The Sun Gives Rick Scott an 'A' for Responsiveness

Did you know you can call Gov. Rick Scott's office in Tallahassee and a real live person will pick up after about two rings? True. The nice polite real live person will then quickly take down your name and concern and send an e-mail to a specific state agency with an order for the appropriate person there to call you in reponse to your inquiry ASAP. Now that's service!

Executive Office of Governor Rick Scott
400 S Monroe St
Tallahassee, FL 32399
(850) 488-7146

http://www.flgov.com/open_government/

Clemens Wins Recount by 17, Bernard May Take it to Court

After a two-day recount, Jeff Clemens emerged the winner of the State Senate primary by 17 votes.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-bernard-clemens-recount-20120818,0,3334327.story

However....the lawyer for his opponent, Mack Bernard, said he was very concerned by the number of votes that were rejected because of poll worker error, not voter error and indicated Bernard may challenge the result in court.

It should be noted that the lawyer for Bernard is a former Republican state legislator, while the lawyer for Clemens, Ron Meyer, is a biggie Democrat lawyer who represents the teacher's union, and sued last year to overturn the Gov. Rick Scott law ending teacher tenure in the state of Florida. In his campaign, Bernard emphasized education and the need for educational reform.

Thousands of Ballots Still to be Counted in Clemens-Bernard Recount

The hand recount of all ballots cast in the District 27 State Senate race was going very slowly today, with Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher announcing that only one eighth of the ballots had been counted by about 1 p.m. Boxes containing thousands of ballots were still piled high and waiting to be counted as of 4 p.m.

Boxes of ballots waiting to be counted at the Supervisor of Elections warehouse in Riviera Beach

The hand recount began at 11:30 a.m. today with about 40 employees of the Supervisor of Elections office reviewing each paper ballot, and an observer for each pair from the Jeff Clemens campaign and the Mack Bernard campaign sitting behind them, watching with hawk eyes.

Two employees of the Supervisor of Elections, right, review each ballot by hand, watched carefully by representatives of the Bernard campaign (in glasses) and the Clemens campaign (in tie).

As of Thursday, the official count was 12,150 votes for Jeff Clemens, a former mayor of Lake Worth, and 12,116 votes for Mack Bernard, a former City Commissioner from Delray Beach, a difference of just 34 votes. By the end of yesterday's machine recount, Clemens' lead had dropped to just 29 votes. Both Clemens and Bernard are Democratic State Representatives who threw their hats in the ring for the new District 27 State Senate seat.

Jeff Clemens, right, talks in hushed tones with his associates on Saturday afternoon

The Supervisor of Elections Office told The Lake Worth Sun yesterday (and The Lake Worth Sun reported it) that there would only be a hand recount of the "over" and "under" votes -- the ballots where the machine was unable to determine which candidate the voter intedended to vote for, either because there was some sort of marking in front of both candidates (over vote) or no marking detectable for either (under vote).

However.....Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher told The Sun today a full count of all ballots was being conducted, and that a hand recount of all ballots cast is standard procedure, as machines can make mistakes.

"This ensures that we're viewing publicly the overs and unders," she said.



Ron Meyer, the lawyer for Clemens, talks with Susan Bucher, the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections

After a lunch break in mid-afternoon, both the Clemens camp and the Bernard camp huddled with their lawyers to review the conditions under which observers may contest a ballot.

Clemens, seated and eating lunch, huddles with his people and their election lawyer, Ron Meyer, to review how and when to contest ballots.

Jeff Clemens was at the warehouse observing the recount most of the afternoon while his opponent, Mack Bernard, was absent. One of his supporters said he was at church and would be by later in the afternoon.


Mack Bernard's lawyer, in grey suit on right, reviews with volunteers under what circumstances to contest ballots

Loretta Sharpe and her son, Brian, both of Lake Worth, were there to observe the count. "He didn't go anything as mayor, and he hasn't done anything as a state representative," Sharpe said of Clemens, explaining why she campaigned for Mack Bernard.


Loretta Sharpe of Lake Worth talks to another Mack Bernard supporter while Jeff Clemens and his associate confer in the background

Jeff Clemens, a one-term mayor of Lake Worth, said he's not placing bets on the outcome of the hand recount, and indicated he thought it could go either way. At 9:30 p.m. on August 14, the day of the primary campaign, Clemens led by 318 votes. By Thursday his lead had dropped to just 34. The total number of votes cast in the race, and the total number being counted by hand today, is 24,266.

All contested ballots are to be reviewed by the Canvassing Board, which was seated in a separate room with glass observation windows. According to an August 16 letter from the state Division of Elections, the election results, including the machine recount and the hand recount, must be certified by Tuesday at 5 p.m.

The Canvassing Board waits to review contested ballots in a separate room

Street Lights Out at Major Intersections in Lake Worth

ALERT - The street lights at the top of the 10th Avenue exit off I-95 are out, as are one of the two sets of street lights on 10th Avenue in between I-95 and Dixie, as well as the street lights at the corner of 10th and Dixie and also the street lights at Dixie and 8th and Dixie and 7th Avenues. Street lights are working where Lake and Lucerne cross Dixie and all along Lake Avenue. Cars were proceeding slowly and with caution through all intersections and no accidents were observed as of 4:15 p.m.



Lights out at the corner of 10th and Dixie

Second Lake Worth 19-Year-Old Arrested for Lantana Shooting

Nice couple of guys we had living in our sweet town:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/second-suspect-19-charged-in-lantana-shooting/nRDbZ/

It's ON! Clemens-Bernard Recount Starts Today



State Rep. Mack Bernard

The county's canvassing board will meet at 1 p.m. today to start a machine recount of votes cast in the Jeff Clemens-Mack Bernard State Senate District 27 primary election.

The recount will take place at the warehouse belonging to the Supervisor of Elections office at 7835 Central Industrial Avenue in Riviera Beach.

The machine recount is expected to be completed by the end of the day, according to Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher's office, and will be followed by a hand count of the "over and under votes" tomorrow, Saturday, beginning at 11:30 a.m.

As of yesterday, the final count was 12,150 for Clemens and 12,116 for Bernard, a difference of just 34 votes.

According to a letter from the state's Division of Elections, the final election results will be certified by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, August 21. You can read that letter on the Supervisor of Elections website:
http://www.pbcelections.org/

Woman Jumped and Robbed Near Old Publix

A woman was jumped and robbed outside the Subway in the Publix shopping center on Lake Worth Road just after 7 p.m. last night.

She told a deputy that she had been in Subway getting a sandwich when she went back to her car, which was parked just outside, to get business cards to give to some of the workers inside. As she turned around to go back into the store, a black man in a white T-shirt approached, shoved her to the ground and took her purse.

The robber, described as a black male between 5’6” and 5’8” with a medium build, jumped into the passenger side of a white mustang with dark-tinted windows and sped west on Lake Worth Road.

The Subway is located in the Town & Country Shopping Center just west of I-95 in the city of Lake Worth. The purse that was stolen contained credit cards, a driver’s license and about $100 in cash, according to the victim.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office canvassed the area but did not find any witnesses.

Crimes and Public Information

The new crime blotter is up. See the right-hand margin for all crimes in Lake Worth yesterday. I immediately filed a request with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office asking for more information on the robbery on Lake Worth Road and the burglary at Third Avenue North. I'm now waiting...

Note that the PBSO redacted all information from a report they gave me in response to a request for information about the burglary at a home on Griswold Drive, in the Lake Osborne area, on August 14. The law, as I read it, does not allow them to do this. The ACLU has been called, the First Amendment Foundation has been called. Lawyers are looking at it. Progress will be made to get compliance with public records laws. It just might be slow.

Clemens Recount Could Begin Tomorrow

State Rep. Jeff Clemens, left

Jeff Clemens beat Mack Bernard by just 35 votes in Tuesday's State Senate primary, triggering a recount that may begin as soon as Friday.

Clemens and Bernard, both Democrat members of the Florida House, were running for the State Senate District 27 seat, which includes Lake Worth.

With all votes counted, Clemens had 50.07 percent to Bernard's 49.93 percent.

Clemens got a total of 12,140 votes, while Bernard got 12,105. The difference between them is 35, but 18 votes swinging from Clemens to Bernard in a recount would make Bernard the winner of the primary. It would also make him our next state senator, given that no Republican will be on the November ballot.

Clemens was mayor of Lake Worth from 2007 to 2010. In 2010 he was elected to the Florida House.

Mack Bernard is a former Delray Beach city commissioner. If he wins the recount, he would be the first person of Haitian descent elected in Palm Beach County.