There You Go Again

The following is a quote from a post by Charlie Grapski on the ALA Speakout Blog, posted on 07-31-06.

"I think the most telling thing about Rod Smith - is that the Alachua County Republican Party, its friends the developers, and those they work with in the City of Alachua all WANT Rod Smith as Governor - yet he is a Democrat."

On what do you base this ridiculous claim about the Republican Party? I can assure you, that it is not true. Just as we have volunteers working hard, now, in both the Crist and Gallagher camps, when the primary is over, they will all be working very hard to make sure that the Republican primary winner wins the election.

But, what is particularly disturbing, is your tendancy to just make stuff up.

By the way, I called the Division of Elections, again, this morning. You claim that you filed your second quarter report, but they have no record of a Q2 report filed by you. Can you explain that? It is probably just another example of your tendancy to make stuff up.

1. Where is your report?
2. If no contributions or expenditures, where is your waiver?
3. How do you expect anybody to take you seriously on election reform or your complaints about the city of Alachua when they know that you just make stuff up?

Posted by SJ

No Excuses

On his own "Alachua Project" blog, Charlie Grapski says:

"Ignorance of the law is no excuse. . ."

Charlie, we agree. That is why you should correct your first report, file your second one, and open your campaign bank account for inspection and reconciliation to your reports.

If fair and honest elections are as important to you as you say, I am sure you will have no qualms about complying.


Posted by SJ

Withdrawn / Did Not Qualify

Well, Charlie Grapski did not qualify for State House. In a letter to supporters, Mr. Grapski stated that it was a difficult decision, as he believed that he could have won the race. His letter was filled with lofty platitutdes of taking back local government, town by town, starting with Alachua.

In one statement, Mr. Grapski says that he aims to, ". . . begin restablishing the rule of law and real democratic government BY THE PEOPLE." I would suggest that Mr. Grapski start by filing his overdue campaign finance report. By law, candidates are required to file campaign finance reports by a due date. Mr. Grapski's last campaign finance report was due on July 10th. To this day, it remains unfiled.

Mr. Grapski could then continue his efforts by correcting his previous campaign report to show his contributions. His January 1st to March 31st campaign finance report shows expenditures and no contributions. That is certainly not abnormal, in and of itself, except that it was Mr. Grapski's first campaign report. It would seem that Mr. Grapski is claiming to have spent money before he had it.

The fact is that both his incomplete Q1 report and his non-existent Q2 report put Mr. Grapski in violation of Florida Statutes 106.07. While Mr. Grapski is beating his chest about clean and honest elections, he has committed serious violations of state law, as a candidate.

Mr. Grapski, come clean. Fix your report and file the missing one. Indeed, you will still have other reports to file. As it is now known that you are incapable of adhereing to campaign finance laws, we would like to see you open your campaign account for inspection and reconciliation with your reports.

Mr. Grapski's letter to his supporters is as follows:



Friday, July 21, 2006
A message from Charlie
Hello friends

I have decided this morning to NOT qualify for the 2006 general election for the Florida House. This was a difficult decision - as I believe I could have won this race and played a significant role in bringing change to our political system from the level of the State of Florida.

With the legal battles ongoing I have had to neglect my campaign to instead redirect efforts into the fight for the rights of the residents of one city in my district.

I believe that, at this time, the best use of my talents and those of others who support me is to focus them inward - prove we can indeed take back our government for the people in one city - while at the same time building a true grassroots movement in the counties of North Central Florida in preparation for the 2008 election cycle.

This will enable us to refocus these efforts over a two-year period of organization and development so that we can be even more effective in our struggle.

I hope to build the Alachua Project in two directions: 1) Recruiting national support for a grassroots effort to take back one town - and prove we can do it; 2) Expanding this to taking back the local level of government town-by-town across Florida and across the nation - thus turning it into the Democracy Project.

I believe that if we can direct 10% of the national grassroots movement into a focused local reform effort - we can level the playing field and we can begin re-establishing the true rule of law and real democratic government BY THE PEOPLE. With our collective knowledge, energy, resources, etc. we can take back America one town at a time.

I believe, furthermore, that with two years of organization and mobilization through such a project we can lay the foundations for a truly independent grassroots wave of empowered citizens who will be the primary, rather than secondary, forces in the 2008 election cycle nationwide.

I will announce my plans for the next two years in the upcoming days. I apologize to all of you who have done so much to support me and I hope that I have not let you down. This is a very hard decision - but I believe that in the long-run it will prove to be for the best.

This is not about me alone - but about all of us - and I am committed to do any and everything in my power for the next two years to accomplish our goals and objectives. This is about all of us - as a community.

I will need your support in these endeavors - and hope that I can call on you for assistance in these efforts.

Feel free to call or email me to let me know your feelings on this and if you have any ideas or suggestions.

Again, I apologize to all who have done so much to assist me in this effort to date. Its people like you that have given me the ground upon which to remain optimistic that WE, together, can fight this very important battle - and it is a struggle that will not be won overnight - and bring it to a victory within the next few years.


Posted by SJ

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Charlie Grapski, A Loyal Alachua County Democrat

Loves Mike Byerly

Obsessed with Clovis Watson

Friend of Dr. Evil

'Nuff Said

Three Consent Agenda Fraud Scenarios: Discredited

Charlie Grapski said:
2) You beg the biggest question of all. Show me a time when the City of Gainesville or the County of Alachua has KEPT something on a consent agenda WHEN a member of the public requested to give input into the matter?

Very good, Charlie! A third change in your Consent Agenda Fraud Scenario. Your feet move faster than anybody I know. Let’s review your, so far, three different Consent Agenda Fraud Scenarios:

Charlie’s Consent Agenda Fraud Scenario #1:
Consent agenda is illegal because it implies consent from each commissioner, up-front – which implies communication between the commissioners – which results in a violation of Sunshine Laws.

Scenario #1 Discredited:
We pointed out that you don’t understand how the consent agenda works. It doesn’t require prior consent by the commissioners. The manager or staff can put items on the consent agenda. In fact, if you look at the City of Gainesville Consent agenda, they have a section for each department that puts stuff on the consent agenda. Fraud Scenario #1: discredited

Charlie’s Consent Agenda Fraud Scenario #2:
We proved you wrong on 1, so you modified your fraud scenario to “How they use the consent agenda”. You claim that they cannot put substantive items on the consent agenda. In your postings across the net, including at HowardEmpowered.com, you claimed that expending money and approving the application of grants were substantive items. On howardempowered.com, you specifically complained about the last consent agenda in which the city accepted a road for which a grant had been awarded, about 2 years ago. From your posting, you, obviously, didn’t understand that the road had been approved about 2 years ago, the grant awarded, and the only thing left was the housekeeping as required by the grant for the city to accept the road.

Scenario #2 Discredited:
The Gainesville City Commission and the Alachua County Commission both use the consent agenda and both use it for items that you describe as substantive. Bud has pointed out $5,300,000 expenditure on the 07-11-06 Alachua County Commission consent agenda. During the 06-12-06 meeting of the Gainesville City Commission, the commission approved $75,000 on the consent agenda. At the 06-26-06 Gainesville City Commission meeting, on the consent agenda was an item to apply for grants from the Department of Homeland Security totally more than $2.2 million over 5 years, and, if awarded, the city would kick in a matching amount of more than $2.2 million over 5 years. Fraud Scenario #2: discredited

Charlie’s Consent Agenda Fraud Scenario #3:
Show me a time when the City of Gainesville or the County of Alachua has KEPT something on a consent agenda WHEN a member of the public requested to give input into the matter?

Scenario #3 Discredited:
I don’t know that they have, or haven’t, and neither do you. The problem with this scenario is that you never asked in the appropriate fashion. The agendas are available before the meeting. Before the last couple of meetings, both Michael Canney and David Russ asked to have items removed from the consent agenda. The City of Alachua accommodated them. They know the proper procedure. It is NOT the proper procedure for a member of the public to stand up and start shouting out motions. Robert’s Rules apply to the commission members, and DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU, as a member of the public. It seems that you are the only one that doesn’t know how to have an item removed from the Consent Agenda.

The only fraud being perpetrated on the public is by you, dear Charlie. You are also perpetrating a huge fraud on your howardempowered.com friends. I don't blame them, because they only know what you tell them.

As a public actor and as a prototypical Alachua County Democrat, Charlie, your actions have been reckless and immoral with the goal of nothing more than stopping economic development, job creation and of progressivly creating an unattainable socialist utopia.


Posted by SJ

Continuing From the Previous Thread

Charlie, as near as I can tell, Bud never expressed any desire to debate you on the principles of the founding of our country. He leaves that to you and Dr. Ellis.

You are deflecting, again. I can only assume that you have no logical answer to my July 5th, 11:13 post.

When you are dragged out of the confines of the political theory that you continue to immerse yourself into - when you are dragged into practical reality, you are, obviously, out of your element.

I don't need to explore founding principles to know that the minority business ownership rate in Alachua County is half the state average and that it is the anti-business policies of democrats like you that make that happen.

I don't need to explore founding principles to know that we are under the state average in being able to provide jobs in the $25,000 to $50,000 range, and that it is the anti-business policies of democrats like you that make that happen.

I don't need to explore founding principles to know that, even when we account for student rentals, the homeownership rate in our county is well below the state average, and that it is anti-business, anti-economic opportunity policies by democrats like you that help make that happen.

I don't need to explore founding principles to know that nearly half the kids that go to Alachua County Public Schools qualify for free and reduced lunch programs, and that it is anti-business, anti-economic opportunity policies by democrats like you that have helped to make that happen.

I don't need to explore founding principles to know that in 2003, 19.8% of children (0 to 17) lived at or below the poverty line and that it is anti-business, anti-economic opportunity policies by model Alachua County Democrats like you that have made that so.

Before you try to blame George Bush (your friends on the DEC did after we first started exploring these numbers), please note that we compared these to state averages and we, as a county, don't stack up well with the state statistics.

Be honest, Charlie. You don't want good government. You want to overturn an election and take another shot at getting the liberal / progressive candidate on the commission. If the liberal/ progressive had won by 2 votes you would have had no desire to explore this election any further.

You attack Alachua for its use of the consent agenda, but you are being disingenuous because the City of Gainesville uses its consent agenda to expend funds and to apply for grants.

You just went after Bud by recycling the same arguments that I shot down in the earlier post.

You continue to harp about low wage jobs, but I pointed out that the Dollar General jobs probably pay more than custodial jobs at UF. Are you seriously going to deny somebody that opportunity? You harp about subsidizing big business, but what if that business brings in more into the community than it costs to bring it here?

Charlie, did you oppose the re-development subsidies approved by the Gainesville City Commission. I would argue that is a worse kind of subsidy than those put forward for DG or Wal-Mart. Beyond construction, the apartment and condo projects that the city is giving huge tax breaks for don’t really provide a steady flow of jobs, and the money collected in rents, etc goes to out of town owners. The value is in the property taxes they can raise, but we are giving those away?

I keep making points that you keep refusing to address. Forget about Bud. Quit dodging me by answering him. You work out whatever you want to work out with him, but quit dodging me. I will challenge you to a debate, anytime, (WSKY if you would like, since you mentioned it) on these subjects, and I promise you, I will win it.

Posted by Stafford

Capitalism = Corruption and Jobs = Slavery

So finally after weeks of asking Mr. Grapski what was his definition of profiteer we have an answer. He says we are “corrupt”, that we “profit” from our community service and that we will be “arrested” and “put in jail” because he has “proof positive” of our crimes. And what is our crime? It turns out it is because we believe in Capitalism. Mr. Grapski has revealed that he is a Socialist and in true ideolog fashion, everyone who believes differently is a criminal. He wants to REDISTRIBUTE collective resources (wealth) from those who have achieved success and give it to the public, i.e. those poor African Americans with high utility bills or those small business entrepreneurs trying to live the American Dream.

Mr. Grapski lives in a theoretical world. He certainly doesn’t live in the real world. In fact he is a parasite and I use that term in a scientific way, in all due respect. A parasite is an organism that lives off another organism without harming the host. For the past forty one years Mr. Grapski has been sucking at the teat of his liberal friends. He hasn’t found it necessary to go out into the real world and get a job to earn a paycheck to acquire life’s necessities. If he needs $10,000 to pursue his lawsuit he panders to his fellow Socialists/Liberals and they are happy to give him their hard earned money. In fact they shower him with computers and free housing. What a life. I wish that I could be so fortunate but I was instilled with a work ethic from parents who lived in the real world who didn’t believe that the government and friends should support them.

Let us look at some of Mr. Grapski’s arguments. Why are there some who have high utility bills? Is it the high cost of fuel that gets passed on to customers? Yes, to some extent but then “everyone” pays the same rate. Are some not conserving energy? Are the poor not supposed to conserve? Are their houses poorly constructed without adequate insulation? Can that be because there are not decent paying jobs available close to home so they don’t have to spend more of their budget on gasoline? In Mr. Grapski’s world the government will just give them more to pay their bills from those who have achieved. What we want is to give everyone the “opportunity” to pull themselves up the ladder to a better life and that is a “crime” in Mr. Grapski’s eyes.

Mr. Grapski as a Socialist/Liberal has a problem with our efforts to bring those needing decent jobs to those very jobs via buses. This is a contradiction in itself. I would have thought that this effort would be supported by him since he claims to be in favor of helping the poor. But he hasn’t attended any of the public meetings where this service was discussed. The goal is to establish routine bus service through out the day for everyone. This is just the first small step. Why is he against using tax dollars to help those less fortunate? I will never understand the thinking of a Socialist ideolog.

Mr. Grapski thinks that the City hasn’t helped local businesses with tax breaks and infrastructures. I can easily think of three; Hitchcocks, Sabine and Driltech. Grant money also was used to revitalize downtown Main St that helped ALL those businesses. Again, Mr Grapski wasn’t around when it was blighted with empty stores and a seedy bar. The City got a grant to purchase Rolling Green Academy and turned it into the finest recreation center in the county that all businesses and public have benefited.

The biggest rant of Mr. Grapski that bothers me the most is the claim that Dollar General jobs “guarantee” that their employees will be “locked into those …jobs”. I am sure that he has an image in his mind of poor people shackled to their work stations like slaves and the “evil” corporation whipping them to produce more. This is the biggest lie of the Socialists. The American Dream is that those who have the motivation to succeed can by hard work and learning skills for advancement. Dollar General has been a corporate leader in this area, go to their website for more information. However, this doesn’t fit Mr. Grapski’s agenda.

There was a letter to the editor recently when Mr. Grapski’s friends in the ALA were carrying on about the “menial minimum wage jobs that lead to the dumbing down of America” (Eileen McCoy’s campaign slogan). It was written by a woman who had worked at the local pharmacy while going to college. She needed to arrange her work schedule to fit her college schedule. The pharmacy said that they wouldn’t do that so she took a job at Dollar General. She pointed out that they were more than happy to accommodate her. In fact they helped pay for her classes AND paid her more then she had been making working at the pharmacy!

Bottom line, there will always be a difference of opinion between those who want bland government handouts and those who believe that America is the greatest country in the world because we give everyone the opportunity to succeed IF THEY ARE WILLING TO PUT IN THE HARD WORK NECESSARY. If this wasn’t true why do so many come here legally and illegally? Last time I looked it wasn’t a crime to be a Capitalist.

Posted by Bud Calderwood