Lori Still Has Lots Of Clout
BY BUDDY NEVINS
To the casual reader of Property Appraiser Lori Parrish’s invitation to her latest fund rasier, it looks like she is breaking bread with the enemy!
Or at least breaking the enemy’s wallet open and lifting a few bucks.
That’s because lobbyist Bill Laystrom’s name is on the invitation.
Isn’t this the same Bill Laystrom that was a key lobbyist for The Davie Commons, a project in Lori’s neighborhood that she equates with Dante’s Inferno.
Yup, but Lori and Laystrom go back a long way. For Lori, friendship means a lot.
She told me earlier this year she is willing to forgive him. It’s just his business, she said.
Also, with the sprawling shopping and office complex pushed far into the future by the sputtering economy, Laystrom’s lobbying is less of a threat.
So Laystrom is on the host committee for the reception at Lori’s Davie house for state Rep. Martin Kiar.
It’s ironic that Laystrom is giving money to Kiar. The Davie Democratic was one of Lori’s point people in the Florida House trying to block The Commons.
The host committee contains more than 70 names — a huge amount.
Some of the draw is obviously Kair. From what I hear, he’s been a good legislator.
But a lot of the draw is Lori.
The fund raiser shows she still has an unsurpassed amount of clout in politics, even though she no longer has a vote on the county commission.
Below is the list from the invitation. I added some explanation in red of a few of the individuals. Here it is:
PLEASE JOIN PROPERTY APPRAISER LORI PARRISH
And the Host Committee of
•School Board Member
Robin Bartleman
•Plantation Councilmember
Diane Bendekovic
•Viktoria Bloom
•Coral Springs Mayor
Scott Brook
•Coral Springs Commissioner
Claudette Bruck
•Phil Busey liberal political activist
•Ron Cacciatore investigator in the property appraiser’s office and a former police detective
•Pembroke Pines City
Commissioner Angelo
Castillo
•Mitch Ceaser Broward Democratic leader
•Weston Commissioner
Murray Chermak
•Ira Cor A real estate broker who often sold land to the School Board
•Walt Crosson
•Cooper City Commissioner
James Curran
•Cooper City Commissioner
Neal De Jesus
•School Board Member
Maureen Dinnen
•Walter Dix Fire union official
•Cooper City Mayor
Debby Eisinger
•Gary Farmer A class action plaintiff’s attorneys now with Rothstein, Rosenfeldt Adler
•David Donzella Lighthouse Point fire chief who is running for a Davie town council seat against Susan Starkey
•Randy and Bonnie Fleischer liberal Democratic activist
•Michael Freedland
•Bernie Friedman lobbyist and activist in Jewish community
•School Board Member
Beverly Gallagher
•Coral Springs Commissioner
Roy Gold
•Weston Commissioner
Angel Gomez
•School Board Member
Jennifer Gottlieb
•Alex Heckler lobbyist
•Weston Commissioner
Mercedes Henriksson
•Weston Mayor
Eric Hersh
•Brad Hodgen
•Broward County Commissioner
Kristin Jacobs
•State Representative
Evan Jenne
•Tom Kallman
• Jim Kane lobbyist, pollster and Browardbeat.com contributor
•Broward County Vice Mayor
Ken Keechl
•Art and Belinda Keiser private college tycoons
•Southwest Ranches Commissioner
Aster Knight
•School Board Member
Stephanie Kraft
•Bill Laystrom lobbyist
•Broward County Commissioner
Ilene Lieberman
•Davie Councilmember
Marlon Luis
•Pembroke Pines Commissioner
Jack McCloskey
•Cooper City Commissioner
Lisa Mallozzi
•Southwest Ranches Commissioner
Doug McKay
•Dawn Meyers lobbyist
•Parkland City Commissioner
Jared Moskowitz
•Southwest Ranches Mayor
Jeff Nelson
•Pembroke Pines Mayor
Frank Ortis
•Tom Panza lobbyist
•Davie Mayor
Judy Paul
•Brian Powell fire fighters union
•Dan Reynolds Broward AFL-CIO leader
•Wilton Manors Mayor
Gary Resnick
•State Senator Nan Rich
•State Senator Jeremy Ring
•Broward County Mayor
Stacy Ritter
•Anthony Russo
•Parkland Commissioner
Dave Rosenof
•David Sigerson lobbyist
•State Representative
Franklin Sands
•Broward Teachers Union
President Pat Santeramo
•Pembroke Pines Commissioner
Carl Shechter
•United States Congressperson
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
•Pembroke Pines Commissioner
Iris Siple
•Parkland Deputy Vice Mayor
Jay Smith
•Rachael Jo Spear
•Weston Commissioner
Daniel Stermer
•Davie Former Mayor
Harry Venis
•Parkland Mayor
Michael Udine
•Andrew Weinstein lawyer and Democratic campaign fund raiser
•Parkland Vice Mayor
Mark Weissman
•United States Congressperson
Robert Wexler
•Ann Zucker Democratic Party activist
(Note: I decided to break the journalistic tradition of using a person’s last name in second and subsequent references when writing about Lori Parrish. People know and refer to her by her first name only, like Madonna or Shakira. To Broward residents, she is just “Lori.” )
August 27th, 2009 at 7:30 am
I find it interesting that Franklin Sands isn’t listed as the Democratic Leader on an invitation for a fundraiser for a State House race!
August 27th, 2009 at 9:19 am
Just curious as to who spelled Wilton “Manners” that way!
FROM BUDDY: Not me. I cut and pasted it right from the invitation. I didn’t catch the error until you pointed it out. Thanks. I corrected it.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Why isn’t Monroe Kiar on that list? Where is Dad?
August 27th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
You missed it,Buddy. Lori still has something to give lobbyists and others — lower assessments.
Check the property assessments and you’ll find her friends get breaks that others don’t. I don’t trust her.
August 27th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Hi Buddy,
I truly enjoy reading your posts. I just wanted to answer some of the questions from the individuals who posted above. The reason I did not put Franklin Sands as the minority leader on the invitation is because I ran out of room on the invitation. However, I can honestly say that Franklin is truly a great leader and friend and we are lucky that he is our House Democratic Leader. Also, I appreciate both yourself and Dominic pointing out the fact that I spelled Wilton Manors wrong. That was completely my fault and I am going to make the change on my invite. Also, the reason I did not put my dad on the invite is because I ran out of room on the invitation. I figured everyone would know that my Dad, who is my hero, is one of my biggest supporters. Also, I truly appreciate the fact that Lori is throwing this fundraiser for me. She is absolutely one of the greatest and most honorable elected officials that Broward County has ever had. Have a great day Buddy and you of course are also invited to the fundraiser.
August 27th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Buddy:
I think the world of Bill and always have. I wish he had been on “our” side.
To the writer who made a comment about assessments:
It is easy to use our website to determine exactly how we determine assessments. Simply go to your property record and click on View Map to look at the sales or click on Search Sales by Subdivison on the bottom left hand side. If you need more details just drop me a note at lori@bcpa.net
Lori
August 28th, 2009 at 4:27 am
Lori Parrish has always been a great Democrat who considers the average people. This is because she didn’t grow up rich or have a string of advanced degrees after her name. She is a women of the people. Her office is now one of the only government offices which is consumer oriented and friendly. Lori should be governor.
August 28th, 2009 at 4:48 am
Lori Parrish has a heart of gold and fists of iron. If you are her friend, her love is all embracing, like morning sunshine, like standing in a field of wild flowers, it lifts you like gentle breezes on crisp spring days. If you are her enemy, prepare yourself for pain and misery, disappointment and persecution, relentless heartbreak and anguish, brimstone and fire, and after all that, she’ll start getting pissed.
It’s not a pretty picture.
Lori is a study in extremes but she’s really very fair about it.
You always get to choose which Lori you want. You choose whether to be her friend or not. After that, she simply delivers what you ordered. And you know what the thing is? 98% or 99% of the time, when Lori digs her heels into an issue and takes a stand, she’s right. You won’t find many instances where she took a strong stand and was totally off base.
FROM BUDDY: Interesting comment. Of course, this is not the real Lori Parrish. Her comment is above.
August 28th, 2009 at 5:06 am
It pains me to write this because I am a partisan Republican. I had a question about property I owned and e-mailed Lori Parrish. She personally wrote me back after 8 p.m. at night. She doesn’t know me or my name. I was just a property owner. If more politicians were that attentive to the public, it would go a long way towards restoring confidence in government.
August 28th, 2009 at 6:40 am
I agree with the above comment. My fiancee and I bought a house and had homestead and portability questions. Neither one of us knew her that well. Guess what? Lori personally replied to our e-mails.
This county needs more public servants like Lori Parrish.
August 28th, 2009 at 6:50 am
Buddy:
It’s Carl SHECHTER, Commissioner Pembroke Pines.
But everybody gets it wrong!
FROM BUDDY: Thanks for writing. I corrected it. To repeat myself, I cut and pasted it directly from the invitation.
August 28th, 2009 at 6:50 am
I have to echo the two comments above about Lori.
I have no idea when the woman actually sleeps. She personally responds to every email amazingly fast, regularly updates the community regading the operations of her office, and has one of the most truly “open door policies” of any politician I have ever encountered.
A few years back, when I needed to report some potentially illegal conduct at a condominium project, I called the office to find out who I should speak with. The office gave me a phone number and when I called, it turned out to be Lori’s cell phone.
Agree with her positions or not, I don’t think anyone can say she isn’t dedicated and on the job, pretty much 24-7.
August 28th, 2009 at 7:21 am
The fake Lori Parrish above is right. The public sees the wonderful Lori. Anyone she identifies as a political enemy sees her mean, spiteful side. That is a major flaw. Just ask anyone involved in Bill Markham son’s campaign against her. I wonder what their assessments are.
August 28th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Why are Republican’s (Cooper City Mayor and Commissioner’s)supporting Liberals? It sure looks like they are breaking bread with the enemy!
August 31st, 2009 at 6:58 pm
RINO’s suggestion that liberals are the enemy of Republicans is incorrect. They are not their enemy, all that liberals do is hold a mirror up to Republicans. What they hate is the image they see of themselves. Republicans are the worst enemy of themselves. That has not been a legitimate political dogma for decades, Republicanism today is a personality disorder and for too many a birth defect that is being corrected by conversion.