Parrish Likes Some Judicial Candidates, Including Seidman
BY BUDDY NEVINS
When judicial candidate Laura Seidman needed some help with a key Democratic Party officer, she called her long-time friend: Property Appraiser Lori Parrish.
Parrish has known Laura and County Judge Lee Seidman for years. Both Seidmans are running for the Broward Circuit Court.
Laura Seidman has campaigned for Parrish in the past. Parrish and her husband, Circuit Judge Geoff Cohen, have socialized with the Seidmans many times.
The original connection is simple. Lee Seidman was once a prosecutor in Cohen’s courtroom.
So when Laura asked for a favor in her race against incumbent Judge Lisa Porter, Parrish was quick to help.
At Laura’s request, Lori called Diane Glasser the county’s Democratic committeewoman.
She left a message on Glasser’s cell phone saying that “Laura has always been wonderful, very kind and very friendly.
Parrish says calling Glasser is all she has done for Seidman to date.
But Parrish has other friends on the bench.
Parrish has endorsed incumbent Judge Kenneth Gillespie, who is running against challenger Oliver Parker. Parker is a veteran Republican office holder, while Gillespie is one of the few black judges in Broward.
She also endorsed Judge Elijah Williams, also black. Public Defender Howard Finkelstein says Williams has helped turn around the lives of many black defendants and that is would be almost criminal to see him defeated.
And she has endorsed Judge Carlos Rebollo, another solid member of the bench.
Does support from Parrish help?
The property appraiser has a wide network of friends and acquaintances. She’s a social animal who talks to a lot of people daily. And she’s never lost an election, so she has valuable advice to give.
In the confusion that surrounds the judicial races voters don’t know one candidate from the other Parrish’s help can make a candidate stand out from the rest.
Or to put it another way: I would rather have her help than not have it.
June 14th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Lori Parrish also endorsed Nathaniel “Nate” Klitsberg for County Court Judge in Group 26
FROM BUDDY: I only dealt with the incumbents. I’m glad you informed Browardbeat.com readers of this.
June 14th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
Is this site changing its name to Parrish Beat?
June 14th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Hard to believe Lori would back Seidman who is known to have a terrible work ethic and questionable abilities- especially when Judge Porter is well thought of with no negatives.
June 14th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
The Seidmans — both Lee and Laura — are both despicable people. Right-wing, nasty, biased … just horrid. I am looking forward to this “two-fer” for Broward on August 24: not only will Laura Seidman lose, but we’ll also finally be rid of her evil husband Lee too.
And if endorsements matter, Judge Lisa Porter is endorsed by prominent individuals ranging from US Senator George LeMieux to former Attorney General Bob Butterworth.
Please, please, PLEASE everyone: vote for Judge Lisa Porter (vs Laura) and Sandra Perlman (vs Lee).
June 14th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
I should add that I do agree with Lori about voting for Judge Elijah Williams and Judge Kenneth Gillespie. Both have proven themselves to be really decent judges.
June 14th, 2010 at 7:52 pm
Broward Beat….Quit referring incumbant Gillespie as just an black judge. I know Judge Gillespie and have sat in his courtroom (luckily not for a crime!)
You should really get to know him. He deserves some recognition on this board and I’m glad to see that Lori Parrish has done her homework. He is well respected in the courtroom by everyone….even the bailiffs. He treats lawyers, criminals…everyone with utmost respect and is just incredibly intelligent and very well-qualified. Just a pleasure to watch him in court…sadly not the crimes he has to see.
Judge Gellespie was appointed into office by Charlie Crist. I met his family a few weeks ago and they are lovely. Sadly he will miss most of his children’s summer vacation as he will be taking none of his as he will be campaigning but that is what he has to do. Oh yes, his wife is a teacher in Weston. Very nice family.
Oh yes, if I were running for office I’d love to have Lori Parrish on my side….so what’s the problem with that anyways?
June 14th, 2010 at 8:30 pm
Tony G. used to say that whenever a politician endorsed you, you got their supporters AND their enemies.
He also opined that the supporters wouldn’t vote in the rain, but the enemies would go out in a hurricane to vote against you.
Tony G. was a wise man.
June 15th, 2010 at 11:01 am
I wonder how Lori Parrish feels about her boy Cacciatore out dialing for dollars for Elijah Williams opponent? Hope he is not doing it on County time.
FROM BUDDY: Hmmmmm.
June 15th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Lisa Porter is brilliant and hard working..sometimes hearing cases far into the night…the North Broward Hospital District legal mess (and it really is) reflects badly on Mrs Seidman …Judge Seidman is a smart guy but does nasty stuff like locking people out of his courtroom for being a few minutes late,even though going thru security can be a 30 minute nightmare unknown to most.
June 15th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Just Say No! We do not need Kenneth “Clarence Thomas” Gillespie on the bench. He is bought and bossed by the SAO. Hisdecision are all based on advancing “his” career and has nothing to do with JUSTICE for anyone. So what Charlie Crist appointed him Birds of a feather all flock together.
June 15th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
Jan,
You have no idea what you are talking about. And to compare Kenneth Gellespie to Thomas is rascist. He is not “advancing” his career” by retaining his seat.
Obviously you have never been in his courtroom. I suggest you sit in there for a few days and then write about it on here. He is brilliant at what he does.
June 15th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Jan is probably a shill for Judy Stern who from what I read is running the Oliver Parker campaign and again has to stoop to dirty campaigning. Similar to the anti Roshawn Banks blog posts in Jaab. Is it a coincidence the anti black comments are against opponents of candidates who use Judy Stern? You make the call.
June 15th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
Jan are you sure your name is not Judy Stern, that fat blowhard Oliver Parker’s campaign manager?
June 16th, 2010 at 6:32 am
Same old Song and Broward Lawyer…wow, that is really interesting…good detective work. I really have no idea who Oliver Parker is anyways. I should do my homework on him just to get to know him but really don’t care to badmouth anyone.
June 16th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
SouthFLGIRL
To get to know Oliver Parker and Judy Stern is to get to hate them. Do your homework. You’ll see what I mean.
June 17th, 2010 at 5:03 am
I recommend county, judicial, etc. candidates to carefully check out those who they choose to represent them in their campaigns. It makes a hugh difference to the voters when they cast their votes on election day!
Thank you!
June 17th, 2010 at 11:14 am
**********Update***************
I just got off the phone with Judge Carlos Rodriguez because I was concerned about all this and I know him. I want to clear a few things up: Judy Stern is a friend of Ken Gillespie’s and Carlos Rodriguez and does not work for Oliver Parker. She strongly supports the incumbents through fundraising and community support.
She does not work for either one of these candidates…she just supports them.
Thanks for reading this!
June 19th, 2010 at 7:37 am
@ SouthFLGIRL
Call me a skeptic, but I’m not convinced. Judy Stern is known for the dirtiest of tricks. Buddy and others will tell you that.
June 21st, 2010 at 11:21 am
@ SouthFLGIRL
Please stay out of politics. EVERYBODY knows that Stern is running Rodriguez’s campaign. She is also helping Parker because it helps her daughter. She is a Dirty trickster and when her dirty tricks make her to hot to work on a campaign she all of a sudden is “NOT”!
I have heard nothing so NAIVE as:
“I just got off the phone with Judge Carlos Rodriguez…” The truth is that EVERYBODY says Rodriguez is a great Judge but Stern’s involvement is KILLING him.
Next time you want a better quality of lie then you should have called Stern directly.
June 21st, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Let’s look at the history first,
The Judy Stern legacy
Judy created the name game, despite spending almost $600, Judy had Arlene Simon use her husband’s last name of Campione to get top spot on the ballot. I believe Simon never before or after used that name in any legal capacity.
2008, Judy Stern ran a Jewish guy named Israel for Sheriff. Besides recently switching from Republican to Democrat, being alleged to have shoplifted, abusing his authority, and a Chief of an agency of only a few officers, Judy’s campaign message was disregard all of Israel’s negatives and vote for him because he was Jewish. This was compounded by the fact that Stern gave away Israeli flags at the polls. While it worked for the Primary, the General Election was not controlled by the condos and the best, most qualified man, Sheriff Lamberti won.
Now Judy is running her daughter for a House seat in District 91. Just coincidentally a Tea Party candidate from Orlando files to run for that seat. Why? It is assumed that the Tea Party candidate will take votes away from the Republican in the race, setting up a win for her daughter.
http://orlandoteaparty.net/2010/06/18/red-alert-florida-is-under-attack/
Red Alert: Florida is Under Attack
We currently have Several Fake Tea Party Candidates. They are not associated with the tea party movement.
An Orlando-area resident, Ryan Swyers, also has qualified to run in a Broward County House district which Republicans hope to maintain, despite it being vacated by Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, a candidate for state Senate.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state-candidate-carl-domino-leads-in-personal-wealth-758868.html
•Political unknown Ryan Swyers, who lives 200 miles away in the mid-state town of Oviedo, qualified for the Broward-Palm Beach District 91 state House race with a Tea Party affiliation. In the Republican-leaning district, Swyers’ candidacy could siphon Republican votes and help Democrat Barbra Anne Stern, the daughter of Broward County lobbyist and Democratic operative Judy Stern.
Efforts to reach Swyers were unsuccessful.
BOTTOM LINE:
THE VOTERS EXPECT JUDGES TO HAVE MORE CLASS AND ASSOCIATE NOT CAMPAIGN BY PLAYING GAMES TO MANIPULATE THE VOTERS