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Video by Multimedia Editor Sera Frederick. NSBNEWS.net endorses Margie Patchett of Port Orange for Volusia County At-Large in Tuesday's elections.
The race for the Volusia County at-large seat is the most important race countywide because of the implications: Polar opposite candidates with clear-cut agendas and though this is non-partisan, party affiliation is very pronounced and won't be ignored at the ballot box. With that said, NSBNEWS.net "strongly," and we can't empasize that word enough, strongly endorses Margie Patchett of Port Orange.
Joyce Cusack, term-limited from the state House two election cycles ago, is a verteran politician who enjoys tremendous popular support, especially in Deltona. And yes, she's the Democrat, and a liberal one at that. She is intelligent, a a real consensus builder and she cares about people.
Patchett, a conservative Republican, is the epitome of being a "fighter" and she's proven that over the last half decade, creating the grassroots Volusia Tax Reform and lobbying here, Tallahassee and elsewhere in Florida, which has been hit hard by the recession with record job losses and home foreclosures.
While strong-willed, Patchett, also is very intelligent, insightful and keenly aware of the job that needs to be done to make Volusia County government a leaner and more productive entity for all residents, the wealthy who pay high taxes, the middle class struggling to make mortgage and car loan payments, and the poor who rely on social services to get to the next day.
Regardless of tax levels, Patchett will be the first to tell you that it's not necessarily the overall cost that is the problem. It's the way the tax money is being spent.
Of course the unions are supporting Cusack. Why wouldn't they? She's given them what they've wanted over the years as have the current entrenched council members who know their bread is buttered with union-bloc voting.
In our own deliberations over this endorsement, Peter Mallory groans about the union impact. Of course, he's of that old-guard conservative thinking. I am a strong supporter of unions, especially in law enforcement, because the membership speaks up for strong wages, better equipment and job security. But the union leadership will tell you the retirement system is very burdensome and the system needs to be changed.
Patchett would actually benefit the law enforcement and fire unions by pushing for drastically needed cuts in non-essential programs. That certainly would free up money to provide for the essential services.
No one on the council has stepped up to the plate. Patchett certainly would.
And though she's been portrayed in this campaign as divisive, it's the other candidate who threw a big rock through her glass window by complaining to the Daytona Beach News-Journal that Patchett was essentially a deadbeat, whose rental properties were foreclosed on.
But let's be real about this. Patchett is right in her response to the newspaper that Cusack has made a living through the years with public monies.
Quite frankly, we are surprised that she would take such a major step back from elective office at the state level for this job.
Cusack was strong in the primary with nearly 41 percent of the vote in a four-way race, but Patchett was a respectable second with just over 28 percent. Plus, Patchett likely would have had a much better showing from the greater Port Orange had Port Orange Vice Mayor Mary Martin, who garned 18 percent of the vote had not run.
Regardless, the general election has two strong candidates in Cusack and Patchett. Now it is up to the voters to decide.
NSBNEWS.net endorses Margie Patchett for Volusia County at-large in Tuesday's general elections.
The videos in the endorsements are direct appeals from the candidates to you from the 2010 NSB Hob Nob held Oct. 25, at the Brannon Center. As we go through each race, we will post the video of the candidate we feel best represents the needs of the public. NSBNEWS.net is the only Volusia County-based media outlet to hand out endorsements for the general elections. The Orange County-based Orlando Sentinel has done so as well. Our endorsements resulted from collaboration and debate between NSB News LLC's publishers, Henry Frederick, a registered Democrat, and Peter Mallory, a registered Republican, for posting on NSBNEWS.net and our new countywide website VolusiaNews.net.