By J. Brent Pichard For an engaged citizenry, healthy skepticism about government in general is prudent. Why? Because left to its own devices and unchallenged by vigorous public scrutiny, government at all levels will grow and eventually confiscate – one by one – the wealth and liberties of a complacent people. However, when an agency […]
It may be time that Republican County Chair Evan Power publicly declare Leon County Democratic Chair Ryan Ray as their Most Valuable Republican Secret Agent. What facts suggest such a possibility? For the first time going back to the 1980 Presidential elections (this is as far back as I have voter registration records), Democrats have […]
By J. Brent Pichard Question #1: Why would a conservative Republican stronghold invite three Democrat City Commission candidates to come and ply their political wares, especially when Democrats outnumber Republicans in our town by a 2 to 1 margin? Answer: Because conservatives are responsible, engaged citizens and because the only choice they will have in […]
During my research related to the current controversy over City Commissioner Jack Porter’s failure to disclose information about her travel, I discovered that – unlike the current city policy – a number of other local governments require specific travel expenses for elected officials be approved by their colleagues. In some locations, the expenses related to […]
By John C. Kramner For decades, Florida has been viewed as one of the worst places to do business, mainly because of our litigious justice system. We seemed to be stuck on the annual “Judicial Hellholes” list put out every year by the American Tort Reform Association. That all changed in 2023 when Governor Ron […]
This Wednesday the City Commission will vote to take another step towards placing a referendum on the 2024 general election ballot asking City electors to decide whether the City Charter should be amended to raise the salary of the members of the City Commission. In my view, this is a bad idea. But first the […]
The Florida Legislative session concluded March 8 and while so much progress has been made to restore balance to the tort system in Florida, much remains to be done. Make no mistake about it. Due to the work of the legislature and governor in last year’s legislative session, Florida’s lawsuit culture has improved by leaps […]
By Bill Cotterell, The News Service of Florida The Florida Senate wants to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Florida Commission on Ethics by shortening the leash on that somewhat toothless watchdog and — if anybody still has any idealistic expectations — further weakening public confidence in the integrity of our state’s elected officials. With […]
There are twenty-two municipalities in the United States that have populations within ten thousand (10,000) people of the population of the City of Tallahassee. The average size of the city commissions of these municipalities, including Tallahassee, is 8.2 members. The largest commission is Overland Park (Kansas) which has thirteen commissioners. Four other cities, including two city-county […]
Despite a number of independent sources reporting increases in violent crime in Tallahassee, the progressive activists in control of the Leon County Democratic Party are promoting the claim that “violent crime is way down” and attribute reports related to crime increases to right wing media manipulation. The leader of the Leon County Democratic Executive Committee, […]