Political Tidbits: Lobbyists Want To Be Convention Delegates for Hillary Clinton

 

BY BUDDY NEVINS

 

Democrats being asked to vote for a Hillary Clinton slate for the Philadelphia National Convention are not being told the whole story about two of the candidates.

The ad promoting Clinton supporters Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis and Stephanie Grutman Zauder gives short biographies. What the ad doesn’t include is that Ortis and Zauder have a history of lobbying.

 

Democratic Slate

 

 

 

 

Zauder works at the Fort Lauderdale office of Ballard Partners, arguably the leading Republican lobbying firm in Tallahassee. The other lobbyists in the office is Justin Sayfie, former spokesman for Jeb Bush and a leading state Republican figure.

A former Eastern Airlines mechanic’s union leader, Ortis lobbied for the union in Tallahassee until recently. He also represented Big Sugar. He currently is not registered to lobby in the state Capital.

Here is the top of a 2010 Sun-Sentinel article about Ortis:

His tenacity as a top labor leader has won Mayor Frank Ortis crucial support from employee unions that has all but guaranteed his re-election over the last 14 years.

Ortis lobbies for Big Sugar and the machinists union in Tallahassee. He’s also the union vice president of the Florida AFL-CIO board, and legislative director for the Broward Workforce Development Board. His e-mail address, unionizer@aol.com, trumpets his allegiance, and the license plate on his white Cadillac reads “1 union.”

But his labor loyalty ran smack into economic reality recently when he and other city officials brokered a backroom deal to outsource 200 unionized city jobs. Growing public anger over the stealth deal forced city officials to retreat. Instead, on Wednesday they accepted $7 million worth of labor concessions, including a 4 percent pay cut and an agreement to forgo longevity pay and city pension increases and contributions.

 

 

Hmmmm. A former labor leader promoting privatization.

It is easy to guess why these two would-be Clinton delegates don’t mention their lobbying.

Clinton has been attacked by progressives backing Bernie Sanders for being too close to the Old School political establishment. Lobbyists are part of that establishment.

 

 

Ceasar, Kiar Get LGBT Honor

 

Democrats Mitch Ceasar and Marty Kiar have been named Straight Allies of LGBT community by the South Florida Gay News.

Ceasar, who is on leave from his post as the long-time chair of the Broward Democratic Party while he runs for Clerk of the Courts, is cited for befriending LGBT folks two decades ago when their community was much less accepted in South Florida.

Kiar was named for vigorously supporting legal protection to LGBT individuals and consistently speaking to LGBT club meetings and seeking their support.

The other straights named were Howard Simon, American Civil Liberties Union of Florida executive director, and James K. Green, chair of the Palm Beach County Legal Panel.

 

Brown Hooks Endorsement

 

 

 

Dave Brown’s battle to be the next Broward Supervisor of Elections won an endorsement IAFF Broward Firefighters Local 3080, representing 750 firefighters and paramedics in 11 Broward cities.

The endorsement, along with more than 200 other signed cards pledging support to Brown, indicates a surprisingly deep dissatisfaction among Democratic activists with the incumbent Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes.  

 

dave brown

Dave Brown

 

Brown accuses Snipes of poor management of past elections, causing long lines and confusion at the polls.  He also says she has not done enough to register new voters or encourage current voters to cast ballots.

Candidly Brown faces an uphill battle against Snipes, who has been in office since 2003.   After all, this is the only candidate who can use taxpayers’ money to plaster her name all over polling places and sample ballots, which she does with abandon.

Brown has vowed that if elected, he will never to have his name on material and signs larger than the name of the office.

 

 

Judge’s Baseball Book Gets Attention 

 

 

Baseball and the Law: Cases and Materials is no page-turner aimed at the summer beach crowd.

Still, this law school text about the Boys of Summer and the laws surrounding the game is getting a surprisingly amount of publicity.

That’s because co-authors Broward County Judge Lou Schiff and Nova Southeastern Law Professor Robert Jarvis are plugging the book across the nation when they are not doing their regular jobs.

This week the tome was the subject of an article in Forbes, which I bet is rare for a textbook aimed at law students.

Still, it is a 1040-page law school text listing for $112.93 new on Amazon. Schiff nor Jarvis are not quitting their day jobs just yet.

 



16 Responses to “Political Tidbits: Lobbyists Want To Be Convention Delegates for Hillary Clinton”

  1. Slow News Day says:

    Snore.

  2. Ortiz is a National Treasure says:

    Tell the full story Buddy, Ortiz was a bipartisan treasure. I lived in St. Vincent when he was one of the diplomats there, and I am happy that he still wants to go to the convention.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_V._Ortiz,_Jr.

  3. NSU Law Student says:

    From Amazon.com

  4. Commissioner Angelo Castillo says:

    Buddy,

    To correct the record — there was never any stealth, backroom deal.
    That account is false in every respect. Every step of that process took place in full accordance with the law. Nor is it true that the city retreated because of any public anger. Rather, the city and labor came to an agreement that solved the Reccession driven financial problems of that time while avoiding any need to take the more painful steps which would have otherwise been required.

    The city gave the Sun Sentinal an accurate response to this false account at the time. Yet the newspaper chose to write lies anyway. That’s just how they did business at the time. Very recently, I’ve seen some improvement in their journalistic ethics and I hope that lasts.

    In any event the account you reprinted above is false. Indeed, had events occurred as the newspaper reported, the city would have been taken to court. Yet as we all know no such lawsuit was ever filed.

    Let’s just tell the truth and let people evaluate what the news means on their own. Give us the facts, not lies. I require nothing more from any news source. And demand nothing less.

    Angelo

  5. Let's be real! says:

    David Brown is going to lose! Nice person, but he’s just not going to beat Dr. Snipes. He’s still campaigning like its 1995! It’s 2016, David! No one knows you, and your campaign material is OUTDATED!

  6. City Activist Robert Walsh says:

    I do not think lobbyist, political consults, and or elected officals should given any consideration to become delegates. I mean they have an agenda, its like what can you do for my lobby business, my personal agenda (elected officals etc), so they can get ahead. If the only reason you want to become a delegate is to improve your financial status or those that are lobbbying for another person or entity just proves you are only in it for the money. Pick local folks that are doctors, mailman, hairdressers, barbers, people that make up the fabric of whop these polticians will represent. Me, can even vote, that will change (just in time for the mayoral race in fort laudrdale(yes, Mr.feldman , yes it will all be about you, your plicies and esp. the help you have hired) won’t be long, Virginia just passed law to let all 200 thou convicted felons the right to vote, yes in other words they were granted their clemency, poof like magic, it s done, Florida will be next-and I can’t wait, in meantime I sit back and let the other canidates rant how great everything is etc, then bang, boom, etc, you will see me-be careful no personal attacks just the issues). So my take get average joe’s(yes), commoners, the make up of our true society ,not these who,a who of Broward, etc ,who are just in it oh yes to win it, more like in it for the Benajamins($$$). Clock is ticking…

  7. Garl says:

    Why should lobbyists give up their rights to participate in the federal election process?

  8. Count LF Chodkiewicz Chudzikiewicz says:

    Mr Lee Feldman regularly goes on the streets all over Fort Lauderdale helping residents with their problems despite my neighbors hav hing no lobbyists. Hes a go “hands on” manager you met regularly even on Sundays in Fort Lauderdale. We residents and homeowners n business operators appreciate his work

    As for the ACTUAL SUBJECT OF THIS ARTICLE, the definition if LOBBYIST is really so broad it would have been better to define the term BECAUSE A LOBBYIST IS LITERALLY ANYONE REPRESENTING OTHERS BEFORE OR WITH A GOVERNMENT BODY OFFICIAL OR EMPLOYEE.

    If Mr Nevins n Counsellor Fields are having coffee with Commissioner Dean Trantalis at Nieman Marcus n Mr Nevins says a street sign is too small to Counsellor Fields next to him and Counsellor Fields is therefore libbying Commissioner Trantalis for a larger street sign.

    Would a NORMAL PERSON consider this lobbying? Requiring registration? Disqualify Counsellor Fields to go to a Democratic Convention.

    Lets be “tighter” in our terms!

  9. Zowie says:

    Garl:
    Because lobbyists aren’t interested in what the process can do for we the people. They’re interested in what it can do for them.

  10. Floridan says:

    The height of naivety is assuming that doctors and other professionals (or tradesmen) do not have special interests of their own that they may push politically.

    Likewise, it is sloppy thinking to assume that lobbyists do not have thoughts and political stances of their own, apart from their clients.

  11. Honesty is Paramount says:

    Is Couunt Choconutzlatte an unregistered lobbyist for the incompetent Mr Lee “bad deal for the taxpayer” Feldman?

  12. Broward Voter says:

    Ortis can’t be all that bad. He wrote a letter to the judge urging him to send Pat Santeramo to jail for being a crook:

    http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-pat-santeramo-feds-sentenced-20160422-story.html

  13. Sober As a Judge says:

    Actually if you read the article, the Ortis letter to the Judge asked that Santeramo not be given jail time.

  14. Count LF Chodkiewicz Chudzikiewicz says:

    In 65 years of attending municipal meetings I know Mr Lee Feldnan is a good manager.
    The attacks on him on blogs are from Chsrlotte Rodstroms campaign supporters as they stated on another blog are a way to undercut the frontrunner for Ft Lauderdale Mayor in 2018 Bruce Roberts.

  15. Not my Buddy! says:

    Frank Ortis, Mayor of Pembroke Pines, gets re-elected without opposition this year in Broward’s second largest city.

    Buddy Nevins only sees a lobbyist, and implies that Mayor Ortis shouldn’t be a delegate to the Democratic Convention.

    Buddy, isn’t your son a lobbyist?

  16. Count LF Chodkiewicz Chudzikiewicz says:

    Again let us be careful with the term lobbyist. My personal obseevation was Mr Nevins’ son in question arranged events publicity and did consulting work based on his government experience. I dont know either Mr Nevins pere or Mr Nevins fil but that has been my personal observation. This also appears to be the case in many incidents where Judy Stern did publicity or consulting separate and apart from lobbying n no one differentiate. Can people please be precise when throwing around the word “lobbyist”