Developers big money donated

A couple of things:

#1 My Big Oil check came in today, so do I deposit it or return it?

#2 Graytonbeachguy gave me a gray square instead of a green square. Does that mean he took away from my reputation because he did not like my sad attempt at sarcasm? Or maybe he just does not like me. I am confused by the whole issue.

I was trying to choose "I approve." Mis-moused. I have now thanked you.

As long as the campaign donations are fully and honestly reported I don't have a problem w/ their funding sources. Realistically it is difficult to completely avoid any appearance of impropriety or a potential conflict because of how intertwined we all are in this community.

I do think we need to have a household limit and more transparency to keep people from funneling money from one source under many different names/businesses.

Stories I hear of local business owners paying their employees cash to vote a certain way in local elections are MUCH more worrisome IMO.

Darn. I wanted to ask a question about something but certainly do not want to take away from Bob's response. Oh well, Bob. I really would like some input on this though, and sorry for the long back story but it really does matter so please trudge through it.

When I was 14 I took a job washing cars at a rental car agency in Pensacola. The guy who I worked for was 19 or 20, going to Pensacola Junior College. We became pretty good friends, going hunting and fishing together, camping out, things of that nature as he was also an avid sportsman.

As I grew older we stayed in touch, even when moving to DeFuniak Springs. He use to come over and buy cars and trucks from me. I was at his wedding. Was there for him during his divorce. When he decided to buy some land here, he bought the plot of my brother's right next door. Even put it in his will to go to my children if anything happens to him since he has no kids of his own. Time marches on and now he is even dating my Aunt back in Pensacola. Now this guy is an engineer on big ships. I call him the 'Scotty' of the waterways. He has worked in many different fields over time. But currently he is working in the oil industry on both supply ships, transports, and research vessels.

Now this is my quandry. The other day he calls me from the Gulf to wish me luck in my campaign and to offer to send me a check to help with expenses. And, of course, I told him thanks. But after reading this thread, and the posts of many of you, I am wondering, did I mess up and accept a campaign contribution from BIG OIL?




I kill myself at times.

:roll:
Deposit your big ol' Big Oil check, dear.

And (not directed at you, robert) sitting down with the contribution lists of ALL the candidates and running corporate names through www.sunbiz.org is an interesting way to kill an evening. ;-)

Judging from some of these responses, and the fact that no one named any contributors, I guess some posters/candidates need to resolve their repressed guilty feelings about the funds they have taken.:funn::rofl:

I want to assure Mr.Hudson that I for one was not questioning his ethics. From what I hear, he is an honorable man. Certainly I did not intend to say that anyone taking a contribution would take one with strings attached. One should have proof before making such accusations. I do say in all seriousness that looking at a candidates list of donors gives you an idea of that candidates values and goals. Most people who are not related to the candidate contribute to the candidate that best fits their values and goals. That said, one can examine like contributions and detirmine a candidates true feelings absent politics. This can be positive or negative. I can look for names of businesses/individuals that I agree with and find out who they contributed to or I can look for those I oppose and who they gave to. Either way, it is an effective way to choose who I will vote for.

So, I went and looked at campaign contributions for Mr. Hudson, has anyone looked at the campaign contributions for Larry Jones? It's a list of who's who of developers. Just an observation. Let's don't just point fingers at only one candidate.

Speaking as a Developer, I am aware that many of my sisteren and bretheren plow their monies into politicos pockets with every intention of drawing favor to thie cause. Some wish to be allowed to mutilate, rape, then pillage the land and its husbandry, others prefer raping only. :angry: Nonetheless, it is amazing to see how locally active they can be when, in times past, before the Urge to raze has struck them, they stood mute at the political podium. :shock: In defence, Developers work on and in the land, seas and air where poiticos spend much of their legislative presence. Did you expect to see Contributors from the Climb Poles And Dig Holes Union?:roll:

The contributions that I have a real issue with comes from a certain homeowners association. :shock: They are the poster children for the NIMBY /private beach crowd. They complain about the county trying to take "their" beach and people "trespassing" on "their" beach in spite of the fact that people have been enjoying the beach here since nothing was here but pine trees. Yet these staunch defenders of private property have repeatedly sued anyone who tried to exercise their property rights to develop their property that joins this association. They have contributed to the following sheriff's candidates: Mike Adkinson and Ralph Johnson. We KNOW that Ralph will have people arrested for "trespassing" on "private" beaches and I can only assume that Mr. Adkinson will do the same. They have also contributed to one commissioner candidate. It is safe to say that those whom this group gives contributions to do not support customary use and keeping the beach for all citizens as it has been for decades. For more information go to the Supervisor of Elections website and peruse the candidates contribution reports.

Anyone who is interested needs to review the corporations who gave money, find out who owns or is partners in that corp. and make their own judgements. You can do this by going to the State of Florida web site re: corporate filings.

When one group of people from Bay County give that much money guess whose agenda
will be most important. People don't give that much money just for kicks.

Attention: Sunbiz and all Division of Corporations data bases are currently unavailable for use by staff, clients, and other users. This interruption in service is necessary to allow for critical system maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience and anticipate that full service will be restored by Monday August 18th at 8 am (EDT).

The plan was to keep that offline until the 27th. I guess someone did not get the memo.

The plan was to keep that offline until the 27th. I guess someone did not get the memo.

When I first saw that yesterday, I was not where I could reply...but I thought the exact same thing.

Rat Killing

:roll:
Deposit your big ol' Big Oil check, dear.

And (not directed at you, robert) sitting down with the contribution lists of ALL the candidates and running corporate names through www.sunbiz.org is an interesting way to kill an evening. ;-)

Thanks ShollowsNole for the suggestion on how to kill an evening. This internet Dick Tracy stuff is more fun than a friday afternoon "rat killing". Most interesting discovery so far is a local "Beverage Law" advisor/advocate, through his corporation and several family members, donating huge sums of money to a Florida State Beverage Agent running for Sheriff. Kind of seems like these two fellows would have been at odds with each other. It gets really hairy when you do a clerk of courts search in Walton and surrounding counties. Looks like someone with the EXACT same name as the "beverage advisor" has been convicted of credit card fraud, breaking and entering, burglary, Amphetamine importation and manufacture, grand theft, multiple worthless checks, forgery, and get this, reckless operation of a motor boat. Just like LARRY THE CABLE GUY says, "you can't make this stuff up". And then to add insult to injury, the fool tries to get the Okaloosa County Commission to move alcohol sales to 10:00 AM on Sunday Morning. Now that's the kind of supporter I would want if I was running for public office.
The Lord must love ignorant people 'cause he sure made plenty of them. AMEN

And for some unbeknownst reason, He made a lot of them rich as well. I guess it really doesn't pay to be honest.

Thanks ShollowsNole for the suggestion on how to kill an evening. This internet Dick Tracy stuff is more fun than a friday afternoon "rat killing". Most interesting discovery so far is a local "Beverage Law" advisor/advocate, through his corporation and several family members, donating huge sums of money to a Florida State Beverage Agent running for Sheriff. Kind of seems like these two fellows would have been at odds with each other. It gets really hairy when you do a clerk of courts search in Walton and surrounding counties. Looks like someone with the EXACT same name as the "beverage advisor" has been convicted of credit card fraud, breaking and entering, burglary, Amphetamine importation and manufacture, grand theft, multiple worthless checks, forgery, and get this, reckless operation of a motor boat. Just like LARRY THE CABLE GUY says, "you can't make this stuff up". And then to add insult to injury, the fool tries to get the Okaloosa County Commission to move alcohol sales to 10:00 AM on Sunday Morning. Now that's the kind of supporter I would want if I was running for public office.
The Lord must love ignorant people 'cause he sure made plenty of them. AMEN

Alas....we must open the SoWal closets of our candiates so since you choose to do so, is there not another candidate or two with a skeleton? No names, figure for yourself. Seems to me there is one who had a problem determining which young lady he wanted to be with other than his wife, and one with a family member that was fired for helping him on some interview at the County, and another one who has disciplinary actions in his file so long he could write a book, and another that has taken contributions from the people he has promised jobs to and every developer in Walton County. So if we must take shots my fellow Patriot, lets do it equally across the board. Now as I see it there is just a few days left until the primary. I am quite sure someone will go public with something about somebody (check the Daily News on Sunday hint hint) in an effort to discredit a candidate or two before the final vote is counted. I dont like it but hey, thats politics!

I wish it did not have to be this way but special interest put a lot of money out there to at least get a hearing with an incumbent or candidate. My personal opinion from making multiple trips to Tallahassee, to meet with my Representatives and Senators as part of the Fire Fighters organization, they all have their favorites and push those agendas. Realtors, Firefighters, Cops, Insurance, County and City governments, and a 1000 other groups all have lobbiest pushing their agenda. Taxes are the big one now, and although people are pushing for lower taxes we need representatives who will lead and make the decisions they were elected to do in fairness and honestly without their agendas interfering. These tax cuts and the ones in the future especially the tax swap will have a negative effect on the Florida economy. Just remeber when we agreed to the Lottery it was for the schools, then our Legislators reduced the amount of State monies for schools and we were hit with a local school tax increase. So when you vote beware of what and who your voting for, agendas, special interest etc.
I have voted for Cooper, Braunstein, L Jones, Davis, Wilkerson, Anderson.

Alas....we must open the SoWal closets of our candiates so since you choose to do so, is there not another candidate or two with a skeleton? No names, figure for yourself. Seems to me there is one who had a problem determining which young lady he wanted to be with other than his wife, and one with a family member that was fired for helping him on some interview at the County, and another one who has disciplinary actions in his file so long he could write a book, and another that has taken contributions from the people he has promised jobs to and every developer in Walton County. So if we must take shots my fellow Patriot, lets do it equally across the board. Now as I see it there is just a few days left until the primary. I am quite sure someone will go public with something about somebody (check the Daily News on Sunday hint hint) in an effort to discredit a candidate or two before the final vote is counted. I dont like it but hey, thats politics!

And you got all of this from Sunbiz? Funny, I don't remember that search capability.

If you are looking for rumors, you left out a few. We all have skeletons in our closets. I had a funny rumor floating around about me once.

Most of our candidates have been campaigning for well over 3 to 4 months. The bottom line is that anybody who waits to ambush a candidate - ANY candidate - until the weekend before the election is, quite simply, a coward.

If you are looking for rumors, you left out a few. We all have skeletons in our closets. I had a funny rumor floating around about me once.

Ears ready, perked...proceeed!

And you got all of this from Sunbiz? Funny, I don't remember that search capability.

If you are looking for rumors, you left out a few. We all have skeletons in our closets. I had a funny rumor floating around about me once.

Most of our candidates have been campaigning for well over 3 to 4 months. The bottom line is that anybody who waits to ambush a candidate - ANY candidate - until the weekend before the election is, quite simply, a coward.

Ma'dear from the Division of Corporations twas this not obtained, well most of it anyway. These are the incredible facts or rumors that have abounded through this glorious campaign season. Strange what you hear at a forum. Personally, my closet doors have to be locked together with bungee cords.
To beheld of cowardice for pre election ambush could be tantamount to ones objective of creating the illusion that the opponent that has the potential to cause the greatest loss of votes to him/her, has luggage that could cause the elector to place one small bit of doubt about their chosen candidate, thus opting not to vote for them.
In other words....the one that thinks he/she is in the lead by a very small margin may need to create a little stink just before the lights go out, by slinging mud at their closest opponent. I for one tend to overlook these slams. You are correct in your assumption of a coward. Hey, isnt this a thread about big money backers anyway? Maybe I need to go back to sleep.......

Alas....we must open the SoWal closets of our candiates so since you choose to do so, is there not another candidate or two with a skeleton? No names, figure for yourself. Seems to me there is one who had a problem determining which young lady he wanted to be with other than his wife, and one with a family member that was fired for helping him on some interview at the County, and another one who has disciplinary actions in his file so long he could write a book, and another that has taken contributions from the people he has promised jobs to and every developer in Walton County. So if we must take shots my fellow Patriot, lets do it equally across the board. Now as I see it there is just a few days left until the primary. I am quite sure someone will go public with something about somebody (check the Daily News on Sunday hint hint) in an effort to discredit a candidate or two before the final vote is counted. I dont like it but hey, thats politics!

Didn't you miss one or two? I see Adkinson, Cooper, Cornman, Johnson and Wise ( I guess), but where is Brown and Macon?:scratch:And no, I will not match rumor to name.

And you got all of this from Sunbiz? Funny, I don't remember that search capability.

If you are looking for rumors, you left out a few. We all have skeletons in our closets. I had a funny rumor floating around about me once.

Most of our candidates have been campaigning for well over 3 to 4 months. The bottom line is that anybody who waits to ambush a candidate - ANY candidate - until the weekend before the election is, quite simply, a coward.

Hear, Hear! The truth if ever I heard. I predict continued mud throughout the weekend in several races.:nono1:

Kept my word

Hear, Hear! The truth if ever I heard. I predict continued mud throughout the weekend in several races.:nono1:

Idle Wind,
After reading the ads in the herald today I admit I thought about slinging mud back. But then I remembered I told the other candidates I would not run a negative ad. My final ads have been paid for and I'm proud to say they are not negative. I came into this race with my integrity intact and I'm leaving with it! Win, Lose or Draw.

Alan Osborne

Didn't you miss one or two? I see Adkinson, Cooper, Cornman, Johnson and Wise ( I guess), but where is Brown and Macon?:scratch:And no, I will not match rumor to name.

I am sure I did, I know....hmmm....was there some commissioners left out?:rofl:This is bound to be exciting

Idle Wind,
After reading the ads in the herald today I admit I thought about slinging mud back. But then I remembered I told the other candidates I would not run a negative ad. My final ads have been paid for and I'm proud to say they are not negative. I came into this race with my integrity intact and I'm leaving with it! Win, Lose or Draw.

Alan Osborne

What's in the Herald? Guess I'll have to get one now.I do appreciate the no negative campaign.If you cannot win on the strength of your ideas you should stay off the ballot. Speaking of ideas, in addition to my earlier statement of support for Larry Jones, Mark Davis, Carlene Anderson and Alan Osbourne, I would add Robert Nelson for School Board. The thought of a fiscal conservative on the board was too good to pass up, although it was hard to pass on a SoWal candidate. Now I have to pin down the sheriff's race.:scratch:

What's in the Herald? Guess I'll have to get one now.I do appreciate the no negative campaign.If you cannot win on the strength of your ideas you should stay off the ballot. Speaking of ideas, in addition to my earlier statement of support for Larry Jones, Mark Davis, Carlene Anderson and Alan Osbourne, I would add Robert Nelson for School Board. The thought of a fiscal conservative on the board was too good to pass up, although it was hard to pass on a SoWal candidate. Now I have to pin down the sheriff's race.:scratch:

Am I going to have to PM you? ;-)