Fiscal Rangers

Lake County, FL Property Appraiser Ed Havill loses Temper at Taxpayer

Tavares, FL - August 4, 2012 Fiscal Rangers exclusive: Video of incumbent Lake County, FL Property Appraiser Ed Havill yelling at taxpayer customer trying to get information on a problem. I don't have the details why this occurred, but Havill is known for losing his temper with customers and here is a clear example. This video of Ed Havill was provided by Pam Lee from another taxpayer who contacted her. Lee is a write in candidate for Property Appraiser in the GENERAL election, and has done a LOT of research on that office and problems she has had with them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuDAs-0Kez8& There is no excuse for a public official treating a taxpayer like this. Havill needs to go to anger management classes because he even gets rude in candidate forums - see all the videos on our YouTube channel FiscalRangersFlorida. I also have verbal reports from Pam Lee and another taxpayer of them getting similar treatment by Havill or his staff. You NEVER hear of that behavior from other local elected officials (Ok, except for that Lady Lake City Commissioner and a few other elected officials in other City Councils.) http://www.youtube.com/user/FiscalRangersFlorida Havill is running for re-election vs Carey Baker and... Read more →

Lake County Deadline to File for County Offices Expires and Last Minute Surprises Occur

Tuesday, June 8, 2012 - Tavares, FL by Vance Jochim - FiscalRangers.com UPDATED 7pm with info on Bill Smalley & Ralph Smith, who filed so late they were not on the candidate list I was given by the Elections staff at noon. Today at noon was the filing deadline for Lake County elections for positions like Sheriff, Constitutional Officers and some County and School Board Positions. The only new candidates filing by the deadline were for Board position openings on the North Lake County Hospital District. Additionally, County Property Appraiser Candidate Pam Lee changed her candidacy to a Write In Candidate, which means she will not be listed on the ballot but people can write her name in as a candidate. Lee was unable to get enough signed petitions or fees to file and be listed on the ballot, so she is a write in candidate. As of this writing, the updated, final list has only been posted in the Excel format on this page: http://elections.lakecountyfl.gov/candidate_information/index.asp Incumbents that are safe, where no one filed to run against them include: - Welton Cadwell - County Commissioner - Bob McKee - County Tax Collector - Neil Kelly - Clerk of the Circuit... Read more →

Are ACORN Spinoffs Operating in Lake County or are HUD Grants Being Used to Fund Bogus "Community" Groups & Perpetrate Voter Fraud?

Tavares, FL - June 4, 2012 by Vance Jochim I recently came across some information about Federal HUD grants and how they can be used by bogus community groups to do things like illegally register voters like ACORN did, or skim money. Additionally, I found that although ACORN was closed and defunded by the Federal Government, they actually had a planned method to just create new names, use the same people, and continue with their questionable financial and voting "consultations" like before. As I discuss below, there actually is an ACORN replacement firm in Orlando called "Organize Now". So, I sent the following email to Lake County Commmissioner Leslie Campione and several staff, which is followed by her response. One reason I sent it is that Lake County administers and distributes funds for some Federal grants, which could include housing, financial counseling and voter registration programs. According to her response, Campione has been watching, and actually prevented one questionable firm from getting grant funds distributed by Lake County. Everyone needs to watch for ACORN spinoff activities, which is a reason for many of the new voting regulations like Voter ID in Florida and many other states. I expect all sorts... Read more →

Local Blog Supports Continued Hospital Tax without Oversight vs Our Recommended Candidates

The writers of the local Lake County (FL) blog, Right Side of the Lake, just came out with an eblast supporting three candidates for the North Lake County Hospital District Board who are all Hospital supporters and want to continue the 1-mill tax without any specific improvements. In contrast, I have written of my support of three alternate local Tea Party members who are running for the Board, and they are listed below. You can get more details at www.NorthLakeCountyHospitalDistrict.com or at the Faceblook page "FixLakeTaxes". Below is what I posted on the Right Side blog in response to their "left sided" article: So, for the first time, Right Side endorses people who all want the hospital tax to continue without any specific improvements in oversight or accountability. Here are reasons why I want Frances Grossi, Walter Dobruck, Jr. and Richard Riker to be elected to the Board of the North Lake County Hospital District: - Both hospitals that split about $10.5 million in 1 mill property taxes this year are "non-profits" yet they have shown millions in investments, assets and funding of facades, spending on huge ads in local papers to sell high value medical services, etc. Part of... Read more →

Smartphone App to Report VOTER Fraud during the elections - Try It!!

A group called American Majority Action has created a voter fraud reporting app for smartphones so you can report voter fraud as you encounter it. NOTICE: After testing the app on my Droid, it appears to be sending data and doesn't explain what it is doing. I turned it off. I suggest to ONLY use the website, because this MIGHT be an app that is "FREE" but runs up phone charges without telling you. I am especially concerned because this app only came out days before elections, and could get a lot of data or connection income before the users find out. Check Google for reviews of this app - there currently are none. HERE is the website for it - if you have an iPhone or Android OS phone (like Droid) , you can download the app and use it (but I don't recommend doing that until credible reviews can be found on what the app actually does). Go to this website and click the "read more" icon to see more details . You can download the app via iTunes or Droid's "Market" functions. One of the founders was a former Republican advisor. Most reported voter fraud benefits Democrats... Read more →

Fake Tea Party Candidate Dunmire Falsely Claims Endorsement from Patricia Sullivan

The logo at left is for a REAL tea party organization. However, the FAKE political tea party candidate for US Congressional 8th District (Orlando & Lake County area), Peg Dunmire, distributed a flyer to many homes by mail that claimed an endorsement from tea party leaders and included a picture of Patricia Sullivan, who ran in the primaries,but lost to Daniel Webster. (See link below to press release and copy of the mailer) Webster is now the favored candidate by Republicans, this blog, and most REAL Tea Party activists (which is NOT a registered political party on the ballot). Dunmire's FAKE political tea party was created by Democrats to split the vote so Democrat Alan Grayson could be re-elected. Get that? Anyway, Dunmire is trying to confuse uneducated conservatives and tea party followers by claiming she was endorsed by REAL tea party activists, Sullivan and others, when that is not true. So, Sullivan has announced a press conference for 8am tomorrow at the Orlando offices of Daniel Webster to denounce Peg Dunmire's attempt to confuse voters. Dunmire even included a picture of Sullivan in the mailer without permission, and the picture is copyrighted. Below is the press release from Sullivan... Read more →

Fiscal Rangers Voting Recommendations for Nov. 2nd Elections for Lake County, FL

Updated Nov. 5 - All our recommended candidates, even Mike Yost, were elected EXCEPT for two of the watchdog candidates for the North Lake Hospital Tax District, Richard Riker and Walt Dobruck. And, stupid voters didn't understand Amendments 5&6 and how they will give the liberal courts power over deciding gerrymandering of political boundaries, and Amendment 8 failed. AND, all the judges were retained, but maybe they got the message. Well, maybe next time! vj Revised and expanded - Wednesday, Oct. 27 - (added more info on FL 5th District Judges, School Board races and Lake County Water Authority races). As we get additional details, we will add them to this document. This document will remain at the top of the blog until after Nov. 2 elections, but scroll down to look for other issues posted after this page was written. vj Here are our recommendations for your votes for the Nov. 2nd ballot, whether you mail it in, vote early, or wait and vote at a precinct polling location on Nov. 2. I recommend you use your sample ballot and fill it in while reading this. You can find your Lake County voting precinct HERE. We do not have... Read more →

Video of Last Saturday's 1000 Patriot Walk - Very good!

Below is a link to a great, short video of last Saturday's walk in Orlando AND Eustis, and includes shots of Lake County citizens like Patricia Sullivan, Senator Carey Baker and others. Watch it, then sign up for more neighborhood walks to help get the word out to support FISCALLY conservative candidates and trounce liberal Alan Grayson and others. Be part of the solution to end Democrat efforts to implement socialism. Matter of fact, help Obama implement socialism by LAYING off a Democrat today! Let them experience the benefits of relying on big government and Obamacare. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjSvbVm6Yp4 vj - have you posted conservative candidate signs in your yard yet? Git it done! Read more →

MASSIVE Voter FRAUD during Obama Campaign Disclosed in Houston

The Reuter's Article is HERE. It was posted on Sept. 25th, and already has over 550 comments posted. It seems that a get out the Vote project run by a member of a local chapter of the Houston SEIU union (similar to Acorn programs) resulted in huge numbers of fake voters who voted during the Obama elections in Harris County, TX. Harris County has 1.9-million voters and is the second largest county in the country with almost 900 voting precincts. Read the article to know more. It seems a local activist got 50 friends to monitor voting operations and witnessed much fraud., such as id's not being checked for each voter. They then expanded the search and researched precints where houses listed more than six voters. The average precinct had 1800 - 2400 voters, but they found one precinct with 24,000 voters, and then researched why. Quotes from the article: "But we came across one (precinct) with 24,000, and that was where we started looking." It was Houston's poorest and predominantly black district, which has led some to accuse the group of targeting poor black areas. But Engelbrecht rejects that, saying, "It had nothing to do with politics. It was... Read more →

Republican Victory "Party Trend" Explained by Political Consultant Dick Morris

FiscalRangers has received an exclusive email briefing from political consultant Dick Morris explaining how the Republicans may achieve a massive victory in November. Well, actually, it came in a canned email we subscribe to, but it did only show our email address, so our email must be exclusive! Morris is the political consultant and FoxNews consultant who once worked for Bill Clinton, and switched to the Republican side later. Morris Explains the theory of "Party Trend", which happens in the last 10 days of elections, when many undecided voters swing one way or another. He is forecasting a massive party trend in favor of the Republicans. So, read his article below if you local Lake County Republican candidates facing Democrats want some good news! vj ============================================================ You can see all Dick Morris's articles at DickMorris.com . PARTY TREND HAS YET TO KICK IN By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN Published on DickMorris.com on August 25, 2010 Printer-Friendly Version Don't confuse the dramatic swell of the Republican tide that is becoming increasingly evident to the pundits of the country with party trend. Right before Election Day, the numbers will get even better and presage an even larger Republican victory. Party trend... Read more →

Dirty Politics Strikes Lake County

Today I received an attack political flyer in the mail from a stealth "527" attack group in Tallahassee. Their name is "Florida First Forever, Inc" and it is one of several front corporations apparently setup to attack election candidates without easily being able to find out who did it. There are three people as officers in the group, Daniel Burns, Tom Wheeler & Jonathan Andrews. THIS link shows you a diagram of various corporations connected to Andrews, including FFF. Scroll down on that website to see the diagram showing the connections. It is a Florida 527 Political Filing organization, as described HERE. The group was setup in 2008, and the above website indicates they have received no contributions or spent any funds, so the website must be out of date, or funds were received just recently before required reports. We will follow up on this. The flyer attacked Larry Metz, candidate for Florida State Representative, District 25. His only opponent is Rick Joyce, but we have no evidence to show if Joyce is involved, which may be the point of the stealth 527 organization. The flyer attacks Metz, who I support, on three issues. Metz is currently on the Lake... Read more →

Roadside Snipe Signs & Political Sign Capers Abound in Lake County, and our Cheerleader Solution

Aren't you tired of all the advertising signs on roadsides? We have some sign caper stories and a proposed solution involving CHEERLEADERS. City or County ordnances define what is legal regarding business signs, and what is not, but it seems more and more businesses, and even politicians, are ignoring the rules. There are usually separate ordnances defining when political signs can be posted and where. We will describe the two types of signs, and some capers going on, and maybe a possible solution involving CHEERLEADERS (which increases our readership also! We could not find pictures of local Cheerleader car washes). 1 Commercial business signs - posted illegally Lake County towns like Tavares are infested with "snipe" roadside signs... you see them sprout like mushrooms on corners, medians and anyplace where drivers might see them. They are placed there by businesses that would rather trash the roadsides with signs selling printing, medicine, real estate, or signups to private kids sports programs. My understanding is that such signs are illegal if placed in roadside medians, which are usually defined as the space between roads (median strips), or in the grass between sidewalks and curbs. On some highways, like State roads, the state... Read more →

FiscalRangers Recommendations for August 24 Primaries in Lake County, Florida - Sullivan, Metz, Campione, Parks, Miller, Howard, Fischer need your vote

Below are my recommendations for local Lake County elections (not cities) for: - Lake County Commissioner - Dist 2 and Dist 4 - Lake County School Board - three openings - Congressional Dist. 8 (Alan Grayson is the Dem. incumbent) - Florida State Rep. Dist 25 - Judges - nope - I don't have enough information because it is really hard to find information on Judges, and, they don't really affect most fiscal issues of local government. However, Hodges & Miller are incumbents, and if you don't want incumbents, then go for Lyn & Odette. I have written various postings on specific candidate recommendations, but now need to summarize them and make recommendations on all the positions up for local voters in Lake County to decide. I have attended most School District Board meetings AND workshops (i.e. for budgets) in the last four years, and I have attended most County Commission meetings in the last 18 months. I ran for a while for Lake County Commissioner, District 4, until I realized I didn't have the funds or "army" of supporters like Leslie Campione. My principle guidelines on selecting a candidate are: - They aren't naive or inexperienced in intelligently evaluating... Read more →

Lake County School District Candidate, JoAnn Jones, Has Not Paid Property Taxes since 2008

Updated Sunday, Aug 22 - See details at bottom. So today, there was another Orlando Sentinel article HERE about Lake County School District candidate JoAnn Jones and her not listing overdue property taxes of $65,000 on several properties on her candidate financial disclosure forms, and she has not made property tax payments on their $700k house since 2008. Her husband told them he would pay the fees today. Jones is a very nice lady and teacher who has consistently claimed she had sound business experience, but this doesn't sound good, especially one week before elections. I had been getting emails with links to "proof" on this issue for the last week, but it appears the Sentinel verified the information. Update Aug. 22: The Orlando Sentinel said that Mr. Jones paid $195,000 in overdue back taxes to the County tax collector, leaving only $4200 due on "seven parcels in a sub-division." vj Below is the article, or use the link above... Candidate didn't list $180K in back taxes By Denise-Marie Balona - Orlando Sentinel August 19, 2010 TAVARES — School Board candidate JoAnn Jones and her husband owe about $180,000 in back taxes on several properties they own in Lake, records... Read more →

South Lake Tea Party/912 Candidate Survey Matches my Own Perceptions

I think maybe the South Lake Tea Party siphoned off some of my candidate recommendations. They just had an online survey of their members HERE and seemed to agree with me on just about all Lake County election candidates. I don't know how they did that, because I don't go to their meetings, but we agree about 100% on their survey results. Maybe we are both drinking Niagara water? Go look at the results. Watch this blog for some of the reasons why I made my choices later this week. I do NOT agree with many candidate recommendations from the liberal Orlando Sentinel, but you can also see videos of their interviews of candidates, including the local ones for County Commission HERE (scroll down and look at the right column for the videos). Those are very instructive. But, I have had a problem viewing them because Adobe Flash CRASHES in the middle, then the stupid video player software they use won't let you fast forward back to where the crash occurred, so you have to sit through the entire first part of the interview again to get back to where you were in the video. But, unlike most candidate forums,... Read more →

Clout of Tea Party grows vs Republicans or Dems, According to Rasmussen Poll

A major political polling firm, Rasmussen, has published a study that indicates the Tea Party groups have much more clout in the minds of voters than you might think. Here is what they said: Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters December 4-5, 2009 Suppose the Tea Party organized itself as a political party. When thinking about the next election for Congress, would you vote for the Republican candidate from your district, the Democratic candidate from your district or the Tea Party candidate from your district? Democratic 36% Tea Party 23% Republican 18% Not sure 22 However, the study above is misleading, because the REAL Tea Party folks do NOT intend to be a separate party, and many Tea Party followers consider themselves Republicans, as we explain below. We know the Tea Party in Lake County has some clout and organization, resulting in a very organized campaign for Patricia Sullivan, a Republican running against Democrat Alan (My Congressman is Nuts) Grayson. (You can tell my bias). But the national Tea Party and the local one do not believe in starting a new party, but instead to run under either of the two major parties, R or D, and won't support third party... Read more →

Florida's Lake County 8th Congressional District Candidate Patricia Sullivan on Fox News

Sarah Palin was in the Villages and Orlando at book signing events this week, and after Fox News interviewed Palin, they interviewed local Lake County resident Patricia Sullivan about her campaign for the 8th Congressional district position currently held by Alan "My Congressman is Nuts" Grayson. Here's the link to Patricia's interview November 25th on FoxNews Fox & Friends, in case you missed it, or want to send it to some of your friends. Enjoy. http://patricia-sullivan.com/patricias-newest-video/ Have a great Thanksgiving Day! Vance Read more →

Disabled Marine David Hedrick to Address Supporters of Patricia Sullivan for Congress

Disabled Marine David Hedrick to Address Supporters of Patricia Sullivan for Congress This Friday at 8am in Mt. Dora Eustis, FL, November 11, 2009 - Disabled Marine Veteran David W. Hedrick will address supporters of Patricia Sullivan for Congress at a 8am breakfast in Mount Dora on Friday. Mr. Hedrick will be sharing his experience from a previous Congressional town hall meeting which was earlier viewd by millions on YouTube. At that earlier August meeting, he verbally battered Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA) for comments made earlier in the meeting. Mr. Hedrick's strongly-worded advice to Congressman Baird was to step away from increasing the government's role in his everyday life. He warned the Congressman to "Stay away from my kids!" among other comments. In an impassioned speech, later featured on national news and receiving millions of video views on the internet, Mr. Hedrick informed his Congressman that government is overstepping its role in the everyday lives of citizens. He specifically opposed initiatives regarding education and health care reform. His original speech on August 18, 2009 received heavy applause from the local audience. As a result of his dissatisfaction with Mr. Baird, David Hedrick has announced his intention to run for Congress... Read more →

New FiscalRangers.com Page on Lake County, Florida's 2010 Elections

Tavares, FL - The 2010 Lake County, Florida State and Federal Election cycle is ramping up, so I created a separate page to track the incumbents, candidates, issues and media sources. It is titled "Elections 2010 for Lake County, FL" and is in the "Pages" section in the right hand column, or you can reach it with THIS LINK. I will be adding details on the candidates as it comes, and will later rank the candidates and make recommendations regarding their support of fiscal conservatism and initiatives they have taken to improve efficiency, economy and effectiveness of government operations. I plan to create a vetting process with interviews to also extract background on fiscal skills of incumbents and candidates. A candidate who does not even know how the budget works for the agency they are running for will receive an F. Vance Jochim Chief Fiscal Watchdog... [email protected] Read more →