Rep. Byron Donalds introduces Alfie Oakes at a gathering at Food & Thought 2 last Wednesday.
April 26, 2024 by David Silverberg
Francis Alfred “Alfie” Oakes III will be running again to keep his seat as a Collier County Republican state committeeman, he announced Wednesday, April 24.
Oakes, a local farmer, grocer and Trumpist activist, made the announcement at a gathering at his Food & Thought 2 restaurant. The Republican primary election is scheduled for August 20.
Oakes was endorsed by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-19-Fla.) and said in his turn he supports Donalds as well for whatever position he seeks, mentioning the possibility of Donalds’ running for governor in 2026.
In his remarks he also mentioned that while “America First” Republicans had been successful in the past, their preferred candidate, Ted Blankenship, had been rebuffed for mayor in the City of Naples election on March 19, as a result of “country club Republicans.” He said he anticipated different results in Collier County in the upcoming elections.
Oakes endorsed Kristina Heuser for a committe position on the Collier County Republican Executive Committee (CCREC) to replace the current member, JoAnn DeBartolo, a longtime conservative, pro-Trump activist.
Heuser is a local lawyer and the drafter of Collier County’s anti-federal nullification ordinance, which passed the Board of Commissioners last August. A previous ordinance she wrote was defeated in 2021.
Kristina Heuser.
Donalds, Oakes and Heuser all called for unity among Republicans, while acknowledging differences of opinion within the Party.
“Before the Democrats do anything to us, we have to make sure that we don’t do anything to ourselves,” said Donalds. He said that while Republicans had divisions it was only the result of “a passionate commitment” to keep Florida the best state in the country “but that is only going to happen if we unite as one party.”
Oakes said that he opposed DeBartolo for another term on the Committee but chose not to elaborate, saying “if you can’t say something nice about someone don’t say anything at all.”
In her address Heuser stated: “There is an evil, George Soros-funded movement in Florida,” she said of the initiative to amend the state Constitution to guarantee a right to abortion. Amendment 4 supporters “want to legalize abortion through birth, not through a law that can be undone but by putting it into the Florida state Constitution.” She urged listeners to vote against it in November.
She continued: “They are going to say this is to protect women’s health but no, this is to say that the legislature cannot restrict abortion at all.”
She said she would work “to make sure the Republican Party continues to stand for life.”
She also said that while working in New York she had met people who lost their jobs for refusing to take the COVID vaccine and “the government should never tell you [that] you have to inject toxic drugs into your body.”
She said she and the others gathered there were present “we’re here to protect Biblical values” and “We seek the truth through love, that is what the Bible tells us to do.”
Still, Collier County has ‘a superb system’ for elections
Collier County Commissioner Chris Hall at the moment he discussed 9/11. (Image: CCBC)
April 24, 2024 by David Silverberg
During discussion of his election-disrupting resolution during the Collier County Board of Commissioners meeting yesterday, April 23, Commissioner Chris Hall (R-District 2) said that the election of President Joe Biden in 2020 hit him harder than the terrorist-piloted planes that smashed into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
“I’ll never forget how I felt the night of the 2020 election,” said Hall. “It was worse than I felt on 9/11.”
He continued: “There was something just deeply wrong with that and I know several in here in the room was ecstatic about that. But there was nothing that was fair about that election, when the results didn’t even show up and had been manipulated.”
He then declined to continue on the subject or offer evidence. “You know, I’m not going to go down that rabbit hole but there’s a rabbit hole to go down,” he said.
Hall’s comparison of the 2020 election results to 9/11 brought a rare rebuke from fellow Commissioner Rick LoCastro (R-District 1) when it was his turn to speak. LoCastro is a retired US Air Force colonel and Air Force Academy graduate.
“First I want to say something to you, Chairman Hall, and I mean this with no disrespect,” he said, somberly. “I was unhappy in 2020 but I got to tell you, as a veteran, I could never say it was worse than 9/11. I lost so many people on 9/11 and afterwards and so…. I understand how you package the meaning you were trying to say and so I realize you’re not being disrespectful, you’re a huge supporter of veterans but I just want to go on the record to all the veterans that are here: 9/11 was horrific, OK?
“Nobody died in 2020. I lost hundreds of friends, I held dead people in my arms, I put American flags over caskets, I put them on airplanes after 9/11 and after, so I don’t ask you to rescind those comments and I say this with all due respect so I’m not…I hope you’re hearing this in a positive [way].”
Referring to Commissioner Burt Saunders (R-District 3), LoCastro continued: “So I think, as Commissioner Saunders said, sometimes words matter and we speak up here very quickly about domestic animal services and other things and Conservation Collier, but I just wanted to go on the record and say 9/11 was horrific and I don’t think there’s many things that I hope will [ever] top that.”
A number of public speakers at yesterday’s meeting, including Supervisor of Elections Melissa Blazier, pointed out that invalidating the 2022 election would have invalidated Hall’s own election, since that was when he won office.
But Hall was at pains to argue that his resolution did not target Collier County and he praised Blazier and the work of her office.
“One of the hardest things I’ve ever done is sit here for 45 minutes and hear this applied to things it doesn’t even apply to,” he said impatiently when the public comment period was over. “We are not talking about our local supervisor of elections. We’re not talking about Collier County, in no way. If I was ever illegally elected I would resign in three seconds.”
In Collier County, he said, “We have a superb system and I have utmost confidence that we were all elected fairly.”
The resolution was aimed at being part of a national movement to alter voting procedures, he said. “…I just want to make it very, very clear this resolution has nothing to do with our local supervisor of elections, our local integrity. It has to do with the people that’s—it’s a grassroots effort, it’s a movement to begin here and go with every county in Florida to send to our state legislators and our state Senate to let them know how important, fair, accurate and accountable elections are. That’s all it is.”
As he put it: “We want the fire to begin here.”
Commentary: finale
Given the public opposition and lack of support of the Board of Commissioners for the resolution that would have significantly altered voting procedures and made them more cumbersome, restrictive and possibly illegal, the United Sovereign Americans effort to light that fire certainly did not ignite yesterday in Collier County. Fla.
The Collier County Board of Commissioners during yesterday’s meeting. (Image: CCBC)
Commissioner Chris Hall at today’s Board of Commissioners meeting. (Image: CCBC)
April 23, 2024 by David Silverberg
Correction, April 26: Vincent Keeys did not serve on the Canvassing Board but observed its operations.
Without taking a vote, the Collier County Board of Commissioners today agreed not to advance a resolution calling for major changes to county elections, effectively killing the proposal.
The bill was drafted by an entity calling itself United Sovereign Americans, which is trying to alter elections across the United States. An activist named Marly Hornik is the only confirmed member of what purports to be a national organization.
During public comments at the meeting numerous Collier County residents rose to praise the work done by Collier County Supervisor of Elections Melissa Blazier and denounce the conspiracy theories contained in the resolution.
Diane Preston Moore, president of the Collier County League of Women Voters, said the League officially opposed the resolution, calling its title “misleading.” As for its allegations, she said, “saying something is so doesn’t make it so.”
Vincent Keeys, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, who had observed the Canvassing Board overseeing local elections stated that while Hall had every right to bring the resolution forward, “Collier County has no voting irregularities” and called the resolution “ridiculous, very costly and absolutely unnecessary.”
Blazier testified remotely, reiterating arguments she made in an April 18 letter to Hall. She called the resolution “deeply flawed and highly unnecessary” and urged commissioners to “reject this resolution.”
Commission discussion
Following the public comment portion of the meeting, Hall made the point that the resolution was not aimed at Collier County but was intended to be part of a national effort to alter elections in general. “We want the fire to begin here,” he said and if the resolution passed it would be carried to the rest of Florida’s 67 counties.
He also denied that the resolution’s establishing clauses alleging 2022 Florida voting irregularities were directed at Collier County or its conduct of elections. “This is not about us here in Collier County,” he said.
None of the other commissioners were impressed with the resolution.
“This resolution is not ready for prime time,” said Commissioner William McDaniel (R-District 5). “It stipulates a lot of things that are not consequential to Collier County.” He also pointed out that “There is not a soul in this room who does not want election integrity.”
Commissioner Rick LoCastro (R-District 1) was similarly leery, saying that it required a lot more discussion before moving forward. “I would not be comfortable voting on this now,” he said.
Commissioner Burt Saunders (R-District 3) said that while the resolution was “well-intentioned” he was prepared to vote against it if it was presented for formal approval. “I don’t think we should continue it. It is flawed to the point where we should start over. Let’s start over again with something that will be meaningful.”
Commissioner Dan Kowal (R-District 4) said: “I don’t want to put my name to something that’s a cookie-cutter resolution,” referring to its outside origins.
While McDaniel initially wanted to make the resolution a continuing matter to be taken up again at a later date, Saunders argued that it should advance no further.
Given the general reluctance to put the matter to a vote to formally defeat it, McDaniel, LoCastro, Kowal and ultimately Hall all agreed with Saunders that the best course was simply not to advance it in any way.
The resolution was thus killed without a vote. However all the commissioners stated they were open to hearing suggestions to improve elections in Collier County and welcomed input from residents.
Collier County Commissioner Chris Hall, who is planning to introduce a resolution to alter county elections on Tuesday. (Image: CCBC)
April 21, 2024 by David Silverberg
A resolution demanding election changes in Collier County that is expected to be introduced to the Board of Commissioners this coming Tuesday, April 23, is actually a standard, cookie-cutter template drafted by an organization whose executive director has in the past been warned against voter intimidation, election interference and false representation.
Commissioner Chris Hall (R-District 2) is expected to introduce a “Resolution for a Legally Valid 2024 General Election” at the Tuesday meeting. Discussion of the resolution is on the Board’s agenda.
The resolution was not locally drafted and the 11 demands it makes are not solutions tailored to Collier County needs. They are part of a national effort to profoundly change US elections by United Sovereign Americans, a national non-profit 501c3 organization that purports to promote election integrity.
The 11 demands in the resolution include stringent identity requirements, voting audits, multiple witnesses for operations and requirements for new elections if conditions are not met. (The full resolution text and its supporting documentation can be accessed and downloaded at the conclusion of this article.)
The resolution would disrupt upcoming elections in Collier County, county Supervisor of Elections, Melissa Blazier told Hall in an April 18 message. She called it “deeply flawed and highly unnecessary.” (The full text of her message is below.)
The resolution is in two parts. The first part makes unsupported allegations of election fraud in the 2022 Florida election. These allegations were conveyed to Hall by the Election Integrity Committee of the Collier County Republican Executive Committee (CCREC).
Blazier stated these allegations were “riddled with erroneous conclusions and lack any manner of legally relevant evidence.”
The second part of the resolution is just a copy of the United Sovereign Americans’ standard draft resolution produced and distributed by the organization.
Blazier wrote: “The majority of requests this resolution calls for are either already incorporated into existing law, are in direct violation of existing law or would require technology that is not yet available or authorized for use in the State of Florida.”
She noted that her office was not obligated to abide by the resolution but rather by the laws of the state and the US Constitution. Resolutions are non-binding statements of opinion by legislative bodies.
“To use the words of Governor DeSantis, Florida is the GOLD STANDARD for election administration and Collier County is a leader in the state for conducting elections,” she wrote. “By considering or even passing this resolution, the public’s confidence in the elections that are conducted by the hundreds of Collier County citizen election workers who work hard to ensure fair, accurate and legal elections is further eroded.”
Past allegations
Since the election of 2020, unsupported allegations of election fraud and calls to audit or overturn certified elections are nothing new in Collier County.
While United Sovereign Americans’ website claims chapters in 24 states and thousands of volunteers, it does not provide a single name, identify a director, or provide a headquarters location.
In an undated podcast, Hornik told interviewer Jeff Dornik that United Sovereign Americans was “working in state after state to prove that non-compliant and inaccurate elections were certified as compliant and accurate” and that “the elections were a sham, that the certifications were an act of perjury.”
In 2023, New York State Attorney Letitia James sent a cease and desist letter to Hornik stating “that reports alleging that volunteers from the NY Citizens Audit Civic Fund have confronted voters across the state at their homes, falsely claimed to be Board of Elections officials, and falsely accused voters of committing felony voter fraud.”
The letter demanded: “You are hereby instructed to cease and desist any ongoing or contemplated voter deception and intimidation efforts, including instructing or otherwise causing volunteers to falsely represent themselves as government officials or falsely accuse voters of voter fraud. Voter deception and intimidation have no place in New York, and the [Office of Attorney General] will use every tool at its disposal to protect New York voters.”
(The full text of the letter can be accessed and downloaded below.)
United Sovereign Americans is calling for election challenges across the United States. As part of that effort it provides the 11-point draft resolution for local political bodies to use as a model for election demands. This is the same draft being used by Hall for his resolution in Collier County.
As a basis for its allegations of Florida voting irregularities in 2022, Hall’s resolution cites the information provided by the CCREC.
A key member of the CCREC is Francis Alfred “Alfie” Oakes III, a local farmer and grocer, who is also an elected Party state committeeman.
Oakes has been an intense adherent of President Donald Trump’s untrue allegations of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
In 2021 he called for an audit of the results of the 2020 election results in Florida, despite their being uncontested by any party and the fact that they led to all Republican victories. On the Alex Jones InfoWars show, he offered a $100,000 political contribution to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) if the governor would sit down for two hours to listen to Oakes’ allegations of election fraud in person. This prompted fellow Trump activist Christy McLaughlin to warn that such a direct quid pro quo contribution would constitute a bribe, an argument Oakes rejected. Ultimately, DeSantis never took up the offer and the election results were unchallenged.
The allegations of voter fraud passed on by the CCREC prompted Blazier to ask why, if they were aware of election irregularities, they weren’t reported to the proper authorities at the time.
Blazier’s message to Hall is provided in full below:
Commissioner Hall,
As Collier County Supervisor of Elections, with 18+ years of election administration experience, I find the attached proposed resolution to be deeply flawed and highly unnecessary. The statements purporting to support the 11 requests are riddled with erroneousness conclusions and lack any manner of legally relevant evidence. I am concerned that this matter is being presented to the board without being thoroughly vetted to the legitimacy of its claims. One of the key questions is, if the outside organization that provided this information to the Collier County Republican Executive Committee had proof or evidence that the State of Florida’s election had violated both federal and state laws, why would they not present that evidence through the proper legal channels versus through a nonbinding resolution at the local level? This resolution states that the 2022 General Election, in the State of Florida, was fraught with massive inaccuracies that violate both Federal and State laws. This is the same election, may I remind you, that 44 races and contests were decided in Collier County – including County Commission District 2.
The majority of requests this resolution calls for are either already incorporated into existing law, are in direct violation of existing law or would require technology that is not yet available or authorized for use in the State of Florida. My comments on each of the 11 requests is also attached. As election officials in Florida, my staff and I take an oath of office to uphold both the US and Florida constitutions and to implement Florida’s election laws. Should this resolution pass, we are under no obligation to follow it unless otherwise required by state and federal law.
To use the words of Governor DeSantis, Florida is the GOLD STANDARD for election administration and Collier County is a leader in the state for conducting elections. By considering or even passing this resolution, the public’s confidence in the elections that are conducted by the hundreds of Collier County citizen election workers who work hard to ensure fair, accurate and legal elections is further eroded. The statements in this resolution only fuel the harassment of the many individuals who come together to ensure the integrity of the electoral process in our community.
I truly hope that you give consideration to my thoughts and concerns and do not pass this egregious resolution.
Sincerely,
Melissa R. Blazier
Since Hall is expected to introduce his resolution at the Collier County Board of Commissioners meeting this coming Tuesday, April 23, Collier County residents can express an opinion on this matter by writing or calling their commissioners. The resolution is listed as agenda item 10A and residents who sign up in person the day of the meeting can speak before the Board for 3 minutes.
The first poster issued for the movie Civil War. (Art: A24)
April 19, 2024 by David Silverberg
Back on Dec. 13, the independent, boutique movie studio A24 released a horrific-looking trailer for a movie called Civil War.
Its premise was that civil war breaks out in the United States between a president and his forces and an insurrectionist opposition. It was impossible to tell from the trailer whether the person portrayed as the president in the movie was supposed to be Joe Biden or Donald Trump or whether the insurrectionists were fighting to Make America Great Again (MAGA) or to preserve democracy.
The movie was released last weekend, on April 12, without the fanfare and the major marketing push that prospective blockbusters command. Nonetheless it earned $25.7 million at the box office on its opening weekend, a record for A24.
It is currently playing in Southwest Florida theaters.
Back in January, after watching the trailer, this author raised the question whether this movie would encourage would-be insurrectionists to take up arms against the government of the United States.
As stated at the time: “Whether pro or anti insurrection—or even anti-American—the most dangerous thing about this movie is that it will encourage those thinking of civil war and political violence to actually take up arms and make this fiction real. People living in deep red, heavily MAGA, gun-saturated places—like Southwest Florida—where there has already been talk of armed revolution, know that the line between fantasy and reality in this matter is already very thin.”
Having seen it, this author can address the question: is this movie likely to incite political violence and armed insurrection?
Rather than the usual domain for a movie review—the artistic, aesthetic and performance aspects—this review will try to answer that question.
But to understand the answer, one needs to know the setting, the characters, and the plot.
Background
Anyone thinking of seeing this movie should know at the outset that in its quest for authenticity it is extremely violent, bloodily graphic, literally gory, incredibly loud and full of profanity. There are a lot of unceremonious executions. It is rated R.
The civil war is already under way as the movie opens. The exact details of the conflict are only sketched out. The president, a man given to hyperbole and exaggeration who wears red ties, is in his (implied) illegitimate third term and has no intention of leaving the office.
“Western forces” consisting of Californian and Texan troops are at war with the federal government as is a “Florida alliance,” which has tried to make headway toward Washington, DC. Both have been beaten back, according to the president, who characterizes them as “secessionist.”
“Some are already calling it the greatest victory in the history of mankind,” he says.
In New York City, an experienced war photographer named Lee Smith, played by Kirsten Dunst, is photographing street protests that end in a bloody explosion, part of the rising tide of violence. Her driver and assistant is Joel, played by Brazilian-born actor, Wagner Moura.
Together they plan to travel to Washington, DC to cover the culmination of the rebellion. But as they talk of going, Sammy, played by Stephen McKinley Henderson, an old, lame New York Times reporter they know, cadges a ride. Also tagging along is Jessie, played by Cailee Spaeny, an aspiring war photographer who idolizes Lee (and who, in the biggest unreality of the entire movie, insists on shooting black and white film!).
So now the stereotypical quartet is complete: a hard-bitten, disillusioned veteran photog who has seen it all; a vaguely Latino sidekick; an ingénue and apprentice; and an old, wise, disabled black character providing special insights, a cliché known as the “magical Negro,” a term invented by director Spike Lee.
The movie could have been titled Four Tropes in a Truck.
No spoiler here: the psychological arc of the story is the maturation and brutal, real-world education of Jessie.
While in real life the road from New York to Washington, DC is pretty straightforward (Interstate 95, anyone?) the situation is such that the characters have to follow a roundabout route through the backroads of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
This odyssey leads to a series of dystopian episodes that illustrate the disruption, inhumanity and confusion of civil war. (And also allow for filming tight, intimate scenes that don’t cost too much to set up.)
The film culminates in an elaborate, destructive assault on Washington and the White House, whose compound has been surrounded by a high, heavily fortified concrete wall, presumably built at the direction of this president.
Portraying civil war
The term “civil war” has been bandied about a great deal lately, mostly by MAGAs loyal to former President Donald Trump, who has also warned of a “bloodbath” if he’s not returned to office this November.
Naples farmer and grocer Alfie Oakes takes aim in an Aug. 8, 2021 Facebook post stating, “I pray we have election integrity in 2022…. if we don’t we must prepare for the worst! Our second amendment right is specifically to revolt against a a tyrannical government! Prepare for the worst and pray for the best.” (Photo: Facebook)
The people discussing “civil war” as a real possibility don’t appear to have a clue what real “civil war” means. They don’t appear to understand just what a tragedy, a horror, and an apocalypse a civil war constitutes. When Trump discusses a “bloodbath” and his enablers, like Rep. Byron Donalds (R-19-Fla.), defend it, they’re not showing any real comprehension of what happens when a society and nation is viciously ripped apart; when neighbors, family, friends turn on each other—and lose their nearest and dearest at each other’s hands.
To some small degree the movie Civil War conveys this kind of holocaust.
There is one scene where the journalists are stopped by an armed man of indeterminate side. When they say they are Americans like him, he asks: “What kind of Americans?”
“What kind of Americans?” (Image: A24)
Their lives depend on their answers, but there’s no telling what his standards are or what kind of Americans he’s seeking.
This in some small way conveys the horror and mortal uncertainty of a civil war.
To me one of the most tragic and awful depictions in the movie is a battle between uniformed soldiers and US Secret Service agents in the halls of the White House.
To know US Secret Service agents is to know some of the most patriotic, loyal, dedicated, highly-trained servants of this country, many with military backgrounds, people whose lives are on the line daily in the performance of their duties. To see them pitted—even fictionally—against fellow American soldiers really brings home the tragedy and horror of what a “civil war” truly means.
In a sense Civil War serves a constructive role in bringing all this horror this home. But the large number of appalling incidents and images also desensitizes the viewer to the brutality of what’s happening so that by the end, these occurrences are just a matter of course, exactly as Jessie learns to experience them.
This desensitization occurred during America’s real Civil War too. At the very outset northerners were appalled in 1861 by the killing of a single Union officer, Col. Elmer Ellsworth, when he was shot taking down a Confederate flag in Alexandria, Va. He was the first Union soldier to die and his death made headlines. By the end of the conflict in 1865, over 600,000 Americans were dead, their passing just statistics in the newspapers of the time.
Americans received a foretaste of real civil war on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump pitted thousands of his followers against the US Congress and the Capitol Police. American Trumpers beat and battered American police officers doing their duty protecting the American Capitol. Americans attempted to lynch an American Vice President. It is remarkable that only one rioter was shot and that plans to use lethal force against members of Congress did not succeed. It could have been a real bloodbath.
A non-fiction documentary of Jan. 6 could serve as a depiction of a second American civil war instead of the movie’s fictional portrayal.
(And on a personal note: As a journalist I had the privilege during my career of being granted entry to the White House and always approached that mansion with a sense of respect and even awe. It was wrenching to watch even a replica of hallways I had known wrecked in the movie, just as much as it was devastating to watch Capitol corridors I had walked defiled and vandalized on Jan. 6. As though to make things worse, the movie shows the Lincoln Memorial attacked, the same building before whose steps I took my wedding vows on a boat on the Potomac. Every one of these sacred, meaningful sites has now been devastated in fact or in fiction. Next, no doubt, will come the turn of the Supreme Court—and if the justices rule that the Jan. 6 rioters go free from charges of obstructing government, then they deserve what they get when their chambers are invaded and vandalized in their turn.)
The Lincoln Memorial attacked in the movie. (Image: A24)
Does it incite?
Will this movie inspire someone to take up arms and violently try to overthrow the Constitution and the government of the United States?
Probably not—at least from a standing start. However, a person already inclined to use violence might find additional motivation from this movie.
The movie is likely to inspire at least one imitative mass shooting or attack on a soft target like a peaceful gathering or a theater. If that happens, investigators should ask if the perpetrators saw the film and were incited by it.
Almost as damaging as possible incitement is the fact that movie posits lethal violence as a political solution. That is unacceptable in a civil society governed by law. In a society ripped apart by civil war violence is the last solution left but—mercifully—America is not there now, at least to the point of widespread disorder.
That should never be allowed to happen in America. It’s one more reason that the concept of civil war is so abhorrent on so many levels, even in fictional depictions.
Anti-Trump or anti-Union?
It’s clear that the President, played by Nick Offerman, is a portrayal of Donald Trump. MAGAs, however, may see the situation through the lens of President Joe Biden as the overstepping tyrant in the movie, justifying armed resistance.
However, the real political threat portrayed in the movie is the notion of secession from the United States by violent means. After all, the overall political situation in the movie is one of states revolting against a hijacked federal government—although the notion of Florida rising up against Trump or a California-Texas alliance is pretty far-fetched at the moment.
Still, secession is rearing its head again and expressing itself in anti-federal actions, particularly in Florida and Texas.
Daniel Miller, president of the Texas Nationalist Movement, stated that the movie was “not as implausible as some people would have you believe” and was “pouring gasoline on the fire” of a Texas secessionist movement that has been called “Texit.”
The resistance of the governors of Florida and Texas to federal authority has been called “soft secession” and it is likely to go further. They continue defying federal authority, including that of the Supreme Court.
So the movie revives the idea of a state-based secession movement, an argument that was seemingly settled in 1865.
The sign of secession in the heart of one nation, indivisible: Rioter Kevin Seefried of Delaware carries the Confederate flag into the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. In February 2023 Seefried was sentenced to three years in prison for obstruction of an official proceeding and for using that flag to attack Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, who heroically led rioters away from the Senate chamber. (Photo: AFP/Saul Loeb)
Takeaways
To answer the first question any movie review should answer: Should you go see the movie?
If you enjoy extreme violence, gore and chaos, yes. But if you don’t, your life won’t be any worse for skipping it. If you do see it, it’s unlikely to profoundly change your outlook or worldview.
But in a larger sense, and looking more broadly, one hopes this film might serve to dampen down the threats of armed insurrection, violence, bloodbaths and secession.
One can understand what inspired its creation and the desire to produce it. Its producers have every right to present it.
Fortunately, it is not an unmistakable incitement to civil disorder and insurrection. It doesn’t call on viewers to take up arms and go to war.
But neither is it a clear deterrent.
It shows the horrors of civil war and what that would entail at ground level. But it doesn’t convey the full, deep meaning of what civil war would do to America and the full magnitude of the disaster that civil war imposes on any society.
Ultimately, a civil war in America like that portrayed would be a historic tragedy of staggering proportions at every level—globally, nationally and individually.
If the movie inspires anything constructive it should inspire a determination never to have events like those portrayed occur. One would hope it would inspire the people of the United States to reject divisiveness, insurrection, criminality and treason and, out of diversity, forge unity—“E Pluribus Unum,” as America’s first motto stated. It should inspire allegiance to the Constitution and the rule of law and the realization that a common future trumps all allegiance or obedience to any single, violence-spewing, delusional individual.
If not, the movie Civil War might better be titled Putin’s Dream.
Collier County Supervisor of Elections Melissa Blazier at work. (Photo: Author)
April 2, 2024 by David Silverberg
The election for the Mayor and City Council of the City of Naples is now finalized, certified and complete—and holds some lessons for voters both in Southwest Florida and beyond.
On Friday, March 29, the Collier County Canvassing Board certified the results for the non-partisan election. The incumbent mayor, Teresa Heitmann, won her race by 22 votes over competitors Councilman Gary Price and Ted Blankenship. A race for a third seat on the city council was decided by 34 votes.
The final results of the Naples City election. (Chart: Supervisor)
Because the margins were so tight—in the initial, unofficial count on election night, Heitmann was leading by just 12 votes—both races were subject to recounts.
For those unfamiliar with it, the City of Naples, Florida is a small, incorporated municipality of roughly 19,000 people. It resides within Collier County, whose Supervisor of Elections oversees its elections. There were 16,726 eligible voters in this contest, according to the Elections Office and turnout ran about 51 percent.
On the one hand, the smallness of the sample and the specificity of the issues—chiefly, controlling development—in the race make the election results unique to the city.
But on the other hand, given the closeness of the races and the ideological intensity of some of the partisans and candidates, there are larger lessons to be learned.
Lesson 1: Competence won
First, despite the smallness of the electorate, this was not a simple election. Whenever an election is this close and the outcome this uncertain, the supervisor and team overseeing the election count have to be at the top of their game to ensure the accuracy, integrity and legality of the results.
Indeed, sometimes simply making a system function as it ought is a true test of competence and effectiveness. Elections have been under scrutiny and pressure ever since Donald Trump decided to reject the results of the 2020 ballot and lie about its outcome.
In this regard, the Collier County elections office, under the leadership of Supervisor Melissa Blazier, acquitted itself in exemplary fashion. It’s in such instances that the 17 years of experience she had in election management come into play and prove its value.
While there were rumors and accusations about the results, Blazier addressed them in an X posting around noon on the day of the recount.
“Hi! Us again to alert you to some misinformation regarding the City of Naples mayoral race. We get it – the City of Naples races were CLOSE! So close we did a machine recount for both the mayoral race and for city council. The recounts confirmed the results of both races.
“There are some rumors out there that provisional ballots could have changed the results of the mayoral contest, particularly provisional ballots that were cast due to party affiliation,” she wrote. She noted that Florida is a closed primary state where voters must be members of the party on the ballot to vote in the primary and that they had to change their party affiliation by Feb. 20 to vote in the Presidential Preference Primary, which was held the same day.
“On March 22, the canvassing board was presented with 18 provisional ballots due to voters disputing their political party affiliation and casting an illegal ballot which were all rejected by the canvassing board in accordance with Florida election law.”
She continued: “During the review of these 18 provisional ballots, the canvassing board and members of the public who observed the process were presented with the voters’ information and evidence as to why the provisional ballots should be rejected in accordance with Florida election law. This included where the voters live. All 18 of these provisional ballots were not located within the City of Naples which means that the ballot they were issued did not contain the mayor or city council race.”
To date, these conclusions have not been challenged.
In fact, Councilman Ted Blankenship, the third place finisher in the mayoral race, conceded defeat the night of the election, stating in a Facebook post:
“God Bless Naples!
“Thank you to each and every one of you for standing behind me. Together, we ran a race focused on the issues important to our community and our country.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t work out in our favor.
“It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve the people of Naples these last four years. I am disappointed in the results of tonight’s election, but my love for this community has not diminished in the slightest.
“Best wishes to those who were elected to serve our great town!”
Blankenship demonstrated civility and his concession was principled; unlike Trump, he didn’t call fraud or disparage the parties involved.
But his defeat provided its own lesson.
Lesson 2: MAGA doesn’t rule Naples
Alfie Oakes shakes hands with Ted Blankenship during a campaign meeting at his restaurant, Food & Thought 2. (Photo: Blankenship Campaign)
The city election was non-partisan in the sense that the candidates did not run under party labels. But that is not to say that parties and partisans weren’t involved.
Blankenship was the Make America Great Again (MAGA) candidate, endorsed by grocer and farmer Francis Alfred “Alfie” Oakes III, an extreme Trumper and MAGA activist. Oakes’ Citizens Awake Now Political Action Committee contributed to his campaign. He was also endorsed by the Collier County Republican Executive Committee, where Oakes is a committeeman, and which contributed $20,000 and an advertisement worth $1,500.
The city results contrasted with the past results in Collier County, where in the 2022 election all the Oakes-endorsed candidates won their races for the county Board of Commissioners and School Board, giving him almost complete dominance of the county. In this he effectively mobilized his thousands of MAGA followers and his Seed to Table market as a political platform.
The resulting county dominance has resulted in passage of anti-federal ordinances, an anti-science inspired restrictive public health law and termination of fluoridation of the county’s water.
But the city election proved that Oakes’ sway stopped at the city line. This came despite the overwhelming Republican advantage in registered voters (10,526 Republicans to Democrats’ 2,523). The results prove that a majority of Naples Republicans are not MAGA/Oakes Republicans—essentially, they’re two separate parties.
Lesson 3: Every single vote counts
There is nothing like an election whose outcome is decided by 22 ballots to drive home the point that absolutely every single vote counts—and that the counting must be done honestly and accurately.
The City of Naples election will hardly rock the nation—but in the upcoming election that will determine the next president, whether women will have the right to choose and if marijuana will be legalized, every single ballot will be precious and prized.
That election will also determine whether Blazier will retain her position as Supervisor of Elections. In this she’s up against two opponents who have absolutely no previous experience in election management and whose chief motivations for running are the discredited conspiracy theories and Big Lie allegations lingering from the 2020 election.
Tim Guerrette in particular, is backed by Oakes and as of last November had received over $89,000 in cash and over $18,000 in in-kind contributions as compared to Blazier’s roughly $62,000 and nearly $9,000 in in-kind contributions.
Guerrette has nothing like the experience and knowledge that Blazier brings to the task. Oakes has attacked machine counting of ballots, which was crucial in ensuring the accuracy of the Naples results so Guerrette would presumably terminate that if he was able.
Ultimately, if a MAGA candidate won the Supervisor of Elections position in November, voters in Collier County would never again have the confidence that their votes were being accurately, competently and neutrally counted—and in a tight election like that of Naples, that would make a big difference.
While the City of Naples election may not have been a preview of the outcome of the August 20 primary election and the Nov. 5 general election, these are some of the important lessons it provided.
And it brought home again just how critical it is for every citizen to have the vote, to exercise it—and to preserve it by keeping America a democracy.
The crowd gathered at the “Reduce the Rancor” event at the Naples United Church of Christ. (Photo: Author)
Feb. 19, 2024 by David Silverberg
On Feb. 7 over 700 people gathered for a “Reduce the Rancor” forum at the Naples United church of Christ, to calmly, rationally discuss handling political differences and bridge them in respectful, civil ways.
A week later, on Feb. 13, the Collier County Board of Commissioners, following three hours of public comment, chose to take a step backward in time, ignore scientific evidence, and end fluoridation of Collier County’s water. Fluoride had been added to Collier County’s drinking water since 1985 in an effort to reduce teeth cavities and improve overall dental health, in keeping with recommendations from a wide variety of organizations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to the American Dental Association and the American Medical Association among many others.
The two events may seem unrelated; one a polite conversation by the county’s leading citizens, the other a formal, governmental function considering a chemical process. However, each displayed the differences playing out in this county and in the country as a whole between rationality and emotion, expertise and suspicion.
There was another difference: the forum provided a common ground for a theoretical discussion of behavior; the Board made a decision that will actually affect people’s health.
The forum
Panelists at the “Reduce the Rancor” event. From left to right: Andy Solis, Francis Rooney, Mike Love, Nick Penniman, Dick Gephardt and Sharon Harris-Ewin. (Photo: June Fletcher)
While political partisans have rallies to fire up crowds and mobilize the faithful, the “Reduce the Rancor” forum was a kind of rally for people who want to restore some sort of calm and civility to public dialogue.
It featured six speakers, all accomplished local residents, from all political sides. Andrew “Andy” Solis, a Republican, was a former Collier County commissioner from District 2. Francis Rooney, also a Republican, represented the 19th Congressional District from 2017 to 2021, after a term as US ambassador to the Holy See. Richard “Dick” Gephardt, a Naples resident, was twice a Democratic candidate for president and served 28 years in the House of Representatives. A media perspective was provided by Nick Penniman, retired publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and lead director of NewsGuard, a company that evaluates accuracy in media, and Tim Love, a veteran advertising executive and author of Discovering Truth, a book on media accuracy. Rev. Sharon Harris-Ewing, a leader of the Interfaith Alliance of Southwest Florida, rounded out the presentations by focusing on values beyond just politics.
“Civil discourse requires some specific shared values,” she noted, observing that some of the values and skills that enable that discourse comes from faith and “an open mind and an open heart,” as well as humility and respect for others, a sentiment that was echoed by other panelists.
The forum was moderated by Mike Kiniry, the producer of the “Gulf Coast Life” program from WGCU-FM. But it was introduced by its organizer, Gunther Winkler, president of Greater Naples Leadership and a native of Austria.
In introducing the program Winkler recalled growing up in a war-shattered Austria, where people wondered how their misfortune had come about. “It was divisiveness,” he said, recounting the violent Nazi takeover of the country. Today, he said, he is seeing the same demand for picking sides and calls for violence that occurred then. However, today “we have the power to reverse this”—hence, his work in creating the forum.
The speakers attempted to get at the causes of the political rancor being experienced in Collier County and in the country generally. It was blamed on the political climate, social media, a mainstream media playing up the extremes and on the personalization of politics.
Only one panelist, Rooney, took aim squarely at an individual as the cause of rancor in the public square. Asked who was chiefly responsible for the current discord and told that he did not need to mention names, he said: “You know who, and it starts with a T”—a striking statement given that Rooney in his first term was an adamant and outspoken defender of Trump.
“There are individuals who fire this thing up and the biggest one of all, I think, is Donald Trump,” he said. “He exerts a magnetic influence over an awful lot of Republicans—not the ones like me who are financing Nikki Haley, by the way.”
Solis, who served District 2 from 2016 to 2023, during the worst of the COVID pandemic, faced sometimes bitter and vituperative attacks for trying to protect Collier County residents from the worst of the disease.
He blamed personalization of issues and the use of threats and insults against elected officials as a prime cause of the national mood of rancor and distrust.
During his time in office, he said, “at least once a week I’d have to say, ‘You know, insulting someone that you’re trying to get to see things your way is an interesting strategy because it’s not working.’ As soon as something becomes personal it takes it out of a discussion about the issues and makes it a personal thing and that gets in the way of having a good discussion about what the issues really are.”
Beth Sherman at the Collier County Board of Commissioners meeting on Feb. 13. (Image: CCBC)
One of the people who has done that accusing in the past was Collier County anti-vaccine activist Beth Sherman. In 2021, during discussion of an anti-federal ordinance, she angrily accused Solis of supporting mandatory vaccinations, a charge he vehemently denied. At the time she also denounced COVID vaccinations in general, the Naples Community Hospital for denying patients hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, and called the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection a false-flag operation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She then demanded commissioners pass the ordinance or resign.
That was a bitter and contentious discussion, full of passion and accusations, the very thing that the people at the “Reduce the Rancor” forum were trying to mitigate.
But this time, when Sherman stood before the Board of Commissioners again on Feb. 13 as they considered removing fluoride from Collier County’s water, she didn’t have to make threats or accusations. The Board was firmly in anti-fluoride hands and everyone knew it.
She just read her argument that fluoride deleteriously affected people’s brains, thyroid and bones and infringed on a citizen’s right to opt out of treatments. Fluoridization, she said, also violated a Collier County ordinance passed in April that, among other measures, prohibits implementing directives from the World Health Organization, which favors fluoridization. Among other charges, she alleged that the US Department of Defense was censoring information on the deleterious effects of fluoride.
At the meeting civility and order were sternly enforced by Commissioner Chris Hall (R-District 2), the chair, who warned participants against displays of emotion or outbursts, in stark contrast to previous proceedings. Commissioner Rick LoCastro (R-District 1) was absent following a warrant for his arrest on battery charges against his girlfriend, a medical emergency and a subsequent arrest, incarceration and bonding. He joined the proceedings remotely.
But while the demeanor of the commissioners and the speakers was restrained and polite and there was no vitriol or personal attacks, the substance of the testimony reflected the same passions, fear and even paranoia that governed the opposition to COVID vaccinations.
This was given most dramatic expression by Francis Alfred “Alfie” Oakes III, the farmer, grocer and political activist who fought vaccine mandates during the pandemic. He and his Citizens Awake Now Political Action Committee endorsed and funded two of the commissioners, Hall and Dan Kowal (R-District 4).
(The full, verbatim, text of Oakes’ speech follows this article.)
It was Kowal who introduced the motion to end fluoridation, arguing that it was a health treatment being administered without recipients’ consent. It violated the April 2023 ordinance, he said, there was no legal requirement that it be maintained and the county would save about $200,000 per year by ending it.
While there were some defenders of fluoridation, the vast majority of speakers, already alerted and mobilized for the discussion, opposed it. Commissioner Burt Saunders (R-District 3) expressed skepticism but ultimately chose to support it and in the end the Board voted unanimously to end fluoridation.
The “Reduce the Rancor” forum with its surprisingly high turnout demonstrated that there is a large constituency in Collier County for the rule of reason. It was a kind of rally for people who want to restore some sort of calm and civility to public dialogue.
The fluoridation vote, though, demonstrated that these are not the people in charge of the county’s government right now. While the discussion before the Board was civil, the logic underlying the opposition showed evidence of the kind of anti-science, anti-expertise, anti-government, suspicious conspiracy theorizing that characterized the anti-vaccine movement during the COVID pandemic.
Once the anti-fluoridation motion passed, dentists and oral hygienists in the county began expressing their opposition, mostly in letters to the editor of the Naples Daily News but by then, of course, it was too late.
Collier County has now taken two votes against mainstream public health measures. This comes at a time when COVID is resurging. According to data from the Florida Department of Health, there have been more than 98,000 cases of COVID-19 in the state since the start of the year. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a JN.1 variant causing 92 percent of cases across the country.
While this is not the deadly and novel COVID virus that struck the world in 2020 it nonetheless shows that public health risks remain. Whether they will be met with a measured, rational, scientific response in Collier County remains to be seen in light of votes taken by the Board of Commissioners to weaken public health measures.
So perhaps the common lesson of the “Reduce the Rancor” forum and the Board of Commissioners vote is this: It is fine to support civil dialogue and reasoned, logical disagreement but unless there’s a willingness to act on behalf of reason, unreason will triumph—and then no amount of openness, or dialogue and respect, will make any difference at all.
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Alfie Oakes addresses the Collier County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 13. (Image: CCBC)
The speech by farmer and political activist Alfie Oakes to the Collier County Board of Commissioners merits quotation in full.
This is a verbatim transcript of his remarks. Additions for clarity are marked in brackets [ ] and incomplete thoughts are marked with ellipses (…). Otherwise, it is unedited.
“So, thank you for hearing me today. As you know this is somewhat personal to me, my father that passed away back in 2013, a couple years before his passing was up here fighting with the commission to get the fluoride out of the water. It was something he was very passionate about. I had the privilege of my father, while he never made a lot of money, he drove a 300-dollar car, when I was at the age of 11 and he spent 900 dollars for a reverse osmosis system for our house because that was more important to him than the car that he drove but he didn’t want to damage mostly us kids but the whole family with the fluoride when he found out that the only way to get fluoride out of the water was with reverse osmosis. So, he was way ahead of the curve on a lot of things and I have, except for one time, when I was in like third or fourth grade there was a fluoride supplement that they made us take it and my father found out about it and lost his mind. That’s the only time that these teeth have ever seen fluoride. They don’t look like they have too many cavities, do they?
“So, I’d also like to talk about…we find out a lot about who is on the right side of things by…who, what I call our enemies are and when I see something that’s reported or that’s encouraged by the World Health Organization or by [Adm.] Rachel Levine [US Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services] and even the World Economic Forum and promotes this fluoride and you have to ask yourself ‘Why?’
“I was lucky enough to attend an event over in Mexico this past summer and it was the first time that I’d ever heard – and I heard this gentleman say it again today – the first time I ever heard that fluoride actually calcifies the pineal gland, it’s that element that calcifies your pineal gland.
“So, I’ve been lucky in that my pineal gland hasn’t been calcified. Maybe it’s why I have eternal energy. I get up at four o’clock in the morning and go until 10 o’clock at night. I have…the pineal gland is represented in ancient history as the third eye, our connection into our spirituality. It’s also what I consider a driving force. When I hear that the IQ has been lowered of all these reports of these kids that are taking tested, their IQs are directly proportional to how much fluoride that’s in the water, it’s stunning but when I think about that in a logical sense it makes sense because I don’t believe that, like some of these doctors here, who, their vessel is filled with knowledge from the university, I think that real learning comes from the lighting of a fire and the lighting of the fire is that pineal gland. That’s our fire that connects us to our spirituality, it gives us drive.
“I got a high school education. I’ve done pretty well because I got the fire burning. And, and this is intentional – if you don’t think this is intentional, to dumb us down, to keep control of the people in this country, then I don’t think that you’re paying attention.
“The fluoride…unfortunately, I’m going to take a few minutes – because there’s a hundred different things said that I was going to bring up today but the fluoride is not the only problem. So, as we know, that the fluoride that they’re putting in the water is not naturally occurring fluoride. It’s man-made substance, it’s toxic to us. When they found out how well that worked to poison us and dumb us down back in the ‘40s and ‘50s, in 1977 they just decided they were going to put folic acid in the bread. Folic acid in all the bread, 99.9 percent of all the bread in this country has folic acid in it. It’s, again, another man-made substance. It’s poisoning us. And, you know, I don’t think…thank God we’re not putting the folic acid in the water or we’re getting that out but I might be back here asking everyone to put poison labels on all bread in Collier County that has folic acid in it because it’s just another sham from the same people that are trying to bring us down.
“And, you know, the difference between right now and when my Dad was here 13, 14 years ago whenever it was, fighting against the fluoride is, we don’t trust the white coats any more. They got up here and put on the same show. I just listened to them, they – you say not to say the same things over again? – almost every one of their talking points from the university are exactly the same talking points and they’ve been using it over and over again, it’s the same thing when I sat here with my father 14 years ago that they used. As a matter of fact, the gentleman got up, Johnny Johnson [President of the American Fluoridation Society and a former pediatric dentist], he goes around the whole state doing this, I don’t know whether he’s paid or not. It doesn’t matter to me but you have to wonder what is driving it. What’s the driving force? Why are they trying to do this? Why are they trying to put a neuro-toxin in our water that’s poisoning us?
“You know, I never had to take a shower where my skin was absorbing, a hot shower where it opens up your pores and have a neuro-toxin pour into your skin. Thank God I wasn’t! But everybody else in this county has been subjected to it and it’s certainly time that we, like Mark Twain said, it’s hard sometimes to realize when you’ve been duped, it’s hard to admit it but I think we need to, you know, time for us to be responsible. We have a great group of commissioners up here so that I think is going to make the right decision. I’ve never felt more blessed to live in this great county, Collier County. Thank you.”
Collier County Commissioner Burt Saunders. (Image: CCBC)
Feb. 13, 2024 by David Silverberg
Collier County Commissioner Burt Saunders (R-District 3) is calling on the county to study whether to fundamentally change its governing structure.
Saunders is calling for the Board of Commissioners to discuss his proposal at its next meeting on Feb. 27.
The question is whether the county should continue as a “single member district” government, with each commissioner representing a specific geographic area, or go to a “county-wide” government, with commissioners being elected by county residents as a whole.
“I believe that utilizing county-wide elections of county commissioners will result in better decision-making by the commission,” Saunders wrote in an e-mail to constituents today. “With county-wide elections, commissioners will be forced to consider the impacts of their decisions on the entire county, not just the district in which the commissioner resides.”
Saunders stated in his message that he will ask for the question to be scheduled on a date certain so that the public can comment.
“The request is simply for the Commission to create a study committee to report back to the County Commission its findings concerning the positives and negatives of each form of governance permitted in Florida,” he wrote.
However, if the issue is studied and the Board agrees, it could face a referendum this year. The language must be presented to the Supervisor of Elections by Aug. 20 so that it can be included in the Nov. 5 general election ballot. It would then take effect in the 2026 election.
“Ultimately, it is the wishes of our citizens that determines how the county should be governed,” he wrote.
Saunders is making the proposal at a time when the Board’s Chair, Commissioner Rick LoCastro (R-District 1) is facing criminal charges. Last Wednesday, Feb. 7, he was charged with domestic battery following an October altercation with his girlfriend. Following what was characterized as a medical emergency, he was arrested, booked, incarcerated and released on bond. His lawyer has stated LoCastro is innocent and will fight the charges.
History and background
According to Saunders, the last time Collier County’s government was evaluated was over 35 years ago, when it had a much lower population and was less of an international tourist destination. The changes since then warrant a re-examination, he stated.
All of Florida’s 67 counties have five districts.
Collier County is in the minority (one of 20 counties) with a single-member structure. It has had that structure since 1988.
Most Florida counties (40) have county-wide commissioners. This is the default mode in the state.
Seven counties have a mixed structure, with five resident commissioners and two at-large commissioners.
Each structure has its strengths and weaknesses.
Single-member districts can “result in decisions being made that are not necessarily in the best interests of the entire county,” wrote Saunders. “If a District Commissioner objects to a project, the other 4 commissioners have no ‘political’ push back since they are only selected from their individual districts.” On the other hand, single-member districts make it easier to elect minority members.
On the other hand, “With county-wide elections, commissioners will be forced to consider the impacts of their decisions on the entire county, not just the district in which the commissioner resides.”
Proponents of mixed districts “claim that it allows some commissioners to bring a countywide view on matters brought before the board while also allowing more district-based commissioners to advocate for specific areas of the County.”
If a study committee is formed, as Saunders is proposing, “This committee would evaluate the basic types of county governance and the pros and cons of each for consideration by the Commission.”
Below is the Executive Summary of Saunders’ proposal in full
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Request that the Board consider scheduling a referendum on returning to at-large commission districts, wherein each Commissioner would reside in one of the five Commission Districts but would be elected in a County-wide vote.
OBJECTIVE:That the Board evaluate the pros and cons of returning to at-large Commission Districts, and consider creating a study committee for this evaluation.
CONSIDERATIONS: Overview of County Commission Districts in Florida
In Florida all counties are divided into five Commission districts. There are three basic types of county governance in Florida:
(1) At-large districts (40 counties), in which each District has a resident Commissioner, with all five Commissioners elected in a county-wide election. This is the default mode of County government in Florida.
(2) Single member districts (20 counties), in which each District has a resident Commissioner, and is elected on a District basis. Since 1988 this has been the model used by Collier County.
(3) A mixed district (7 counties) consisting of a combination of five single members (elected on a District by District basis) and two at-large commissioners (elected on a County wide basis). Proponents of the mixed system claim that it allows some commissioners to bring a countywide view on matters brought before the board while also allowing more district-based commissioners to advocate for specific areas of the County.
Returning to county-wide commission elections requires a voter approved referendum which could be conducted during the general election in November, 2024. The deadline to schedule such a referendum is August 20, 2024, at which time ballot language must be presented to the Supervisor of Elections. If approved, the changes would take effect in the 2026 election.
History of the Creation of the Single Member Districts in Collier County
For much of Collier County’s history the County operated under the at-large district system. On December 1, 1987, the Collier County Board of County Commissioners passed a resolution calling for a referendum election to be held on March 8, 1988, to submit the following question to the electors of Collier County: “Shall the five members of the Board of County Commissioners of Collier County, Florida, be elected to office from single-member districts by electors residing in each of those districts only?” By a vote of 14,521 in favor (Yes) to a 13,745 vote against (No), the single-member county commission district referendum passed. Obviously, Collier County has dramatically changed since the 1988 vote, with a county population approaching 500,000. There are now 255,099 registered voters in the County. It is time to re-evaluate the structure of county government and to let our citizens determine what is the best type of county governance for the future.
Chapter 124.011(10), Florida Statutes, allows Collier County to return to being an at-large district by going back through the same referendum/proposition process as occurred in 1988.
The request is to create a study committee to evaluate the pros and cons of returning to county-wide commission elections. This committee could be formed very quickly, with each commissioner appointing the members, or this could be assigned to an existing committee, such as the Productivity Committee, for a thorough and timely review. This committee would evaluate the basic types of county governance and the pros and cons of each for consideration by the Commission.
There is an argument that at-large systems can have an adverse impact by making it more difficult for minority residents to elect a minority representative to the commission. Though that is certainly a valid and important consideration, many other factors should also be addressed as well in evaluating what is best for all Collier County residents.
FISCAL IMPACT:None at this time.
GROWTH MANAGEMENT IMPACT:None.
LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS:This item has been reviewed by the County Attorney, creates no legal issues at this time and requires majority vote for Board action.
RECOMMENDATION:That the Board appoint a study committee to report back to the County Commission as to the pros and cons of scheduling a binding referendum of all registered Collier County voters on the issue of utilizing county-wide elections of County Commissioners, beginning with the 2026 election cycle.
A group of Collier County residents huddle in prayer prior to a Board of Commissioners meeting in the Commission chamber on March 28, 2023. (Photo: Author)
Jan. 3, 2024 by David Silverberg
What will be the shape of Collier County, Florida’s next century? This year’s election has the potential to significantly mold its future well beyond just the next year.
As the United States as a whole faces a stark election choice between democracy and dictatorship in 2024, so Collier County voters face important choices between candidates who represent radically different approaches to governing, educating and most importantly, counting ballots.
It is important to note that August 20—not the general election date of Nov. 5—is the operative election date for some of these races, which will be decided in the Republican Party primary. (This is also not to be confused with the Florida Presidential Preference Primary, which is scheduled for March 19.)
In keeping with the dominant political complexion of the county, all the candidates are Republicans by name and party affiliation, except for the School Board, whose elections are non-partisan.
In fact, however, some of the governing philosophies at issue are so radically different that some candidates could be said to be Republicans, while others belong to what is a separate de facto Make America Great Again (MAGA) party.
Another issue that is very important for the future of Collier County is the role of religion in public affairs. There is a vocal and active Christian nationalist political movement in the county seeking to impose its religious views. One commissioner, Chris Hall (R-District 2) openly stated that “there is no separation of church and state.” School Board member Jerry Rutherford (District 1) maintains the same and has tried to insert religion into school board meetings.
Will the wall of separation between church and state be demolished in Collier County? The election will go a long way toward making this determination.
Collier County Board of Commissioners
Of the five seats on the Collier County Board of Commissioners, three are up for election: Districts 1, 3 and 5.
Because all candidates are Republicans, this race will be decided in the Republican primary election on Aug. 20.
As of Nov. 5, 2023, two of these offices were uncontested. In District 1 Commissioner Rick LoCastro had no opponent. The same was true for William McDaniel in District 5.
But District 3 is an entirely different story.
The district is a broad swath of largely rural land that goes from the county line in the north, along Route 75 on the west and south and Wilson Blvd. on the east. It includes communities like Golden Gate, the Vineyards, and Island Walk.
Collier County Commission District 3. (Map: CCBC)
The sitting commissioner is Burt Saunders, 75, Republican, a lawyer by profession and an experienced official. Originally from Hampton, Va., he moved to Florida in 1978 to attend graduate school. He received his law degree from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., and his master of laws degree from the University of Miami. He first served as the Collier County attorney before being elected to the Commission in 1986. He was then elected to the state House of Representatives in 1994 and the state Senate in 1998 where he served until 2008 before returning to the Board of Commissioners in 2016. As of Nov. 5 he had raised $7,500 for his campaign.
District 3 Commissioner Burt Saunders. (Image: CCBC)
Saunders is facing three Republican challengers for his seat.
Floyd “Tag” Yarnell, 53, is a litigation lawyer who calls himself a “Constitutional Conservative” and states he “will make decisions based on his faith and reverence to America’s founding principles.” As of Nov. 5 he had raised $22,450 for his race, the most of any of the candidates. The contributions came from a variety of individuals, many of them fellow lawyers.
John Johnson, 80, originally from Chicago, is a Collier County resident who held a wide variety of jobs including heavy equipment operator, farmer, motel owner, construction company owner and painting contractor, before retiring in 2020. As of Nov. 5 he had raised $4,220 for his campaign.
Frank Roberts, 34, is a tax attorney and former US Air Force Judge Advocate, who received his law degree from Ave Maria School of Law. As he puts it in his campaign biography: “He resides in Golden Gate Estates just outside Naples with his beautiful wife of 11 years, Kaitlyn, and three daughters where they happily raise chickens free from HOAs [homeowners associations] and with minimal government interference.” As of Nov. 5 he had not raised any money for his campaign.
Saunders’ seat is under threat because he has consistently been a voice for moderation and reasonable governance in the face of radical MAGA efforts. In August he was the lone vote against the Collier County anti-federal “Bill of Rights Sanctuary” ordinance, which asserted a county right to nullify federal law. He objected to its vagueness and unenforceability.
During the Aug. 22, 2023 Commission discussion on passage of that ordinance, prominent MAGA farmer and grocer Francis Alfred “Alfie” Oakes III, after denouncing the “tyrannical” federal government, took direct aim at Saunders: “I understand, Burt, that you might not want to vote yes on this but you know, we as the electorate also have the choice not to vote for you when it comes up again.”
Saunders ignored the threat and voted against it anyway.
Similarly, in April he opposed an extreme anti-public health ordinance and resolution, which also passed over his lone dissenting vote.
During the COVID pandemic, Saunders voted in the majority to impose mandatory public health protection measures to protect county residents, incurring the wrath of those who opposed vaccinations and dismissed COVID as a hoax.
In the 2022 election, Oakes targeted two commissioners who had voted for COVID protections, Andy Solis (District 2), who declined to run for another term, and Penny Taylor (District 4). The candidates he backed, Hall and Dan Kowal (R-District 4), won.
“A year and half ago we said we’d get rid of them and here we are,” Oakes boasted during a post-election celebration at his market, Seed to Table. “Look, Bill McDaniel up here! Conservatives, America First, own Collier County now, praise the Lord!”
Supervisor of Elections
This year Collier County will face a contested race for the position of Supervisor of Elections.
Like the County Commission, this race will likely be decided in the Republican primary on Aug. 20.
Until now, local elections have been judged clean and results were accepted by all parties in Collier County. The office has never had a scandal or a challenge to its vote counting.
Collier County was created as a separate governing entity in 1923. It was served by a Supervisor of Registration of Electors before the office was changed to Supervisor of Elections in 1965. After serving four years as registrar, Edna Cribb Santa became the first Supervisor in 1965 and held the post for 16 years until 1981. She was followed by Mary Morgan, who served 19 years until 2000.
The most recent supervisor was Jennifer Edwards, who held the office for 23 years and retired in April 2023.
Edwards nominated her deputy, Melissa Blazier, 45, as her replacement.
“Melissa’s 17+ years of experience in the Supervisor of Elections office, vast knowledge of Florida’s election laws and rules, and her comprehension of the complexities of conducting elections would allow for a seamless transition as we head into the 2024 Presidential Election Cycle,” Edwards wrote in her March 31 retirement letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). “Melissa is unquestionably the most qualified person for this position and is prepared and ready to continue Collier County’s tradition of conducting excellent elections.”
Blazier has also been active in a variety of civic and political organizations including membership in the League of Women Voters, Men’s Republican Club of Collier County, Naples Republican Club, Republican Club of South Collier County, Republican Women of Southwest Florida Federated, and the Women’s Republican Club.
Melissa Blazier. (Photo: Author)
DeSantis followed Edwards’ recommendation and appointed Blazier as supervisor.
This year, Blazier is facing two challengers.
David Schaffel, 63, provides no background on his profession or career on his campaign website, except to call himself a “successful businessman and IT entrepreneur.” He says in a campaign video that he is a “rock-solid conservative and America First patriot.” He questions whether the 2020 election was stolen and says that as supervisor, his focus “will be on securing and restoring trust in our elections.” As of Nov. 5, he had not reported any donations to his campaign or spent any money on it.
The more serious challenger is Timothy Guerrette, 56, a former chief of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, from which he retired in 2021 after 31 years of service. He has also worked as a real estate broker and since retirement has hosted an “Uncensored 239” podcast. He has experience in police operations and management. He’s running on a platform of “safe, secure, ethical” elections and says in a campaign video that he will bring “competence and integrity back into the voting process.”
As of Nov. 5, Guerrette had raised $78,262 for his campaign. Many of the donations came from active and former law enforcement officers, including $1,000 from the Friends of Carmine Marceno Political Action Committee. Marceno is the sheriff in neighboring Lee County.
By contrast, as of Nov. 5, Blazier had raised $56,468 for her campaign, mostly from individuals, including her predecessor, including $25,000 she loaned her own campaign.
The opposition to Blazier appears to be less about her as an individual and more about distrust of the whole election process by disappointed MAGAs. This in turn seems largely based on former President Donald Trump’s disproven charges of 2020 election fraud and his attempt to overthrow the election’s outcome.
Despite Collier County’s record of election stability and accuracy, Oakes has alleged that mechanical vote counting was suspect.
“I will be challenging the Superintendent of Elections to clean up and do away with computer calculations for voting,” Oakes told The Paradise Progressive in an interview on Dec. 14, 2022. “We should have hand counts. In Europe they don’t take three weeks,” to reach a conclusion, he noted, referring to other elections around the United States that took long times to tabulate. While he said he liked Edwards, he called her “a little bit naïve and if you put her hand on the Bible, she would swear there is nothing corrupt going on there. I don’t think that’s true.”
Hand counting ballots has become a MAGA rallying cry even though it flies in the face of state law. As Blazier put it in a June 28, 2023 interview with The Paradise Progressive, changing away from machine counts “would have to be changed in law. That’s not something we can decide to do. And certainly not, given the deadlines we have to certify an election, it’s not possible to hand count—and I’m talking about one race. When you think about the general election ballot, we have over 30 contests on that ballot, with over a hundred different ballot styles that we would potentially have to hand count. I know that no one likes to hear this, but machines are more accurate than human beings are.”
School Board
Like all school boards in Florida, Collier County’s is a non-partisan race. If any candidate receives 50 percent plus one in the primary election, that person is elected. Otherwise, its makeup will be decided in the general election on Nov. 5.
Two school districts are up for election this year: District 2, currently represented by Vice Chair Stephanie Lucarelli, and District 4, represented by Erick Carter.
Stephanie Lucarelli. (Image: CCPS)
Lucarelli, 49, has served on the Board since 2016. She previously worked as a teacher in New Jersey, where she received her teaching certificate from Rutgers University.
Erick Carter. (Image: CCPS)
Erick Carter, 53, also took a seat on the Board in 2016. Originally from South Carolina, Carter was an instructor with a national ballroom dancing company when he discovered Southwest Florida in 1992, met his wife Anita and settled in Naples, where today they run Salon Zenergy, a hair and cosmetology salon.
Lucarelli and Carter have provided a moderate, secular approach to education and school board decisions since taking office in 2020.
With Chair Kelly Lichter (District 3) providing the swing vote, both voted in the majority to approve the appointment of Superintendent Leslie Ricciardelli despite a less experienced MAGA contender for the position backed by Oakes. They also rejected mixing religion into School Board proceedings with an invocation prior to Board meetings.
As of this writing it is not certain that Lucarelli and Carter will run again since they have not declared their candidacies.
The only declared School Board candidate is a Collier County resident running in District 2 named Pamela Shanouda Cunningham, 49, whose campaign website and video declares her to be an “unapologetic conservative.” She claims that Collier County children’s futures are “being sold out to big government bureaucrats who want to indoctrinate, not educate; career politicians who want to teach them what to think, not how to think.” She wants to put “parents in classrooms, not the liberal elite” and “restore greatness to the American classroom.”
Cunningham provides no biographic material on her website although she titles herself “Dr.,” and provides no academic credentials. She has never run for public office. The Collier County Citizens Values Political Action Committee lists her as Republican.
She did not respond to an e-mail or phone call from The Paradise Progressive seeking further information.
Analysis: The war on competence
In 2024 Collier County voters face a choice whether to uphold a secular, constitutional, effective local government or to veer off in a radical, extreme, religious direction.
The MAGA candidates running represent a continuation of the Trumpist war against expertise, experience and competence.
When he was president and especially during the COVID pandemic, Trump waged war on experts and the value of experience. He lacked experts’ knowledge and education, so he denigrated and dismissed them as “deep state” or “liberal elite” and belittled their knowledge. Then, when he lost the election, he deliberately promoted a Big Lie to overturn the results and questioned the integrity and neutrality of election officials who counted the votes.
The echoes of that anti-expertise, anti-competence, election-denying attitude continue to resonate and can be seen in the choices before Collier County.
In Burt Saunders Collier County has a seasoned, prudent commissioner with extensive experience in law and government at the state and local levels that is unmatched by his challengers.
In Melissa Blazier the county has a veteran, knowledgeable Supervisor of Elections with extensive experience. In addition to having helped oversee elections for the past 17 years, she is certified as an Elections/Registration Administrator by the National Association of Election Officials’ Election Center and is a Master Florida Certified Elections Professional through the Florida Supervisors of Elections.
In Stephanie Luccarelli and Erick Carter the county has experienced school board members with an abiding interest in education and the welfare of students, teachers and parents.
The people seeking to replace these veteran officials are running based on old suspicions, distrust of expertise and conspiracy theories.
The Supervisor of Elections position is a case in point.
This is an extremely important position because it’s the foundation for all other governance and elections. The public has to have confidence in its outcomes and especially in its absolute neutrality and integrity.
It’s worth remembering that the Supervisor of Elections oversees not only general elections but party primaries as well. For example, if candidates from two different Republican Party factions vie for a seat, everyone has to be confident that the Supervisor will not favor one faction or another in any way and that the intra-party vote count will be fair, unbiased and accurate.
The complaints about the election process appear to come from the 2020 outcome that Trump supporters didn’t like. But the Supervisor job is much broader than that.
There seems to be little understanding of the true complexity and nature of the job by its critics or challengers. As Blazier pointed out, a Supervisor may be overseeing over 30 different ballots on everything from constitutional amendments to judicial elections to the Collier County Mosquito Control District (which has two seats open this year), the Soil and Water Conservation District (four seats) and various fire control and rescue districts, not to mention mayor and council seats in Everglades City, Marco Island and Naples.
More than anything else, the Supervisor job is an accounting job; it’s all about numbers, vote counts, meeting deadlines and adhering to all applicable laws and getting everything out the door promptly, whether that means mail-in ballots or election results. A law enforcement or business background may include aspects related to the Supervisor’s job but nothing compares to over 17 years of on-the-job training and experience like that held by Blazier.
By contrast, her challengers have nothing in their backgrounds indicating any familiarity—or even previous interest—in election management. They have never been involved in administering elections or even served as poll workers.
Additionally, Blazier comes from an unbroken tradition of election excellence and integrity that stretches back to the founding of Collier County. Overthrowing all that knowledge and expertise, especially by an ideologically-driven MAGA opponent, would call into question the integrity and accuracy of all future election results including those for intra-party contests.
Another case in point is the Collier County School Board where Rutherford and Moshier, the two MAGA school board members, have consistently failed or proven unable to do the hard, necessary work of budgeting—and they campaigned on cutting that budget. When confronted with a real spreadsheet, they froze. Rutherford, with Moshier’s support, introduced time-consuming and irrelevant distractions like the controversy over an invocation. They have shown next to no interest in the actual nuts and bolts of providing educational excellence for students.
When ideological loyalty trumps competence the results are eroded services, misguided management and ineffective operations, not to mention poor decisionmaking in budgeting, administration and conservation. In the current case, if Collier County voters reject competence for fanaticism this year they’ll start to feel the effects in 2025, when novice officials take office and start bungling operations and mishandling their responsibilities.
Of course, all these considerations will be moot if Donald Trump is elected and overthrows American democracy. All these offices and the procedures for selecting their officeholders are based on democratic, legal procedures, consent of the governed and the supremacy of law and the Constitution. In a dictatorship the dictator simply appoints his own loyalists based on the blindness of their fealty. Competence is no longer a consideration and public consent is dismissed.
So going into 2024, Collier County voters are faced with seasoned candidates with experience, knowledge and proven competence in their fields or unseasoned MAGA amateurs running on grievances, conspiracies and blind belief.
One course will result in a county that is run on behalf of its residents with effectiveness, efficiency and integrity. The other will lead to ignorance, intolerance and most of all, incompetence.
That would not be a great way to start Collier County’s second century.
Kelly Lichter, Collier County School Board chair, during the discussion of an invocation. (Image: CCSB)
Dec. 17, 2023 by David Silverberg
On Tuesday, Dec. 12, the Collier County School Board rejected the concept of holding a religious invocation before its meetings by a vote of 3 to 2.
At issue was adoption of protocols that would govern an invocation policy. Chair Kelly Lichter (District 3), Stephanie Lucarelli (District 2) and Erick Carter (District 4) voted against adoption of the protocols. Jerry Rutherford (District 1) and Tim Moshier (District 5) voted for the protocols.
With the protocols rejected, the invocation idea was completely laid to rest, at least for the next year.
The lengthy debate over an invocation, proposed by Rutherford, had dominated three meetings of the Board. More than just a question of whether there would be a public prayer prior to Board meetings, it went to the heart of whether there should be a separation of church and state in school affairs—or, by implication, in any public affairs at all. As such it elicited much public comment and raised community passions.
Arguments and explanations
In its previous monthly meeting the Board voted to have staff draft an invocation policy. The staff drafted the policy but also a separate set of protocols, rules that would govern the policy itself. These included compiling a database of religious assemblies eligible to provide speakers and rules for selecting a speaker, the invocation itself and conduct at Board meetings. The protocols had to be adopted in order to have a policy and therefore an invocation.
The Board currently has a moment of silence for prayer or contemplation before its monthly meetings.
After public comments both for and against an invocation, each of the school board members explained their positions.
Rutherford argued that church and state had only been separated in the United States since a 1947 Supreme Court decision and that previously public prayer was not a problem. He also argued that public prayers allowed him to hear other people’s prayers. “I want to listen to other people’s prayers. I think prayers have a lot of power,” he said.
He continued: “There’s a lot of things we should look at when you’re thinking about prayers. I want to see them in our schools and in our nation because if we get attacked by other nations, you will have prayers, I guarantee you.”
Moshier pointed out that the school board building was named for Rev. Martin Luther King, a religious leader. “We should honor him with prayer,” he said. “We should honor that before school board meetings.”
Lucarelli said she had agonized and prayed over the issue and had wanted to keep an open mind about invocations. “I’ve been on board with [the discussion]. But I realize that I’m just trying to convince myself that this is going to be OK,” she said.
She felt that the invocation was intended to demonstrate in public that some people were more pious others, what is known as “virtue signaling.”
“At the end of the day I believe this is misguided. I really feel that it is virtue signaling. I really don’t want this board to engage in something that others may use for nefarious purposes,” she observed.
Carter was chiefly concerned with the logistics of invocations and ensuring that they weren’t used to attack people or other religions. He was also concerned that invocations be held well before the formal start of meetings so that students would not be present. Arranging that was difficult because students are frequently in the chamber well before meetings are called to order.
Lichter was clearly ready for the end of the day, a phrase she used several times in her remarks. She noted that discussion of invocations had dominated three Board meetings and been a massive distraction from the core mission of the Board to educate Collier County’s children. “…That’s really disappointing considering our board created five clear policies right out of the gate of what we want to do, what our focus is,” she said.
“At the end of the day, I feel if there’s a need or an agenda from a board member that wants to push this invocation I think perhaps meeting at the flagpole [outside the School Board building] well in advance of a school board meeting and inviting people to attend to pray if that’s something [they want to do]. But we have spent so much time and resources on this issue and I just can’t get behind it. I really think the more we continue to talk about it, the further I am in wanting to proceed forward with [a final vote].”
She continued: “But at the end of the day, for me, I don’t see how this impacts student education and that is our number one priority, is the academics for our kids.”
She then called the vote. Rutherford was confused by the procedure, as he was at many other points in the meeting.
In a subsequent public end of the year message Lichter wrote: “While I originally did support an invocation, it became clear to me that after much discussion, this did not fit in with our board priorities. Based on feedback I received since the vote, it seems for many that this was nothing more than virtue signaling and another opportunity to say, ‘I’m more Christian than you.’ It’s no surprise that the comments made about my decision are far from the ‘Christian’ values they hold so dear.”
The Paradise Progressive 