Senate Candidate’s Plans Unchanged By Redistricting

 

BY BUDDY NEVINS

 

 

 

Former State Rep. Jim Waldman is not going anywhere.

HousePhoto--Jim Waldman

Former State Rep. Jim Waldman

The Coconut Creek Democrat is convinced that Senate District 29, which he has been running for since November 2012, will not be significantly altered in the special reapportionment session set this week.

“Some boundaries may be modified, but I don’t expect it to change that much,” Waldman told Browardbeat.com. “I’m running regardless.”

The session was agreed to Tuesday by the Senate to end a lawsuit by the League of Women Voters and Common Cause alleging that 14 of the state’s 40 state Senate seats violated Florida’s Constitution.

The lawsuit accused senators of breaking the constitutional prohibition against drawing districts that favored incumbents or political parties in redistricting during the 2012 reappointionment. So under the agreement, staff will draw the new districts, not senators.

There has been speculation that District 29 is on the chopping block because its current boundaries. The district extends from Deerfield Beach west along the Sawgrass Expressway and south along Interstate 75 to Southwest Ranches.

Democratic leaning Disrict 29 was stretched and lengthened to accommodate District 31 just to the east. Because 31 is a black access district, it is not expected to be altered much.

The district is an open seat next year because its current holder, state Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Parkland, is term limited.

Once an influential House member as the former Democratic whip, Waldman vowed that he would watch the Senate reapportionment carefully.

“In the past, the Senate drew up the maps and passed them. To a large extent, the House acquiesced to the Senate’s plan,” he said. “I don’t anticipate it being like that this time. I think it will be a free-for-all in the House and the Senate.”

The reason?

“So many House members are running for the Senate,” Waldman said.

Another reason for a backroom brawl is that there is an unresolved fight in the Senate over who will be the future Senate president in 2016.

A third reason is that half the districts being drawn up will be two-year seat and half four-year seats until 2018. Most Senators would rather have four-year seats so that they don’t have to run again so soon.

Waldman is currently alone in the District 29 seat race.

Sitting on close to $300,000 in campaign money, Waldman, the general counsel of Keiser University, kicked in roughly $200,000 himself.

The smart money has no one else jumping into the race until the reapportionment is finalized, perhaps early next year, according to Waldman.

“It doesn’t make sense for anybody else to get in before they know the boundaries,” Waldman said.

Among the Democrats who are speculated to be looking at the race are Gary Farmer, a plaintiff’s attorney active in the Bar, and state Rep. Kristin Jacobs, a first term House member and former county commission.

 

Florida Senate Districts Along Gold Coast

Florida Senate District 29 (in Brown. Click To Enlarge)



8 Responses to “Senate Candidate’s Plans Unchanged By Redistricting”

  1. Real Democrat says:

    It doesn’t matter if Waldman has $500 million. Kristin Jacobs will crush him.

  2. Count LF Chodkiewicz Chudzikiewicz says:

    l. Real Democrat like others seems to be great supporters of my former County Commissioner Kristin Jacobs, but my question has always been, what the heck has she ever actually done for her constituents when she was a County Commissioner? She was supposed to be a “reformer” of “great intregrity”, but the County Commission went along from one sleazy deal after another, cheating the Beach cities on the Resort Tax spending, and generally letting things “go along as they always have” in Broward County. Nothing was done about the homeless crisis, especially in Hollywood and Ft. Lauderdale, the lack of mental and drug rehab services for the working and middle classes was and is a scandal, and in her very District, affordable housing and small, locally owned businesses were forced out. What did she do to get all this energetic support?Give out jobs and contracts to people who now support her on blogs? I mean we pay pretty significant taxes in Ft. Lauderdale and the coastal communities but we get little or nothing in the way of social services in comparison to the problems. And the Convention Center circus, in the wrong place, the Convention Bureau, useless at building tourism, I could go on and on. We have a fifth rate County Commission,and, dear Hearts, that is because we have FIFTH RATERS ON IT! And was Kristin Jacobs DIFFERENT FROM HER COLLEAGUES? I think NOT!

  3. Ha Ha Ha says:

    To all the candidates for this seat: What plans, if any, do you have for addressing this very important problem affecting many consumers in South Florida?

    …can a landlord charge whatever fees they want for an application, then reject you and keep the money?

    Howard Finkelstein: “In the state of Florida, the answer is yes. A landlord can charge whatever fees they want. They don’t have to tell you what the requirements to move in are ’till you pay the application fee. Also, if you don’t qualify or they reject you, they can keep your money. Many states regulate this tightly to protect the renters, but not in the state of Florida.” …

    Patrick Fraser: “Now, could an apartment complex accept 15 or 20 applications for one apartment, charge everyone knowing only one person will be accepted, and then keep everyone’s money? In theory, yes. Of course, the potential renter could sue for deceptive trade practice, but that costs more than the application fee you’d get back. Back to what Jerry said: The legislature needs to do something to protect renters.”

    http://www.wsvn.com/story/29212857/rental-application-fees-legal

  4. City Activist Robert Walsh says:

    Kristen Jacobs is a champion for the environment etc. She is first in line when it comes to climate change. She is also a big supporter of getting rid of the pill mills. She did a great job there. As far as these complaints I’m reading all in all she did a good job. Watch her because this one here wants to go to DC. As far as the redistricting. Its a total mess. These maps that were drawn in both the House/senate they knew that this maps would not fly. So sure enough we have to pay for another special session to bring them all back to redistrict etc. again when it should hav e been done correctly the first time. It took th e woman league of voters etc, to sue them to get these elected officals to do get it right.PS thos e that are coming to me in regards to city Comm(Ft.Lau) Dean Trantalis being in Turkey visting our sister city. I will check into it. I could care less where he is vacationing etc. as long as we are not paying for it. We ar e not paying for him or any other elected official going clear across th e world on our dime. To our sister city in Turkey open up those borders to our Syrian refugees(Asaad must go in order to achieve peace). I hear the Turkish bath houses are very popular over there. Is this true Comm.Trantalis???

  5. Count LF Chodkiewicz Chudzikiewicz says:

    SISTER CITIES programs are a useful tool of developing tourism and also in recent years attracting foreign investment to the US, especially Florida, New York, and California. SISTER CITIES programs are PRIVATELY FUNDED in the main, although some TOURIST AGENCIES NOT FUNDED BY THE GENERAL TAX LEVY do assist with direct travel expenses. In the mid-1990s on Miami Beach a failed writer harassed elected public officials, Chamber of Commerce officers over mis-statements and mis-representations of a SISTER CITIES visit to Italy. I hope we are not having a rehash of that tasteless and false libels on this blog as the infamous, bankrupted SUN POST did then. As for Turkey, although ignorant people are unaware of it, Sephardic Turkish Jewish Americans are major current property investors and business operators in Ft. Lauderdale involved with both international tourism and investment. I don’t have to mention to the educated readers of this blog Turkey’s vital involvement with the fight against Isis, made even more important by their latest statement of support in the battle against Isis. If Commissioner Dean J. Trantalis is in fact in Turkey it is to his credit that he is working to support elements of HIS COMMISSION DISTRICT of Turkish descent as well as helping in the international battle against Isis. As for snide comments about Turkish Baths, Turkish Baths have nothing to do with “Bath Houses” as they are known in the US, but are more like Gyms and Health Facilities in Country Clubs, albeit they are single sex in the main, although some Turkish Baths have “womens’ hourse” or “womens’ days”. The most famous “Turkish Baths” of course are NOT IN TURKEY but in Budapest and Vienna, where, at the end of the 19th century they took the ornate form of Turkish Palaces and had the “steam boxes” to loose weight you have seen in “Laurel and Hardy” comedies or an episode of “Poirot” or the underrated Sherlock Holmes film of the 7-1/2 Solution that starred Maximimilian Schnell as Signmund Freund amongst others. My last trip to Europe was in fact booked by a leading Sephardic Turkish Jewish American tour expert. Commissioner Trantalis is once again, BUILDING FORT LAUDERDALE UP, not tearing it down like others!

  6. City Activist Robert Walsh says:

    To follow up concerning Comm.Dean Trantalis(ft>lau) regarding his travel details etc., yes he is in Turkey but no city funds paid for any of it. As far as the redistricting we went through this in Ft>alu(remember the maps). This is important people pay close attention to how they divvy up the districts . I just hope they can get it right during the special session.

  7. Ha Ha Ha says:

    @5 – Count: “I don’t have to mention to the educated readers of this blog Turkey’s vital involvement with the fight against Isis, made even more important by their latest statement of support in the battle against Isis.”

    It is precisely because we ARE educated readers that we know this to be a complete load of bullshit. Here’s the truth:

    It is no secret that the Kurds, and especially those of the pro-PKK PYD in Syria, have proven themselves the most effective fighting force against the “Islamic State” (IS). The heroic defense of Kobani against all odds, the liberation of Tel Abyad, the retaking of Hassakeh and countless other defeats for IS were all inflicted by the very moderately armed Kurds of the PYD and the Arab and Christian militias affiliated with them. In the nightmare that is the Syrian civil war, the PYD has also proven to be the closest thing to a “good guy” one will find, empowering women, defending minorities and not massacring or ethnically cleansing anyone (unlike virtually every other fighting group in the country).

    At the same time, Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga, often with help from the PKK, made significant advances around Mosul, Makhmour, Sinjar and Kirkuk, reclaiming nearly all the land IS captured last August. Just like the PYD in Syria, PKK fighters in Iraq (many of whom are also women) did not ethnically cleanse or massacre any civilian populations but rather defended people from IS. All of this has been welcome good news while the Iraqi army and non-Islamist Arab forces in Syria suffered setback after setback against the jihadis. …

    It is also no secret that Turkey’s government has been tolerating or even supporting IS rather than combatting it. Turkey’s policy included loose borders with ISIS (compared to much tighter borders with areas the PYD controls in Syria), denying the Americans use of the shared Incirlik air base to bomb IS, arms deliveries marked as “humanitarian aid” which appeared destined for the Jihadis, flash drives the Americans captured from a top IS oil smuggler that indicated collaboration with Turkish officials, and apparently friendly relations between Turkish soldiers and IS militants along the Syrian-Turkish border. Although Turkey appeared to be cracking down a bit more against IS during the last year (under great pressure from NATO allies, no doubt), Ankara still openly supports radical al Qaeda-affiliated jihadi groups in Syria such Jabhat al Nusra and Ahrar ash Shams. Ankara did all this to weaken Assad and the Kurds….

    At the time of this writing, Ankara has sent around 2 planes to bomb empty lots near IS-held buildings in Syria and arrested some 137 IS suspects, most of whom will probably be released shortly. In contrast, around 200 air sorties against some 400 PKK targets have been launched, and more than 847 PKK suspects were arrested. PYD positions near Kobane were also apparently shelled by Turkish forces across the border. Meanwhile IS spokesmen have not said a single word criticizing Turkey for its new “war” against them… In short, the deal some American officials just cut with Erdogan seems to involve a black betrayal of what have been the Americans’ most stalwart allies in the fight against IS [the Kurds, whose fighters have driven IS out of Kobani and have cleared IS out of large areas of both Syria and Iraq, while the incompetent Iraqi military runs away and surrenders its US-supplied weapons to IS forces, and while Turkey happily supplies IS with loads of cash by purchasing oil from IS-captured oil wells], the condoning of a witch hunt against democratically elected opposition MPs in Turkey, and a serious setback in the campaign against IS. This is all in return for the use of a redundant air base and a shadow puppet Turkish war against IS. At least European NATO leaders had the decency to call for “restraint” and “proportionality” in Turkey’s attacks against the PKK, while Washington only speaks of “Turkey’s right to defend itself.”

    David Romano has been a Rudaw columnist since 2010. He is the Thomas G. Strong Professor of Middle East Politics at Missouri State University and author of The Kurdish Nationalist Movement (2006, Cambridge University Press) and co-editor (with Mehmet Gurses) of Conflict, Democratization and the Kurds in the Middle East (2014, Palgrave Macmillan).

    http://rudaw.net/english/opinion/30072015

    In addition to the excellent Rudaw news site, the educated readers of this blog get the real story at BasNews http://www.basnews.com/en/ as well:

    US Official: US Army Stands by Kurds Every Step of the Way

    As Kurdish Peshmerga forces continue to score victories on all frontlines against Islamic State (IS) militants, a US official believes that they deserving increased support.

    According to a statement released by the Kurdistan Region Presidency office, Commander of US Central Command Lloyd Austin, accompanied by the US Ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones, met with President Barzani in Erbil on Wednesday 29th July. …

    “While praising the vital role of the Peshmerga in fighting IS, General Austin told Barzani that the US army will stand by the Peshmerga every step of the way,” reads the statement.

    http://www.basnews.com/en/news/2015/07/30/us-official-us-army-stands-by-kurds-every-step-of-the-way/

  8. Ha Ha Ha says:

    Senior Western official: Links between Turkey and ISIS are now ‘undeniable’
    Jul. 28, 2015, 3:57 PM

    A US-led raid on the compound housing the Islamic State’s “chief financial officer” produced evidence that Turkish officials directly dealt with ranking ISIS members… The officer killed in the raid, Islamic State official Abu Sayyaf, was responsible for directing the terror army’s oil and gas operations in Syria. The Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) earns up to $10 million a month selling oil on black markets.

    Documents and flash drives seized during the Sayyaf raid reportedly revealed links “so clear” and “undeniable” between Turkey and ISIS “that they could end up having profound policy implications for the relationship between us and Ankara,” senior Western official familiar with the captured intelligence told the Guardian. …

    In November, a former ISIS member told Newsweek that the group was essentially given free rein by Turkey’s army.

    “ISIS commanders told us to fear nothing at all because there was full cooperation with the Turks,” the fighter said. “ISIS saw the Turkish army as its ally especially when it came to attacking the Kurds in Syria.” …

    http://www.businessinsider.com/links-between-turkey-and-isis-are-now-undeniable-2015-7