Candidate, Escambia County Commissioner, District 2

Recording Secretary, Northwest Florida Central Labor Council

No caucus information on file.

Freelance Blogger, Pandhandle Politico, 2013-present

Executive Chef, Restaurant Business

Sushi Chef, Contractor, 1998-2014

No organizational membership information on file.

Priority Issues:

Equality

Justice

Freedom

Opportunity

Reason for Seeking Public Office:

Why I am Running. I just spcropped-ray.jpgent a week in Tallahassee and experienced a moment of clarity. I finally saw, first hand, how badly our state government is run.

There was a bill, HB 7099, going through the House to cut taxes because supposedly our state has a budget surplus. The plan is to cut almost half a billion dollars in tax revenue; Ninety five percent of these cuts are for the wealthiest corporations.

This was not the only measure going through the House.

As I sat in the Appropriations Committee, I witnessed House members present bills to pay court ordered awards for children who had been harmed due to neglect from DCF. These children again became victims of abuse both physical and psychological under the care of the State. The awards in these cases totaled 13 million dollars. DCF has long been underfunded, lacking resources to do its job. This was just 2 children of thousands we have let down.

Later in the week I sat in on a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting. During this meeting, a Senator presented a bill to solve the problem of FDLE mishandling 12 thousand rape kits. Enough rape kits to fill the chamber we were sitting in. This mishandling caused some of the evidence to be untested for up over 4 years. Women who are victims of a heinous crime have now been victimized a second time by neglect. Our neglect. This would be bad enough but worse than that, is that others might have become victims of their abusers who remain free due to that negligence.

I went to visit my Representative Mike Hill and asked him to oppose HB 7099. We live in the poorest county in Florida with an education system in dire straights. "Maybe" I asked," it's time to invest in education". His reply," The only thing that works is prayer."

People are praying. Children are praying for protection, women are praying for justice. I pray that things get better. These prayers are falling on deaf ears with our representatives.

In a family budget you would not declare you have surplus and throw your friends a party when your kids have not been fed. In the state we cannot cut revenue when so many important programs fail from inadequate funding. WE DO NOT HAVE A SURPLUS. WE HAVE UNMET OBLIGATIONS

Legislators cares more about tax cuts for Wal-Mart and Big Sugar than they do the victims of our neglect, the women and children of our district. Mike Hill is right about one thing: We need to pray. We need to pray people like Mike Hill do not go back to Tallahassee.

Our time is now. The time to donate is now. $5, $10, $25 or more. Please contribute to real change in Tallahassee.