Seascape forum

[Walton Voter]

Walton Voter

This is my first time posting yet I have been a long time reader. Now it's time to express my opinions.

A quick background, I have been a taxpayer in Walton County since 1975, and I have watched the county evolve to what it is today. I have experienced all of the good old boy politics and corruptness in the past. Consequently, when I express my opinion, I am speaking of years of experience in this county and looking forward to many more years of successful growth for all Walton County residents.

I attended the political form for the South Walton Republican Club held at Seascape this past Thursday. I believe this is one of the best attended so far, and I was very impressed with the turnout of candidates.

This is the third candidate form that I have attended, and I arrived early all of the candidates running for Sheriff were definitely criticizing our current Sheriff. It was very interesting though how their demeanor changed once Sheriff Johnson arrived. Talk about personality changes and bicycling backwards you could see it immediately. To include when they got up to speak, I believe three of them complemented the Sheriff, on his office. My first impression was of a child being caught with their hands in the cookie jar the way that they were very careful on how they addressed the Sheriff's Department. This was the first time to hear Sheriff Johnson in this campaign he stated facts and figures that cannot be disputed. It made you think of our past years and how much better off we are today.

I believe it would be safe to say that the race is ON!

County Commissioner District 5

Bob Hudson came across the strongest, Sid Braunstien was a strong second. I will elaborate more on a later date.

I was slightly impressed with Mr. Osborne's youth and enthusiasm, but I question his ability to perform. I was reading his advertisements today in the Sun and one of his statements under Enforcement is he will consistently hold people accountable for code compliance. Yet he is unable to control his own campaign on placing his political signs in their proper places. He's gone through subdivisions and randomly placed signs in the right away. While the other opponents have followed the guidelines outlined by the state. If you can't control your campaign team are you going to be able to enforce the county's rules just a question that crossed my mind.

County Commissioner District 3

I was very impressed with Johnny Smith, I believe Larry Jones will have a run for his money.

Well, I have rattled long enough for my first posting, and I look forward to expressing my opinions in the future.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Walton Voter, I too, grow tired of seeing so many political signs illegally posted. From the numbers I see, most of them are on the public right of way. There are exceptions to that. Do you not see Hudson, and Braunstein's signs illegally placed as well?

 

[Walton Voter]

Not as many, the majority of the signs for Hudson have been placed on private property of course there will be one or two that will get moved out to the right away. The other day I observed a lady in a Cadillac going down Hwy 20 placing Osborne signs all in the wrong places. She had a trunk full of the signs so it was obvious that she was one of his team members.

 

[Matt J]

I typed that message using the same font which I use on 99 % of my posts. I don't understand what you are saying at all.

My apologies, the second paragraph was directed at the original poster not you.

 

[idlewind]

Walton Voter, I too, grow tired of seeing so many political signs illegally posted. From the numbers I see, most of them are on the public right of way. There are exceptions to that. Do you not see Hudson, and Braunstein's signs illegally placed as well?

Every candidate's signs (with possibly one or two exceptions) are all over the right of way and in improper places. They are an eyesore to put it mildly. But they all do it and will continue to do so as long as the laws are ignored and no consequences come from violations The candidates that really upset me are those who say they will follow the law, condemn other candidates for not following the law and then break it themselves Those are what is commonly known as hypocrites.:funn:

 

[drivingthru]

Tell me it isn?t so!

I heard that Ralph showed up at the Seascape Forum. It was also said that two of the sheriff candidates, Adkinson and Cooper, praised him for a job well done as sheriff during their presentations. These are the same two candidates that have been bashing him for the last 3 or 4 forums and all over the newspaper. At least now people can see their true colors and it just shows that they will say whatever they think will help them , they absolutely can?t be trusted. I just don?t understand why either one of them are running in this race if they feel that Ralph has done such a great job. It must be for personal reasons and not for the better of the county reasons as previously stated. They both should either apologize to Ralph for all the past comments or should apologize to those that attended the forum because they have lied to one or the other. Maybe they are scared to say those bad things to his face?either way they can?t be trusted. Make sure you become informed about each candidate before you vote.

I belive you have some facts incorrect. I dont think that Adkinson or Cooper made any attempts to take pot shots at Johnson. I do not believe that they "praised" him for anything. Love him or hate him he HAS done some positive things for the county. I do believe they offered a professional courtesy (if that is possible), and made factual statements that followed with what the shortcommings were and where they wanted to make improvements. I attended the Mossey Head event as well, and of those that made pot shots, and there were some knives thrown, it was not Adkinson or Cooper. Maybe those that cant speak their mind unless its behind someones back should be the ones you are throwing stones at. Although neither Adkinson or Cooper stood out in my books, I commend them for speaking their mind and being professional and I, as an independent listener, did not find the comments obtrusive at all. Maybe you are getting some bad information and should attend a forum on your own, or maybe you were at this one...disquised as a candidate????

 

[drivingthru]

This is my first time posting yet I have been a long time reader. Now it's time to express my opinions.

A quick background, I have been a taxpayer in Walton County since 1975, and I have watched the county evolve to what it is today. I have experienced all of the good old boy politics and corruptness in the past. Consequently, when I express my opinion, I am speaking of years of experience in this county and looking forward to many more years of successful growth for all Walton County residents.

I attended the political form for the South Walton Republican Club held at Seascape this past Thursday. I believe this is one of the best attended so far, and I was very impressed with the turnout of candidates.

This is the third candidate form that I have attended, and I arrived early all of the candidates running for Sheriff were definitely criticizing our current Sheriff. It was very interesting though how their demeanor changed once Sheriff Johnson arrived. Talk about personality changes and bicycling backwards you could see it immediately. To include when they got up to speak, I believe three of them complemented the Sheriff, on his office. My first impression was of a child being caught with their hands in the cookie jar the way that they were very careful on how they addressed the Sheriff's Department. This was the first time to hear Sheriff Johnson in this campaign he stated facts and figures that cannot be disputed. It made you think of our past years and how much better off we are today.

I believe it would be safe to say that the race is ON!

County Commissioner District 5

Bob Hudson came across the strongest, Sid Braunstien was a strong second. I will elaborate more on a later date.

I was slightly impressed with Mr. Osborne's youth and enthusiasm, but I question his ability to perform. I was reading his advertisements today in the Sun and one of his statements under Enforcement is he will consistently hold people accountable for code compliance. Yet he is unable to control his own campaign on placing his political signs in their proper places. He's gone through subdivisions and randomly placed signs in the right away. While the other opponents have followed the guidelines outlined by the state. If you can't control your campaign team are you going to be able to enforce the county's rules just a question that crossed my mind.

County Commissioner District 3

I was very impressed with Johnny Smith, I believe Larry Jones will have a run for his money.

Well, I have rattled long enough for my first posting, and I look forward to expressing my opinions in the future.

I am a taxpayer too, have been since 1982 and I remember the good old boys. Johnson said nothing of a record, he mumbled through a speech that someone else wrote that was full of quotes from people that Johnson does not even know. He has been a public official for almost 8 years. You would think that he would be confident enough now to speak to a group of his constituents for 5 minutes without reading from a paper. And I dont recall any stated facts or figures from him. You claim the candidates demeanor changed? I personally witnessed 3 of them approach him and speak to him, of course THEY had to approach him, because he stood in a corner when he arrived and didnt speak to anyone but those who came with him.
I also disagree with you on the Dist 5 and in the Dist 3 race, Jones has that one locked up but just so you know, I am not a Jones (or Johnson) supporter

 

[drivingthru]

I think most have missed the point. That point is both of these candidates say one thing when the person is not around and then something else when they are around. In other words they talk out of both sides of their mouth and will do the same to you and me if elected. I understand they did not mention anything in particular just that Johnson has done a great job. These are the same folks that say they use conservative fiscal control when dealing with taxpayer dollars but yet raise their buget over 90% and then criticize someone else about their budget. The same folks that say they have 20 years law enforcement experience but in reality have maybe 10 as a full time law enforcement officer the rest as an auxiliary officer working fairs and football games. Just make sure that you check out all of what each candidate says and how he says it...some of it is misleading

Dear Johnson (or whoever) supporter
Thank you for this post and I went and checked out the facts. I assume the 90% Budget guy that you are targeting is Mr Adkinson and the Auxillary guy is Cooper (why not throw Cornman Macon and Wise in the mix? You must not think they have a chance?) Adkinson increased a budget becasue he was allowed to do so by his council to enhance the service to the city. Not a fan of higer taxes, but did the taxes of the residents of the city increase? And for Cooper, I believe your facts are not correct there either, as he as not an Auxillary Officer, yes Mr uninformed there is a difference, and regardless of what you claim he did while he was serving, he was serving in the capacity of a law enforcement officer, like it or not was that wrong? Have these two hidden anything?. I dont feel mislead at all, infact more informed so thank you for this information.
Fortunately (or unfortunately), I know some of the candidates and each of them (including Johnson) have both good qualities and bad. The problem is those of you who think you have a dog in the race that is lagging behind, want to get out there and stir the pot with your word spinning or counter misleading innuendos. I dont care one bit about what someone has done, (I keep an eye on what they have not done though) how long they have lived in the county (or not), who their wife is, or how much training they have. I look at the person and formulate my own opinion on whether they will be good on their word and do what they say as an elected official. If Donald Duck was running and could convince me he was the best for the job, I would vote for him. Maybe its time we got a Sheriff that was not a cop at all, and just moved to the county from some small town in Idaho and had the ability to make a decesion, hire intelligent people, and be available to the public.
And in closing, why dont you attend a forum on your own and get your own facts instead of being someones puppet? I have been to two of them now. They are interesting. Think I will go to the next one in South Walton just to check out the crowd, forget all the political stuff, I want to find the ones that are stiring the pots. If you are interested, its at South Walton High School I believe they said July 30 or 31 (could not understand the guy that was talking).

 

[Andy A]

It is at SWHS on July 31st, and God williin' and the creek don't rise my wife and I will be there.

 

[idlewind]

Dear Johnson (or whoever) supporter
Thank you for this post and I went and checked out the facts. I assume the 90% Budget guy that you are targeting is Mr Adkinson and the Auxillary guy is Cooper (why not throw Cornman Macon and Wise in the mix? You must not think they have a chance?) Adkinson increased a budget becasue he was allowed to do so by his council to enhance the service to the city. Not a fan of higer taxes, but did the taxes of the residents of the city increase? And for Cooper, I believe your facts are not correct there either, as he as not an Auxillary Officer, yes Mr uninformed there is a difference, and regardless of what you claim he did while he was serving, he was serving in the capacity of a law enforcement officer, like it or not was that wrong? Have these two hidden anything?. I dont feel mislead at all, infact more informed so thank you for this information.
Fortunately (or unfortunately), I know some of the candidates and each of them (including Johnson) have both good qualities and bad. The problem is those of you who think you have a dog in the race that is lagging behind, want to get out there and stir the pot with your word spinning or counter misleading innuendos. I dont care one bit about what someone has done, (I keep an eye on what they have not done though) how long they have lived in the county (or not), who their wife is, or how much training they have. I look at the person and formulate my own opinion on whether they will be good on their word and do what they say as an elected official. If Donald Duck was running and could convince me he was the best for the job, I would vote for him. Maybe its time we got a Sheriff that was not a cop at all, and just moved to the county from some small town in Idaho and had the ability to make a decesion, hire intelligent people, and be available to the public.
And in closing, why dont you attend a forum on your own and get your own facts instead of being someones puppet? I have been to two of them now. They are interesting. Think I will go to the next one in South Walton just to check out the crowd, forget all the political stuff, I want to find the ones that are stiring the pots. If you are interested, its at South Walton High School I believe they said July 30 or 31 (could not understand the guy that was talking).

All in all you raise some good points, although I thought maybe this person was a Brown or Cornman supporter (do Macon and Wise have any supporters?) since they took Adkinson and Cooper apart. One thing about Mr. Adkinson's record though, when a leader asks for a budget increase, it is somewhat disingenuous to "blame" the city council/board of commissioners for approving it. They may face their own political kudos/criticisms for the action but the agency leader is responsible for what he/she asks for. Second, if one particular budget was raised without increasing taxes, then services somewhere else had to have been cut. So it would be for the citizens to detirmine if the overall efect was good or bad. As to Mr. Cooper, part-time in any job is not the same as full-time. That said, you are on the money when you said that what we (citizens) should be looking for is the best leader and facilitator out of the field. Johnson is obviously not the best choice.:rofl: