Proud to be an American? Our Country, State and County need your vote! My personal recommendations included.

American FlagIf you haven’t already voted by mail or at one of the early voting sites, it’s not too late. In Broward County, you can get information about early voting, voting locations and times, etc. from the Broward Supervisor of Elections. Of course, you can always vote the old school way, in person, on election day, from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. If you haven’t voted yet, and are still struggling with some of the issues, here are my recommendations.

Regards,
Tom Truex

P.S. This is my personal opinion, provided at no cost to me or anyone else, and is not endorsed or promoted by any group, campaign or candidate.

BALLOT RECOMMENDATIONS November 2, 2010 by Tom Truex

Governor:
RICK SCOTT

United States Senate:
MARCO RUBIO

US House of Representatives:
District 20 – KAREN HARRINGTON
District 22 – ALLEN WEST

Attorney General:
PAM BONDI

Chief Financial Officer:
JEFF ATWATER

Commissioner of Agriculture:
ADAM PUTNAM

State House of Representatives:
District 100 – no recommendation
District 101 – Matt Hudsen

Retain Supreme Court Justices?
CHARLES CANADY — no recommendation
JORGE LABARGA — no recommendation
JAMES PERRY – VOTE NO, DO NOT RETAIN
RICKY POLSTON — no recommendation

Retain Judges, Fourth District Court of Appeal:
CORY CIKLIN — no recommendation
DORIAN DAMOORGIAN – VOTE YES, to retain
JONATHAN GERBER — no recommendation
ROBERT GROSS — no recommendation
SPENCER LEVIN — no recommendation
MELANIE MAY — no recommendation

Broward County Court, Group 1:
JOHN FRY

Broward County Court, Group 26:
F.J. McLAWRENCE

Broward County School Board, District 6:
MARDI COHEN or PHYLISS HOPE ** no recommendation

Broward Soil & Water Conservation District, Seat 2:
CYNTHIA THOMAS

State of Florida Constitutional Amendments:
#1 – Repeal of Public Campaign Financing – Recommend VOTE NO, so that tax dollars will not be used to finance political campaigns
#2 – Homestead Ad Valorem Tax Credit for Deployed Military Personnel — no recommendation
#4 – Referenda Required for Adoption and Amendment of Local Government Comprehensive Land Use Plans – Recommend VOTE NO
#5 – Standards to follow in Legislative Redistricting – Recommend VOTE NO. This is a politically motivated attempt to change historic voting districts.
#6 – Standards to follow in Congressional Redistricting – Recommend VOTE NO. This is a politically motivated attempt to change historic voting districts.
#8 – Revision of the Class Size Requirements for Public Schools– no recommendation

Non Binding Statewide Advisory Referendum:
Balancing the Federal Budget – Recommend VOTE YES

Broward County Charter Amendments:
#1 – Charter Review Commission and Management and Efficiency Study Committee shall meet every ten years – Recommend VOTE YES
#2 – County Code of Ethics Prevails Over Municipal Ordinance Regulating Conduct of Public Officials and Employees – Recommend VOTE NO. The County “Ethics” code is more about “political correctness” than ethics. Some of County Commissioners who approved it have extremely questionable knowledge and/or practice of ethical conduct. The current County “ethics” code should not be given this endorsement.
#3 – Broward County Constitutional Officers Subject to the Broward County Code of Ethics – Recommend VOTE NO. (same reason as previous recommendation).
#4 – Establish Charter Office of Inspector General to Investigate County and Municipal Misconduct and Gross Mismanagement. – Recommend VOTE NO.
#5 – Allow Counties to Show Taxpayers the Portion of Taxes Attributable to Constitutional Officers – Recommend VOTE YES

Pink Aloe Plant in Davie, Florida

This pretty pink aloe plant, in our yard in Davie, Florida, is another low maintanance plant that seems to always be in bloom.1 All images here are fairly high resolution. Feel free to click on the photos for a closer look!

Pink Aloe plant in Davie, Florida; © Tom Truex, 2010
The Aloe plant is as useful as it is beautiful. The cactus like leaves have a gooey sap that’s good when applied to minor burns. Commercially it’s used in lots of stuff.
Pink Aloe, © Tom Truex, 2010
At right is another view of the pink aloe in our yard, zoomed out a bit.
Continue reading “Pink Aloe Plant in Davie, Florida”

  1. This plant was originally mentioned in my former blOg at davie.TV, in June 2005, when I was still the Mayor of Davie, FL. As you can see from the photos in this post, taken on July 17, 2010, our clump of aloe plants is still going strong.

Crepe Myrtle (aka Crape Myrtle)

Crepe Myrtle
Crepe Myrtle
There are, apparently, many varieties of Crepe Myrtle1, under the scientific names, Lagerstroemia speciosa or Lagerstroemia indica. Our tree, in Davie, Florida, is about 10 or 15 years old and stands no more than 15 feet tall. We bought it in a pot at Flamingo Gardens. Some sources describe a taller variety (40 feet) as the Queen Crepe Myrtle. Our tree blew over in Hurricane Wilma (2005). We tipped it back up, and braced it with a two-by-four for a couple of years. I’m expecting it to be history when we have our next big storm. But until then, it has beautiful pink blooms, pictured here.

According to Tropical Trees (Dorthy and Bob Hargreaves, Ross-Hargreaves, publishers, 1965):

Speciosa comes from the Latin meaning “pleasing to the eye.” This beautiful deciduous tree, native of India, in certainly pleasing to the eye. It is valued for its tough red timber, medicinal use, and ornamental beauty. Many in South Florida, Jamaica, and other Caribbean Islands, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, South America and Mexico.

  1. The spelling seems to be equally correct, if either “Crepe Myrtle” or “Crape Myrtle” is used

image_pdfimage_print