City Commissioners have completed their individual reviews of the 93 applications submitted to fill the vacant seat on the city commission. Nine citizens are on the final list for the full Commission to consider at its special meeting on Monday, Dec. 31, at 4 p.m. in the City Commission Chambers, second floor, City Hall, 300 South Adams Street.
The nine individuals the Commission will consider include:
- Elaine Bryant
- Gallop Franklin II
- Tabitha Frazier
- Saralyn Grass
- Byron Greene
- Lila Jaber
- Howard Kessler
- Will Messer
- Bruce Strouble
Seat 1 was vacated following a suspension from the Governor’s Office. The selected candidate from the appointment process will serve either through the remainder of the seat’s term (Nov. 16, 2020) or until such time as the existing Commissioner is able to return to service, whichever occurs first.
The December 31 special meeting will be streamed live on Talgov.com and Facebook.com/COTNews, as well as broadcast live on WCOT, the City’s government access channel (Comcast Cable and CenturyLink channel 13). The meeting is open to the public. The agenda can be viewed here.
Nine Applicants Make Final List for Vacant City Commission Seat added by Steve Stewart on
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“CEO, EW Bryant Associates, LLC,
Partial Client List:
.
.
City of Tallahassee….”
from her submission letter available online at tal gov.
Excellent post, Arthur. The big hurdle though is all of the ‘folks’ who are used to COT handout$. Ever notice how much money and effort has been spent on the ‘south side’ aka, the “voting base”. The amount of graft is staggering and for decades some folks who know the ins and out of “doing business” with the city have very nice homes, time shares worldwide, cars, vacations, etc., etc. and they aim to keep them. They can because they are burrowed deep into the ‘woodwork’. It would take a massive investigation with dozens of ‘spotlights’ to root all of them out. Just look at the massive Eff-Bee-Eye investigation that only was able to net Maddox and a couple of his henchmen.
Those folks laugh at a well-funded campaign. It’s a start but the popular movement to do away with “business as usual” would need to be massive and far-reaching in Tallahassee. Almost to the level of pitchforks and torches storming the castle. It would take that but the folks who would do it are in the minority here.
Frankly, this goes to show the Commission has no business *choosing* the replacement for an *elected* office. There needs to be a 90-day special election processing. This City / County will spend money for just about anything, but won’t spend the money to hold a special election. This was hotly debated when Ziffer was appointed. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
It is offensive to see 80+ applicants who have never even tried to run for elected office before, yet had hope and expectation of being anointed to an elected office.
This needs to be said. If Republicans want different in this town, Republicans are going to have to do different. Step one: Stop giving lip service to a more moderate or conservative agenda. Step two: Open your wallets and fund a Republican candidate, win, lose or draw. Step three: STOP giving money to Democrat or “no party affiliation” candidates just to say you gave money to someone who may seem popular. Otherwise, stop complaining about living in a “deep blue” community.
Wow…you people are not…
You are not doing your party any favors by the behavior you are exhibiting … you are part of the problem…
You certainly were a big help to Andrew Gillum… just think if you would have exhibited normal behavior that might have just given him the edge to win. Try integrity and normalcy for a change.
If this commission and mayor choose a Democrat and not a Republican to fill the vacancy it will be more of the same, and this will doom any statewide election they wish to pursue in the future.
This will be seen as a political coup power grab and won’t play well statewide. The commissioners are already on notice, not just statewide, but nationwide.
A Democrat can win an election in Tallahassee and Leon County, but they cannot win an election statewide.
With all the shenanigans going on in the local Democratic Party, with all the FBI investigations investigating the Democrats locally, and the misuse and abuse that the enablers look the other way at quite frankly a Democrat just needs to sit this one out for the sake of restoring faith into the public trust.
If any of these commissioners wish to pursue a statewide office this will be their downfall if they pick a Democrat.
They have the opportunity to reach out and show humanity and bipartisanship and an opportunity to begin to mend the great damage that the Democrats have done to the City of Tallahassee
Where there’s a will there’s a way and there is a Will! As in Will Messer, a solid citizen who grew up in Tallahassee, has no special interest agenda, and a willingness to serve all of the people — not just Democrats– not just Republicans, but all of the people.
Will Messer for City Commissioner!
RE: “…ran for it and lost, then you just might not be qualified for the office…”
SOME of the folks who ran only ‘lost’ because they were registered Republicans in this overwhelmingly liberal town. Putting a FISCAL CONSERVATIVE on the commission was/is exactly what is needed to counter the rampant and ongoing GRAFT.
https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/graft
Try this:
Us.letgo.com
If anyone is looking for a “done deal”, this done deal pales in comparison to the “hit list” that Rocky Hanna came into office with to prove that he was the new Czar of Leon County Schools. As he appointed Gillian Gregory and Alan Cox to positions that pay above $100,000 and promoting Shelly Bell without an interview, along with Kathleen Rodgers and Sue Kraul he was destroying the lives of those on his “hit list”. “Done deals” are not new to Leon County, but none had the political vendetta and hatred toward others as did and still does the reign of Rocky Hanna.
So the FIX was already in? What a farse perpetuated by.Tammany Hall under bosses “Newly annointed Commissioners & His Honor Dailey”. Wondering what the Devil receives in return for stacking the deck”dais” with patronage votes? Madame Taint we are watching you and your Not for Profit deal in Southwood! Tallahassee’s TAMMANY HALL!
Word is that it was such a ‘done deal’ some of the candidates weren’t even interviewed by all of the commissioners.
Not surprising considering this was 1 of the 3 counties in the whole state of Florida that went to Hiliary.
You people are the definition of impossible to please. They could have dug up Ronald freaking Reagan and y’all would call him a liberal.
For those that commented, thank you. As you can imagine this is a real long shot; however, there is a chance, if those of you that are willing, will show up at City Hall on December 31 at 4:00 pm and make your voices heard. It may be just enough to convince the current commissioners to make a better choice.
Strouble at least has support of actual voters…he’s the only one who has presented himself to the voters and gained their support. A pick for any of the rest silences the voters completely and gives us all pause about possible cronyism and corruption. Chose the man who put himself forth the correct way, during the actual election. If these others want a political seat, fine, they can pony up and campaign the right way.
Choose.
I’m betting Dailey is shoring up votes for the Children’s Services Fee scam in picking Frazier. Her résumé is just about the thinnest one of all.
Gus Corbella’s CV, for example, had a deep list of national accolades, including work for presidential candidate John McCain. How does that get discarded in favor of Frazier?
It is clear to me that this was nothing more than a sham, especially since the Democrap’s email exposé.
Meet the new commissars.
Same as the old commissars.
I would strongly encourage others who are outraged to announce their intention to run for the Seat 1 position sooner, rather than later.
That, and a secession campaign for the northeast quadrant, north of I-10.
Just like cities north of Atlanta did:
https://mobile.wnd.com/2013/03/suburbs-secede-from-atlanta/
We are SICK AND TIRED of representation that does not reflect our values, and until the money stops flowing downtown to the progressive overlords getting away with “electing” their acolytes, I suspect nothing will change.
Excellent, NM!
Just more of the same.
per·son·al
[?p?rs(?)n(?)l]
ADJECTIVE
of, affecting, or belonging to a particular person rather than to anyone else.
“her personal fortune was recently estimated at $37 million”
synonyms:
distinctive · characteristic · unique · individual · one’s own · particular · [more]
of or concerning one’s private life, relationships, and emotions rather than matters connected with one’s public or professional career.
“the book describes his acting career and gives little information about his personal life”
synonyms:
private · confidential · one’s own business · intimate · secret
relating to a person’s body.
“personal hygiene”
grammar
of or denoting one of the three persons.See person.
NOUN
NORTH AMERICAN
an advertisement or message in the personal column of a newspaper; personal ad.
I agree Dr. Howard Kessler will serve City of Tallahassee best and I hope he will be selected.
He has the experience of being a county commissioner and he is dedicated to serving the people.
Howard Kessler without a doubt is the best choice. He is very honest, and wil dol his best to serve Leon County. Please consider him
Well inasmuch as Tabitha Frazier managed a fruit and nut exchange that may give her a unique ability to fit in with all the other fruit and nuts in the city and county commissions.
The feds have been playing “Whac-A-Mole” and the swamp in Tallahassee has not yet been drained. Whac one down and another just like it pops up a few feet away. Same game, different players. Jailing the moles is like jailing a money collector/runner for the mob the boss is above it all. To adapt a quote by Hunter S. Thompson: “Tallahassee politics”… is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.”
Now the educators if that’s what they call themselves can get back to work. Or I guess they will start thinking about what they can run for next.
As in the head Tammany Hall boss Madame Taint. – Question: What do they achieve by controlling the selection pic? How much of tax payers funds are needed for their wish list and how many votes to get the deal passed?
They control the failing to discern corruption within their own party … as in Scott Maddox, Andrew Gillum, etc etc etc … how many millions of dollars of special votes pay for votes bribery illegal payments etc etc etc?
Are we witnessing history starting to repeat? There must be balance there must be over site and there must not be political party cronyism.
Tammany Hall describes them perfectly.
A vote for will Messer would be a vote for Humanity and a step towards a eroding the corruption.
Thank you Scott Dailey for this nomination.
Yes, a “Tainted” process where the behind the scenes mechanisms were exposed in emails by the Tallahassee Democrat.
Will Messer would be the choice to untaint the process and make it credible and not a local Democratic party Insider decision.
I guess these commissioners can do the right thing or forever be known as the “Tainted” commissioners!
This was just a sideshow anyway.
Lets get back to watching for Jim Comey’s weasel boys squeeze out some more indictments.
Hope: Great Assessment! Same script, different insider! Tammany Hall cronism on full display!
I wonder if Andrew Guilty visited the former location of Tammany Hall on his infamous NY trip to “pay his respects?”
Although there are too many insiders and several people who do business with the City of Tallahassee, I am pleased to see Will Messer’s name on the short list. Out of all of these people, I believe that he is the one most likely to represent us well.
Regarding the cover letters and the resumes, let’s face it, if you think your primary qualification for the office is that you ran for it and lost, then you just might not be qualified for the office.
If you don’t know the difference between a “benefactor” and a “beneficiary”, then you just might not be qualified.
If you have a glaring conflict of interest, or two, then you just might not be qualified.
If you majored in English, but you cannot spell “personnel”, you might want to proofread more carefully. (Sorry, my friend, but I can’t let that one slide.” In this case, you are still qualified.
If you are a lobbyist who has done business with the past crooks in city government, then you just might not be qualified.
If you ran for a seat on the Commission, but were beaten, the people have already spoken and you just might not be qualified.
This was a little bit of a surprise to me but not to my wife, she is still a registered Democrat and knows this Democrat insider stuff..
With the email revealed by the Tallahassee Democrat on this very same intention I am surprised that they actually went through with it.
Once again politics and party over serving the citizens.
I believe John Dialey’s submission of Lila Jabbar was just a wild card that he knew would go nowhere in his attempt to be neutral. Give us a break! The leadership abilities across this board are very questionable at this point.
The Commissioners had one chance and they blew it! Straight down the Democratic Party agenda line.
I hope candidates are already lining up to run against this Commision as they have failed us once again.
This was a democratic Insider maneuver for Tabitha Frazier and it stinks to high heaven.
After all the Democrats have served Tallahassee so well … Not!
Frazier will fit in well.
She is an expert on nuts.