Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

The 20th annual Guavaween is coming, and it should be a good time in Ybor City. But if you are in the mood for a great time, and don’t want to pay for parking or dealing with large crowds, I might suggest heading out to Town ‘n’ Country and popping in at Johnny G’s. It’s time for the third annual Johnny G’s O’ Ween. Or Jeezoween for short. Make sure to wear your costume, and try to win the $200 prize in the contest. The getups you will see at Johnny’s place will match anything you might find in Ybor. Plus there’s a damn fine band scheduled to play. I’ll definitely be there but you may not recognize me in my super-secret costume.

A nice, neat election package for you. You can find my suggestions for President, Senate, and House here. And a link to my State of Florida recommendations, Hillsborough County issues, and the Florida Amendments. I’ve also put these links at the top of the sidebar for easy access, but that will disappear shortly after the election.

Amazingly, I’m not the only local blogger with opinions on these races: Feel free to check out endorsements from Blogwood, I-4 Jamming (Polk), Hotwax Residue, Pasco County’s Bl0gax, and FlaBlog(Volusia). Please visit all the fine bloggers in the blogroll to the left. Also notice the Tampa Tribune and the St. Pete Times election pages (Times endorsements).

Go vote early: Hillsborough County early voting places Hillsborough County Sample Ballot (pdf).

Sticks of Fire now returns to it’s previously scheduled broadcast, already in progress.

Public Defender: Julianne Holt (D)

Clerk of Court: Pat Frank (D)

Sheriff: David Gee (R)

Supervisor of Elections: Rob MacKenna (D)

Commissioners:
District 2: David Cutting (D)
District 4: No Vote – Storms is so divisive and petty, I cannot vote for her.
District 6: Brian Blair (R)
District 7: Denise Layne (D)

Charter Amendment:
County Attorney to report directly to commissioners. No.

Florida Senate
District 11: Mike Fasano (R)

Florida House
District 45: Tom Anderson (R)
District 46: Dee Thomas (D)
District 47: Kevin Ambler (R)
District 56: Trey Traviesa (R)
District 57: Deborah Cope (D)
District 58: Bob Henriquez (D)
District 60: Karen Perez (D)
District 62: Ashley Smith (D)

President/Vice President: John Kerry/John Edwards.

US Senate: Betty Castor.

US House Seats:
District 5: Ginny Brown-Waite (R)
District 9: Michael Bilirakis (R)
District 10: Bill Young (R)
District 11: Jim Davis (D)
District 12: Adam Putnam (R)

John Kerry/John Edwards. I am afraid - frightened, really - that if Bush is re-elected, he will view that as a green light to continue running the war and the United States in the same manner. During his campaign, he has repeatedly promised “more of the same.” I’m not enamored with how the last 4 years unfolded. Kerry would not be my top choice, but he does support a balanced budget and welfare reform. He also at least mentions the rising cost of health care, as well as international support as major concerns.

Here’s a quick cheat sheet of the Sticks of Fire recommendations. The links take you to my reasoning for the decision. Also, check the comments for each amendment, there are quite a number of lively discussions going on with almost all of them.

Amendment 1: Notify parents of abortion. Yes.
Amendment 2: File amendments earlier. No.
Amendment 3: Limit Lawyer fees. No.
Amendment 4: Slot Machines in S. Fla. Yes.
Amendment 5: Florida minimum wage. No.
Amendment 6: Repeal high speed rail. No.
Amendment 7: Patients’ right to know. Yes.
Amendment 8: Doctors: three strikes and out. No.

Plenty of other local bloggers have made their thoughts known on the amendments. So go check out Blogwood, Hotwax Residue, and I-4 Jamming. As a side note, some bloggers think the current amendment process is somewhat silly (as do I), but Bl0gax, A Beautiful Accident and FlaBlog give their suggestions anyway, since that’s just the way it is. And here are a few others opinions just for kicks: Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida ACLU, St. Pete Times, and Tampa Tribune.

Hey, if I’ve missed any local bloggers that have chimed in on some or all of the amendments, please leave a link in the comments, and I’ll edit this post to include a link to them…

UPDATE 11/02/2004 11:28am: T.Rex’s Guide to Life also gives his guide to voting. And blunted on reality is back and tells you who and what he is voting for.

Betty Castor. Betty did a good job while on the County Commission and state senate, and led USF through a difficult time. She has a good grasp of Florida issues, and isn’t afraid to buck party lines. Martinez is a sneaky, dirty jackass, who will say and do anything to win the election. There’s no telling what would drive him (Bush, maybe?) while holding a senate seat.