeks……….ugh!

To answer the title question, perhaps, but not for long. There’s too much work to do. Yes, we can physically enter our houses, but we can’t relax our guard. We need to start getting candidates together for next year’s local elections. We need to start running someone against Charlie Crist in two years as well as those congressional Republicans who held on to their seats. We need to challenge them now in order to keep them from being more obstructionist than they have been. We can go home, but only to get a little sleep.

Campaign Journal: The GOTV Blues

November 11, 2008 by Jerry Waxman Leave a Comment

By Jerry Waxman

*Note: This was submitted to The Huffington Post and not published.

Mon. Oct 20 It’s 4:30 PM and we’re finally ready to leave. We drive to the Citrus Bowl to catch the shuttle bus to the Amway Arena. The event starts at 6:00 P.M. I’m thinking that we have plenty of time as we have the blue reserved tickets. On the bus ride I started to wonder why the Obama people chose Amway for the event. Why are the DeVos family and Erik Prince getting any of my hard earned donation money? That’s wrong. The Obama people should know better. We arrive at Amway at 5:45 and are informed that the campaign people opened up the reserved section at 5:00 and we are SOL. Susan is furious at me for putting her through this. My last experience with Bill Clinton taught me to bring either a milk crate or step stool to these events if you want to see anything, especially since our reserved tickets were denied. We finally got to a place where we could see the giant screen if someone’s head didn’t get in the way. I estimate that we were about 100 yards away from the podium.

It was impossible to focus a camera on the screen unless you raised your hand as high up as you could and aimed in the general direction of the screen, so we never got to see either Hillary or Barack Obama live. Many of the pictures we took turned out OK. Just being at this event was satisfying and hearing them speak live calmed Susan down and she began enjoying herself. We left a little early to avoid the rush. Good thing too.

Tue. Oct 21 The rest of this week is spent identifying volunteers and getting the new staging areas established and staffed. I was supposed to head the Union Park location, however, because of my two real (and paying) jobs my schedule didn’t allow for that, so, I’ve been reassigned to supervise the volunteers, whatever that means. The big thing on GOTV is to be ready on Nov. 1 for a final 72 hour push. We’ve continued to refine our voter identities and volunteer recruitment is up.

Sat. Oct 25 Illness strikes. For the next several days I’m sidelined with a strange stomach virus that doesn’t want to go away. I’ll forego the details.

Tue. Oct 28 Erin intimates that Barack Obama and Bill Clinton will be here on Wednesday and asks if I want to attend. I asked where and there was no stated venue yet-they were looking for a place. I immediately stated my objection to Amway which she passed on to the campaign. The rally took place in Kissimmee so maybe they got other complaints as well. The rest of the week I was tied up with business and could not put any time in the campaign.

Sat. Nov 1 We spent a lot of time at the early voting stations. The Alafaya branch of the Public Library had a line that stretched a quarter mile by 9:30 AM. I had an interesting conversation with a Florida voting rights attorney named Donna who would not allow me to photograph her. She was trying to be impartial and she was doing a good job of it. The office is now totally concentrating on making sure voters get to the polls.

Sun. Nov 2 Early voting is now over. People can still vote by absentee ballot, and in the worst case scenario, we will collect the ballots and get them to the Supervisor of elections, or they can fill out an absentee ballot and drop them at the voting locations on Tuesday. One of our volunteers, Lorna, has been on the phones for over 8 hours straight.

Mon. Nov 3 Today is wall to wall GOTV canvassing. This is strictly to make sure that people who haven’t yet voted that they must vote tomorrow. I probably have over 300 addresses to canvass, but I have all day. Tomorrow is the killer. We must be in the office at 5:30 AM. We’ve arranged to pick up absentee ballots and we’ve also made arrangements to drive people to the polls.

Barck Obama in Orlando with Hillary Clinton

Thomas Jefferson Proved That Every Vote, Indeed, Does Count.

November 11, 2008 by Jerry Waxman Leave a Comment

By Jerry Waxman

Special to The Huffington Post

I’ve been blessed over the years to have worked with some incredible talent on stage, whose ability to communicate holds me in awe. J. D. Sutton is a gifted actor who, for two and a half hours, so completely commands your attention, you don’t realize the time has elapsed. Ten years ago my wife saw his original 45 minute performance of Twilight at Monticello at a bookstore which included dinner. She immediately called me and said “this is a play you’ve got to produce.” I called J.D. and we got together and discussed expanding the play to two acts. I booked him to open a week before July 4^th with a special performance on that day. We ran for five weeks and J.D. and I were able to pay a few of our bills (not all) from the profits.

Twilight at Monticello opens on a private dinner at Monticello (where you are his dinner guest) circa 1820, give or take a couple of years. Jefferson died on July 4^th 1826 as did John Adams, 50 years to the day after the popular version of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the beginning of the American Revolution. During the course of the evening Mr. Jefferson talks about his life, loves, his long career, his close associations, his inventions and what he believes to be his greatest failures as well as his greatest accomplishments. Oddly enough, he didn’t consider his political career to be a worthy accomplishment; he felt that it was a duty and responsibility that all citizens should take part in. The hook in the evening is at the end of the performance when Sutton, still in character, dressed as Mr. Jefferson will take questions from the audience. You will be astounded at the facility and ease with which your questions will be answered. After about twenty minutes J. D. Sutton comes back on stage sans costume and wig and answers the questions you REALLY want answered (you know where I’m going with this). This three hour evening is well worth it.

This morning I received an e-mail from him reminding me that Jefferson only won the 1800 election by one vote, and it was cast in the House of Representatives due to a tie in the Electoral College. I’m offering his letter to me as a morale builder for all of the hard working volunteers who are giving of their time. We need more GOTV volunteers on the street and behind the phones. We need to get everyone to vote. Can you imagine what this country would look like today, or if we would even be here today had John Adams (the Royalist) or Aaron Burr won in 1800? I shudder to think of the consequences. Barack Obama has been right all along; this election is not about him at all-it’s about us and the changes we can effect.

Thomas Jefferson Elected President by One Vote

In the election of 1800 ~ the first between two well-defined parties ~Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams, only to find himself pitted against his own running mate, Aaron Burr, who had received an exactly equal number of votes in the Electoral College. This threw the election into the House of

Representatives, where it took 36 separate ballots before Mr. Jefferson was chosen as our nation’s third president … and then by only one vote! Of course, Mr. Jefferson knew the value of a single vote; his 1784 proposal to prevent the spread of slavery into the new western territories had failed by one vote.

Two weeks from today citizens across the country will head to the polls for one of the most important elections in recent memory. Regardless of which candidate you support, PLEASE DO VOTE! Each vote can make a difference.

In his First Inaugural Address, Mr. Jefferson set forth his understanding of the founding principles of our nation ~ the nation whose founding document, the Declaration of Independence, he had written. As we enter on this critical election, these core beliefs of governance are certainly worth our review

J.D. Sutton as “Thomas Jefferson”

Thomas Jefferson’s Essential Principles of Government

Friends and Fellow-Citizens:

CALLED upon to undertake the duties of the first executive office of our country, it is proper that you should understand what I deem to be the essential principles of our Government, and consequently those which ought to shape its Administration.

~ Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political;

~ Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none;

~ The support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies;

~ The preservation of General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and our safety abroad;

~ A jealous care of the right of election by the people – a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided;

~ Absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism;

~ A well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war till regulars may relieve them;

~ The supremacy of the civil over the military authority;

~ Economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burthened by taxation;

~ The honest payment of our debts, and sacred preservation of the public faith;

~ Encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid;

~ The diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of public reason;

~ Freedom of religion;

~ Freedom of the press;

~ And freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus;

~ And trial by juries impartially selected.

These principles form the bright constellation which has lighted our way, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and the blood of our heroes has been devoted to its attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of our

civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust. And should we wander from them in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps, and to regain that road which alone leads to peace, and liberty, and safety.

~ First Inaugural Address, Wednesday, March 4, 1801

TWILIGHT AT MONTICELLO

321-438-6855

www.JeffersonAtMonticello.com

Since the initial presentation in 1998, Twilight at Monticello and J.D. Sutton have travelled extensively up and down the original 13 colonies and throughout the country thrilling audiences along the way. If you or any organization you belong to want to book Twilight at Monticello all the information you need is right here. You can access his website, or you can phone him. Just as the late Henny Youngman did, J.D. answers his own phone and you can deal directly with him. In the future I’ll be talking about other unique Americans who made their impact on our society. People like early womens’ rights advocate Elizabeth Cady Stanton and broadcasting pioneer Gertrude Berg. Now I think it’s time to consider what our founding fathers pledged their lives, fortunes and their sacred honor for. VOTE, AND GET OUT THEVOTE!

J.D. Sutton as Thomas Jefferson

Campaign Journal: Get Out The Vote

November 11, 2008 by Jerry Waxman Leave a Comment

By Jerry Waxman

Sat. Oct 11. Today is the next phase of Get Out The Vote. We have scheduled a meeting at 9:30 AM of all volunteers to kick off the campaign. Our organizer, Erin, makes the introductory speech on canvassing the neighborhoods and phone banking and then introduces several of us as the team captains. We each give short speeches on why we’re there and what this election means to us. The focus of today’s meeting is to enlist more volunteers as we canvass and call plus we are encouraging both early voting and absentee ballots. At 10:30 we assemble our teams and begin canvassing. We had 97 volunteers show up at the meeting, so we do have decent coverage. Canvassing is virtually the same in every neighborhood. There are some exceptions, as you occasionally encounter a rabid McCain supporter who will slam the door in your face. I had one today; actually, it was funny watching the veins pop out on their necks as they screamed “Get Out!” They act like you’ve just poisoned their cat.

Sun. Oct 12. Today I’m concentrating on assembling my permanent team. It’s tough because no matter how good their intentions are everyone has work hours, and many have kids in school and all the other stuff in their lives. I tell them that I too work for a living. In addition, I’m directing a touring show that opens Nov. 1 and we’re rehearsing four hours each evening and that this election is so important that I’m sacrificing any hint of personal time to get Obama elected and that I don’t understand people that aren’t that dedicated when so much is at stake. My lecture gets to a few of them, but the others have different priorities. At least everyone will contribute some time. Honestly, it’s been pretty easy on me since Susan is still in Baltimore and will not be home until Tuesday evening.

Mon. Oct 13. More of the same. One canvassing shift, and some phone calls and then off to rehearsal. Word has come down that we are opening two satellite offices known as staging centers on the weekend.

Tues. Oct 14. Today I was only able to make calls for two hours. I had to pick up Susan at the airport and off to rehearsal.

Wed. Oct 15. After a shift on the phones we went to a debate watch party at a volunteer’s house. I scheduled a music rehearsal so that I didn’t have to be there. My impression was that Obama’s debating style forced McCain to be his true self. To me this is the beginning of the end for McCain. It will play out like over the next few weeks as an operatic death scene with McCain/Palin writhing, falling, getting up again, falling….spitting venom…..rising again on the attack, and then finally collapsing in a grand aria of hate talk where they both jump on the funeral pyre as in Der Gotterdamerung………….or at least I hope so. McCain is strictly buying time with his attacks as a way of keeping himself in the news since he can’t match money or ads with Obama. Boy, what people won’t do to get attention!

Thurs. Oct 16. Two hours on the phones. I’m tired of these supporters who won’t contribute any time at all. At least they are convinced to vote early in most cases.

Fri. Oct 17. Erin calls me in emergency mode at 6:00 PM. Our new staging center in Union park is without power. No one had bothered to check when we were given the building. There is no way the power company will be out here over the weekend. We need emergency lighting tonight so that the office can be open tomorrow morning. I told her I can’t get there until after rehearsal I arrive at 11:00 PM and by midnight the building has overhead lights working-no, I will not divulge how it was done. That’s my trade secret. Brad, Erin’s new second in command is there to let me in. Brad has just come in from Los Angeles and needs to get the place set up. At least the office will be open tomorrow when we are having our big Veterans for Obama push.

Sat. Oct 18. Today is Veterans for Obama day and we are graced with the presence of Phil Carter, Veterans Director for the campaign. I wore my Veterans T-shirt proudly, and took several buttons for friends and area residents who requested them. Phil and I were having a real discourse on the state of how The Republicans and, more specifically, McCain have been so shabby in their treatment of us. We were joined by John Estrada has recently retired from the Air Force after twenty years. John is now working for a major defense contractor and on weekends he is travelling all over the country to promote Veterans for Obama. All generations of veterans from all branches were there from WWII to recent returnees. Those of us who could walk did so. The others manned the phones. Ron Kohn served in the Air Force during Korea. Vic and I served during the Vietnam era. We all had a common bond.

The prize for the regular volunteers was guaranteed seats at the Obama/Hillary event on Monday. If volunteers complete a walk pack today or if they make 250 calls today they will be given reserved seats. I had 109 knocks on doors. The actual contact rate is around 50 or 60 per cent in my areas. Phone contacts are around 10 to 15 per cent. I asked Erin if we could get my wife, Susan, a ticket. She said “walk another pack for me and I’ll give you another ticket”. She’s pretty rigid. Then she said…oh, by the way, we have a plumbing problem in the new office-could you look into it?” My response was “go walk my pack for me and I’ll look into it after my rehearsal.” We both laughed. After rehearsal I tended to the plumbing problem. Also, landlord at Union Park arranged to have the electricity turned on.

Sun. Oct 19. Okay, so I walked another pack. This time it was 80 Knocks, and boy, was it depressing. This particular neighborhood had sale signs and for rent signs galore. It also had bank forclosure notices on lots of houses. Today was the saddest day I’ve spent during the campaign. So now we have two guaranteed seats for Monday’s event. This was important to me because I wanted her to have some level of involvement in the campaign. The time I’m spending away from home and the time I’m taking blogging are putting a small strain on our daily relationship. I can’t help the fact that I’m driven. That’s who I am. After 39 years she ought to know that.

Mon. Oct 20. Erin calls a 9:00 Breakfast meeting to go over the new staging locations and how we are going to work for the next 15 days. This is also the first day for early voting in Florida. Our push is now going to be getting everyone to the polls. I’m now going to be the GOTV captain at Union Park. He office closes today at 1:00 to get ready for the Obama/Hillary event tonight. As I write this I’m waiting for Susan to return home so that we can leave early to get there.

WELCOME BACK TO THE PARTY BILL

November 11, 2008 by Jerry Waxman Leave a Comment

*Note: This was submitted to Huffington Post, however never published.

By Jerry Waxman

Oct. 1 Orlando, Florida on the UCF campus This is my first visit back to the UCF campus since my daughter’s graduation in 1995 when Bill Clinton was in his first term. The reason I’m here is to report on Bill Clinton’s speech. Wow! How things here have changed! This place looks more like a planned community designed by Arvida or the Rouse Corporation than a college campus. As I walked from my parking space to the Arena I thought I was in the downtown area of an upscale small city. There were all kinds of national chains for food plus a gigantic Barnes and Noble, with music playing out loud from the school’s 24 hour jazz station, WUCF, one of a handful in all of this country. On the drive in the very visible Sigma Chi house looks like David O. Selznick’s Plantation logo. This old reprobate still thinks about college in terms of old buildings with millions of decaying bricks in need of repointing due to the ivy which is actually holding the buildings together and a Frisbee match taking place on the quad. UCF has become an enormous economic engine in this part of the state, and shortly will open a medical school that will increase its importance and value to the area. What better venue to talk about change we can believe in?

There were at least three thousand people crammed into the small outdoor area and it was hot enough that several people were overcome by the heat. Two young women at different times succumbed no more than five feet from where I was standing. There was a cordoned-off area where about a dozen McCain/Palin supporters were allowed to try and heckle. After the speech I interviewed a couple of them, the results of which I’ll share with you at the end of this post. I’ve not felt kindly to Bill Clinton of late, and my inclination was to report on his speech as critically as I could. His recent behavior had me longing for the Bill Clinton of 1995.

Today Bill Clinton regained his stride. Seeing him on the stump is something we all should be privileged to witness in person. He talked for about 25 minutes and from where I stood it looked to be extemporaneously. He was forceful, direct and passionate. He never once stumbled and I didn’t detect an …um….or an ….er….at any time. His performance was seamless and mesmerizing. I won’t go into the whole speech, however, he had nothing but praise for Barack Obama and Joe Biden and he passionately pleaded with the crowd to recruit others in support of the ticket. I may have lost the 1995 UCF campus, but I found the 1995 Bill Clinton. It was an honest performance.

After the speech I interviewed two of the McCain people as to why they preferred McCain. The incoherent young woman would not give me her name. The young man is named Dante:

Interview 1

Jerry. Dante, can you tell me what it is that you like about John McCain and why you prefer him?

Dante. Sure. He’s a hero, and he’s suffered for it. He’s also a maverick and I like that. He’s a real man of action. I voted for Gore in 2000 and Kerry in 2004, but this guy Obama is nothing. All he can do is make speeches, and I’m from Chicago and I know what I’m talking about. Also his running mate, this Palin girl is the only one of the four that has real executive experience.

Jerry. Really? So did George Bush supposedly. So you’re telling me you’d rather vote for the myth rather than find the true man?

Dante. What’s that?

Jerry. There’s a lot out there about John McCain not being the man he claims to be, and Sarah Palin not being the greatest executive in the world and it’s backed up by hard facts and data. Have you ever thought about checking them out?

Dante. Aw I don’t have time for that crap. He’s a hero and that’s what’s important to me.

Interview 2

Jerry. Would you mind telling me what it is that you like about John McCain

Incoherent young woman. He’sforfreedomandtherighttochooseyourownhealthcareinstedoofsocialismwhichwilltaxusallintothepoorhouseandbythewaywe…….

Jerry. Thanks.

On the way out of the area I ran into Alan Grayson who is running for congress against the incumbent Republican, Ric Keller. Alan was gracious enough to grant me a 30 second interview where he praised Bill Clinton for making the Democrats a united party. Frankly, I don’t think we’re that far yet, but we’re a lot closer, especially if Bill Clinton continues to stump the way he did today.

* * *

Alan Grayson Running against Ric Keller

McCain Protesters at UCF

Bill Clinton at UCF