Jim Stillman
M-KazA small community in Florida shows how an election should be run
August 12th 2008 18:28
There is a canard going around that suggests that Florida is incapable of running an election without incompetency or outright fraud. I’m not certain if the election of Gov’na of Lutz [pronounced: lootz] thoroughly refutes that position, or reinforces it, but you can be the judge.
Here is an election where votes are openly purchased; the elected Guv’na swears to declare independence from Hillsborough County, the State of Florida, the United States and everyone else. All of this happens in a small but proud community a cow chip’s throw north of Tampa.
One must first understand and appreciate the flavor of Lutz. This unincorporated community has been our home since 1979 so we are almost natives. Around the turn of the last century, Lutz began as a train stop on a line between Tampa and Brooksville, up the road to the north. The original railroad opened up the northern part of Hillsborough County, moved lumber and produces and created a community. The railroad station was long gone, along with passenger trains, by the time Joan and I moved here and the locals were in a continuing battle over development and urban life.
Lutz folks fought highways, an expansion of water and sewer lines and all development. It has been a continuing battle and one that will likely ebb and flow for years. In the meantime, there’s the Fourth of July and the annual election of the Guv’na of Lutz. Each candidate openly solicits money for votes, all pledges going to local charities. The person raising the most cash is duly elected.
The election of Guv’na is a very serious event. Candidates are honest and open in their campaigns. Just as on the national level, each candidate makes promises and assurances that he or she has no ability or intention to carry out. Over the years the promises and pledges have been expansive. One year, not that long ago, an aspirant for the position promised to bring the Super Bowl to Lutz, another, a janitorial supply company owner, announced minutes after her inauguration, “"Those of you who gave me a dollar so I'd come to clean your house - it was a lie." This year, one platform consisted of a promise to bar trucks on U.S. 41, a major roadway through the community.
Oh, if only our national office-seekers were so forthright.
But first there is a parade as only small town America can appreciate. Several years ago, Joan and I toyed with the idea of marching along with our neighbors; the heat changed our mind. Heat or not, this is true Americana.
The Office of Gov’na has few perks, other than the right to wear a sash and a Dr. Seuss hat. The big community event is the annual Fourth of July parade, bar-b-que at the fire station and, of course, the swearing in of the new Guv’na. The fine people at the local newspaper, Community News (which I have to note refused my request for employment a few years ago – an indication that the publication has some standards) provided the video of the formal inauguration. I have forgiven them for my rejection and acknowledge, with appreciation, their allowing me use of the videos.
Here is an election where votes are openly purchased; the elected Guv’na swears to declare independence from Hillsborough County, the State of Florida, the United States and everyone else. All of this happens in a small but proud community a cow chip’s throw north of Tampa.
One must first understand and appreciate the flavor of Lutz. This unincorporated community has been our home since 1979 so we are almost natives. Around the turn of the last century, Lutz began as a train stop on a line between Tampa and Brooksville, up the road to the north. The original railroad opened up the northern part of Hillsborough County, moved lumber and produces and created a community. The railroad station was long gone, along with passenger trains, by the time Joan and I moved here and the locals were in a continuing battle over development and urban life.
Lutz folks fought highways, an expansion of water and sewer lines and all development. It has been a continuing battle and one that will likely ebb and flow for years. In the meantime, there’s the Fourth of July and the annual election of the Guv’na of Lutz. Each candidate openly solicits money for votes, all pledges going to local charities. The person raising the most cash is duly elected.
The election of Guv’na is a very serious event. Candidates are honest and open in their campaigns. Just as on the national level, each candidate makes promises and assurances that he or she has no ability or intention to carry out. Over the years the promises and pledges have been expansive. One year, not that long ago, an aspirant for the position promised to bring the Super Bowl to Lutz, another, a janitorial supply company owner, announced minutes after her inauguration, “"Those of you who gave me a dollar so I'd come to clean your house - it was a lie." This year, one platform consisted of a promise to bar trucks on U.S. 41, a major roadway through the community.
Oh, if only our national office-seekers were so forthright.
But first there is a parade as only small town America can appreciate. Several years ago, Joan and I toyed with the idea of marching along with our neighbors; the heat changed our mind. Heat or not, this is true Americana.
The Office of Gov’na has few perks, other than the right to wear a sash and a Dr. Seuss hat. The big community event is the annual Fourth of July parade, bar-b-que at the fire station and, of course, the swearing in of the new Guv’na. The fine people at the local newspaper, Community News (which I have to note refused my request for employment a few years ago – an indication that the publication has some standards) provided the video of the formal inauguration. I have forgiven them for my rejection and acknowledge, with appreciation, their allowing me use of the videos.
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