Palm Beach County Commissioner Santamaria to decide on reelection plans “in the next 30 days”
by George Bennett | January 6th, 2010
Santamaria
“I’m starting now to give it some serious thought,” Santamaria said. “It’s a big decision for me. Four years is a major commitment and I want to make sure I give it my whole heart and soul.”
Only one candidate — Democrat Elissa Pearl — has opened a campaign for Santamaria’s seat. Others have expressed interest if Santamaria decides not to run.
Tags: Elissa Pearl, Jess Santamaria
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January 6th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
Has anyone looked at the Supervisor of Elections website and seen the people who have donated to Pearl’s campaign? They are people from OUT of the state, OUT of the western district!
Just what the western communities need: an outsider, funded by outsiders. We need people who KNOW the community, not someone buying their way into the communities.
The western communities need someone who has been INVOLVED, someone who has HELPED, someone who is a vital part of the West, not someone with NE money funneled to her.
Watch out westies, looks like Congressman Alcee Hastings is putting his man, Liftman, into the mix. Contributions from Weston, FL, Boca Raton, PB Gardens, Ft Lauderdale, WPB, Minnesota, Tarmac, FL, Plantation, FL, Illinois.
Yep, a real local to represent the West. Others coming into the community and trying to change the West.
We want locals and no Broward lawyers trying to usurp our representation. They think their money is the key to winning the seat.
Glades keep it local, Loxahatchee keep it local, Wellington keep it local, RPB keep it local, Acreage keep it local, west communities keep it local.
We don’t need people who will TAX us more, bring more development.
Check the contributions yourself!
http://pbcelections.org/CFFilingDetail.aspx?type=contribution&file_id=2135
January 6th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
You’ll get who the Washington power brokers want you to have. Afterall, they know best.
January 6th, 2010 at 6:24 pm
How about we elect someone that actually does something? He gives his salary away but that’s not what we elected him to do. We elected him to represent us! All he does is harp about corruption and brag about his charity and developer experience. WHAT HAS HE ACCOMPLISHED?
January 6th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
Butch –
Pay attention to the issues before you start slinging the mud. Jess was the only commissioner to dissent 3 months ago, when the board was getting ready to approve a bid that was over 3 times the appraised value for property that the county needs to buy for another landfill. Thanks to his alert, concerned citizens came out and shamed the rest of the board into voting against it. And he’s not just “harping about corruption”, he’s spear-heading the push to install an independent inspector general that can root around in the business dealings of the commissioners, and hopefully catch the dirty ones quicker. The three former county commissioners sitting in “Club Fed” right now are proof that the IG is necessary. The fact that he donates his salary to charity just shows that he’s a man of principles, not in it for the money. Did you know that he tape records every meeting he has in his office? Developers are a lot less likely to offer bribes if they know that a recorder is picking up every word.
If we are lucky, he’ll decide to serve another term in our service.
January 6th, 2010 at 10:07 pm
Hey Ed,
He didn’t spearhead jack. The IG was coming down the pike long before he thought of it. He gives his money away so people can’t question his motives. The county will still need additional property for a landfill even if the burn facility comes to fruition, it just might need to be a smaller parcel. If you look at how Santamaria talks down to people, like he’s so much better and smarter than them. The only reason he’s wealthy is because he bought land when it was a swamp and waited. No brainer.
January 7th, 2010 at 6:44 am
Butch, you sound as if you’re the mouthpiece for Elissa Pearl and the special interests who are supporting her. Because of Santamaria’s persistance, we will have an IG with authority and independence. And because of Santamaria, we were saved from a Callery-Judge project that would have overwhelmed the character of the Western Communities and created urban congestion and that would have created “rural flight”.
Based on her contributions and support so far, Pearl will serve to satisfy the same special interests that Masilotti and before him Ken Foster served.
January 7th, 2010 at 8:26 am
. . . . don’t know what he ever did to you, but it’s pretty obvious you’ve got an axe to grind. Why don’t you run for office and show how much of a better job you can do?
January 23rd, 2010 at 5:58 am
Saw your blog bookmarked on Delicious.