Candidate Is All Smiles In Weird Costume
BY BUDDY NEVINS
I’ve seen candidates wear business suits and bathing suits.
I’ve seen candidates wear Gator tee shirts and Seminole tee shirts, sneakers and cleats, baseball caps, hard hats and yarmulkes.
I’ve seen ‘em wear aprons and tuxedoes.
I’ve even seen a state Sen. Eleanor Sobel wear a Statue of Liberty crown.
But I’ve never seen…well, I’m not sure to call what County Commission candidate Ben Lap (on the right with beard) was wearing at an event this weekend. A Native American headdress along with a patterned vest?
My question is who told Lap he looked good? Doesn’t he have mirrors in his house?
Nevertheless, Lap is all smiles.
I’m told that Lap was one of the few guests so elaborately costumed.
February 25th, 2014 at 4:24 pm
Oh Great. Commissioner Village People to the rescue.
Thanks for setting the cause back a decade Mr. Lap.
February 25th, 2014 at 4:39 pm
This guy is a joke
February 25th, 2014 at 4:48 pm
What was the event? Try outs for the new Village People?
Someone should tell him that nobody trusts a politician with facial hair.
February 26th, 2014 at 12:00 am
It’s a Mardi Gras headdress.
http://www.flagshipfancydress.co.uk/deluxe-mardi-gras-feather-headdress-666-p.asp#.Uw10w5K9KSM
FROM BUDDY:
So it is.
February 26th, 2014 at 8:29 am
Buddy:
I don’t have a dog in the race, however you do need some underlying facts. This pic was taken at a costume fundraiser for The Pride Center he is a link to the invite
http://www.pridecenterflorida.org/2013/12/evening-in-paradise-2014-carnaval/
FROM BUDDY:
Many guests at the event did not wear costumes, including the guy posing with Ben Lap. Nowhere on the invitation does it state it is a costume party. Pictures of other guest at the event do not show them wearing elaborate costumes. Costumes seem confined to the staff: http://www.jumponmarkslist.com/us/fl/fll/images/mp/pride_center/2013/011913_1.php
By posing for a picture like this and putting it up on the Internet, Mr. Lap shows either (1) ignorance that some voters might think this is silly and immature or (2) total disregard for what voters might think. Or both.
My take: This guy is running for commission in Florida’s second biggest county. Its time to be an adult.
In the end, voters will judge whether they want Ben Lap.
February 26th, 2014 at 1:38 pm
Can’t wait to see what Chip LaMarca where to the Gay pride fest, assuming that going wouldn’t alienate his homophobic base.
February 26th, 2014 at 2:18 pm
I speak from my vantage point here in central Florida, especially happy that I don’t have to pay the freight anymore for the corrupt pols and lamprey eels (lobbyists) that feed off the body politic in Broward.
I think a lot of honest taxpayers would rather have Ben Lap sitting on the Commission than some of what’s there now. The majority of the Commission will most likely vote to give the Panthers whatever they want. Sort of like the perfect marriage; he pretends to be faithful and she pretends to believe him.
February 26th, 2014 at 4:52 pm
Good riddance that Charlotte Greenberg has moved to central Florida. She is a negative, nasty and ill informed know it all. Everyone knows Ben Lap is a joke. Give it up Charlotte and pester the people where you now live.
FROM BUDDY:
I disagree. I believe Charlotte was one of the best advocates for education I have ever met. As a volunteer, she spent more hours trying to improve Broward’s school system than many of the paid staff. Her departure to other parts of Florida — for family reasons, she says — is a real loss for taxpayers, schools and children.
February 26th, 2014 at 8:28 pm
His mother dresses him funny.
February 26th, 2014 at 8:57 pm
I agree with Charlotte…the Broward pols are dirty and cost us too much money.
February 26th, 2014 at 9:14 pm
What will I wear to my next ball
February 27th, 2014 at 7:11 pm
Buddy, thank you, I appreciate it. Thank you, too, Abolish the BOCC.
Emily, dahling, I don’t recall ever having met you, and that’s how I intend to keep it.
March 1st, 2014 at 9:47 am
Charlotte, dahling, actually we have met and I’ve seen you in action. You remind me of Emily Latella from Saturday Night Live. I hope you took your broom with you when you moved to central Florida.
March 1st, 2014 at 8:14 pm
Emily, if I had met you I know I couldn’t have forgotten the experience. No matter how hard I tried.
You’d improve your disposition as well as your intellect if you’d spend some time listening to the discussions by the district’s Audit Committee or Facilities Task Force instead of throwing nasties at the direction, presumably, of the greedy establishment.
Read some of the minutes of those committees and see what they’ve uncovered and you’ll find out why so few trust government at all levels. And by all means read the latest scathing Grand Jury report. Maybe you’ll want to send them one of your sweet messages.
March 2nd, 2014 at 8:20 am
Charlotte Greenbarg should be thanked for her advocacy however future community activists should be less cynical and more objective. Broward is a very fine community, one of the finest in Broward. The concerns that we face are far outweighed by the good that exists. It is optimism and not cynicism that will form the pathway to making us better. There’s work to be done but we have a lot to be proud of in Broward County, cheer up.
March 5th, 2014 at 11:03 am
I would ask Plain Language to also review a few years’ worth of audit findings regarding the school district and the county, as well as those cities who have had audits done. And one can’t help but being cynical after having read the Grand Jury report.
It’s not that there aren’t good people in Broward; it’s just that the people they elect are so dependent on the lobbyists who run their campaigns and there’s so much money changing hands.
Objectivity is what audits are about, and cynicism is an essential factor in trying to ensure clean government.
Broward can be one of the finest counties in the state. It’s not there yet. A Federal judge made the same cynical remarks a few years go when he said the county is run by lobbyists.