Here’s a big surprise – two Sumter County commissioners who voted for a 25 percent tax increase last year are suddenly having problems getting people to sign petitions for their re-election bids.
Al Butler and Steve Printz – two incumbents who are known for their strong ties to the Villages Developer – have gone so far as to ask local Republican groups to bend their rules of neutrality when it comes to party primaries. They’re also apparently willing to accept signatures from Democrats and Independents.
Conveniently, the incumbents are blaming their lack-of-signature woes on the Coronavirus crisis. Never mind the fact that their Republican opponents – Gary Search, Oren Miller and Daniel Myslakowski – didn’t have any problems getting their signatures. Of course, they didn’t dally when it came time to get to work. And perhaps more importantly, they didn’t zap residents with a 25-percent tax increase and are running mostly on that issue alone.
“I had no trouble collecting the signatures,” said Search, of the Village of Amelia, who collected more than 1,000 signatures supporting his run against Butler.
Both Miller and Myslakowski were notified in March that they had successfully completed the petition process in their bid to unseat Printz in the upcoming election.
We’re guessing Butler and Printz haven’t yet collected their signatures because they were going to do what they do best – taking the easy way out. We’re betting they were counting on hobnobbing at the annual Lincoln Day Dinner in March with their Villages GOP pals, grabbing a bunch of their buddies’ signatures and then moving forward. Obviously, they didn’t count on the dinner being temporarily canceled because of the Coronavirus – and now panic has set in.
To make matters even worse, the incumbents actually had the nerve to ask Republican organizations to bend the rules for them. Because let’s face it, when you’re in the Developer’s pocket, the rules don’t seem to apply to you.
Yes, Butler and Printz actually sent a sad plea via email to the Republican Federated Women of The Villages that read: “We need your help. As you may remember, we are Republicans, running in Sumter County. In order to get our names on the ballot for the August Primary election, we need petitions signed by anyone who is a Sumter County Registered Voter (of any Party affiliation.) Due to the impact of Coronavirus and the governor’s order to stay at home and maintain social distance, it has become increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to get petitions signed by physically approaching voters.”
Butler and Printz were joined in the plea by GOP Sumter County Property Appraiser Joey Hooten, who is running unopposed for another term and also is viewed as a Developer-friendly candidate.
The questionable request got the attention of the Republican Federated Women, who then sent out their own email that read: “We have received a request from two Sumter County Commissioner Candidates and Sumter County Property Appraiser Candidate for help getting their petitions signed. If you have not yet signed their petitions, please email them and have them send you the form. We cannot let this virus keep our Republican candidates off the ballot.”
Even more disturbing is that Jerry Prince, of The Villages Republican Club, sent out a similar highly questionable request for signatures for the trio of incumbents seeking re-election.
“It does not matter how you are registered (Republican, Democrat or No Party Affiliation),” wrote Prince in an email that also included directions on how to download and complete the petition. You might remember Prince as the guy who was practically booed out of the Savannah Center during a September meeting on the massive tax hike when he stood up and told the commissioners what a great job they were doing.
For the record, Sumter County Commissioner Don Burgess – another Developer-backed candidate – also is seeking re-election but was not part of the plea. The Village of Bonnybrook resident is facing a challenge from Villager Craig Estep, who was the first commission candidate to complete the signature-gathering process – long before the life-altering threat of the Coronavirus.
As for the Butler and Printz dilemma, we’d suggest those so-called Republican leaders who are so willing to show favoritism toward the incumbent commissioners take a minute to read the local GOP bylaws, which they clearly appear to be violating. They read:
ARTICLE VIII -ENDORSEMENTS AND INTRA-PARTY DIFFERENCES Section 1:Pursuant to the Republican Party of Florida’s “Rules of Procedure,” no chartered club or organization using the name “Republican” shall participate in intra-party differences, nor shall it, as an organization, seek to influence the nomination or election of any Republican over another Republican unless the Sumter County Republican Executive Committee has endorsed one Republican over another. Then the Club may seek to influence the election of the candidate endorsed by the Sumter County Republican Executive Committee. The Club shall not entertain motions to adopt platform positions on issues or endorse candidates except that they may entertain such motions to take the same position or endorse the same candidate as the Sumter County Republican Executive Committee has taken. Under no circumstances shall the Club invite a known non-Republican to be a guest speaker at a Club meeting or function without prior approval of the Sumter County Republican Executive Committee Executive Board.
There doesn’t appear to be any indication that the Sumter County Republican Executive Committee has taken the unprecedented step of endorsing candidates ahead of the August GOP primary. And until that happens, they clearly have involved themselves in an ethical issue that raises a whole bunch of nasty questions about their ties to the incumbents and the Developer, among other things.
If you ask us, this is just another example of the two Developer-backed candidates showing their arrogance and complete disregard for those they are supposed to serve. Their GOP opponents had to gather their own signatures without the help of any organizations – something Butler and Printz also should be required to do. They clearly screwed around and didn’t take the signature-gathering process seriously, most likely figuring some of the Developer’s minions would come to their rescue and make it happen. Now it’s just so easy to blame their woes on the COVID-19 virus and sluff their problem onto somebody else.
The bottom line is this: Both of those seasoned politicians should be ashamed of themselves. They not only backed a huge tax hike that’s nothing more than a sweetheart deal for the Developer, but now they’ve let their arrogance get in the way of doing what all candidates are supposed to do if they want to run for office. But that’s OK, because we’re guessing they’re going to be in for a huge surprise when the August GOP primary rolls around.
That said, we’ve found over the years that residents who are socked with huge tax hikes tend to have long memories and show up at the polls. In simple terms, it’s called, “What goes around comes around.” We’ll all have to wait and see, but for the rubber-stamping, ethics-challenged Butler and Printz, it very well could be the end of the road as County Commission lackeys for the Developer.
