Funny

Democracy For Us, Democracy For You

It seems that Israel, much like its U.S. & British masters, has the right to legitimize democracies they like as "fair and legal", but also have the right of condemning [other] free elections where leaders they dislike (e.g. Venezuela, Palestinian Authority, or Iran) are elected as rigged, illegal, or illegitimate, whatever the hell that means.

Naturally when Hamas defeated Fatah in the polls, the IDF used any pretext available (see kidnappings) to pound the strongest concentration of Hamas-support, the Gaza Strip. From the moment that Ismail Haneya became Prime Minister, Tel-Aviv has encircled the Occupied Territories, cut Gaza off from Egypt, failed to recognize the new government, and even used grossly-excessive military action against a popularly-elected government.

Yet were this not enough, Israel has no pledged to support the Palestinian figurehead president, Mahmoud Abbas with military relief, as well as with the option of returning to the negotiations table in what many around the world see, as the opportunity to deal-make with a weak Palestinian leader and with a government defeated at the polls, but loved by the West.

Let's not forget that even when the Chairman lived, Israel tried to undermine him with Abbas. Abbas, in fact, is the Palestinian equivalent of Iraq's Ahmad Chalabi, a trusted Pro-West collaborator. The Palestinian people want Haneya and the Israelis want to force Abbas on them, because the latter will prove more rewarding for their Zionist exploits. This is a sad day in Mid-East Relations.

Even despite the pleas of (already too) Pro-West Arab powers like Egypt and Jordan, it seems that Abbas and Fatah are against the wall and time is running out. I am sure they will concede to anything Israel offers them, so long as they get guns and time, guns and time to hold back Hamas and the Palestinian People!

The President Exposed: A Balanced Assessmentt

Coming August 2007; Submissions Welcome

I have tried numerous times to reach the current Student Body President. I invited him and Mr. Weiss to a Q&A, neither one of which replied (though E.J. Walicki did and that is greatly appreciated). The couple of times I saw him, there was no sort of introduction, I mean I did endorse his ticket last year and I did deliver some good blows on Unite (mainly due to the MVP buy-out and Jared's System connections). I also applauded his work with course packs, but nothing.

Mr. Moseley reminded me a great deal of my colleague, John Printy, only Mr. Printy's mannerisms were sincere, while those of Mr. Moseley seemed opportunistic and blatantly exerted. I will not elaborate, instead I'll allow the deep-thinkers in here to digest that one. I was insulted and I've emailed him before. This cold-shoulder act, coupled with the edicts of his Press Secretary at censuring people her senior from speaking to blogs, primarily The Radikal have left me beside myself. The ineptness - or complicity of - the Independent Florida Alligator in not reporting the shifting of major blocks in Florida Blue Key and/or of the Moseley/Weiss stand-off or the Sam Green Block only add fuel to the already wild fire spreading throughout the annals of student leadership at the University of Florida.

On the other hand, there are many people that believe Moseley will bring about positive change, that he truly wants to improve Student Government, that he's poised to do great things. While I believe it's critical for students to know who's in power and by what means, I also think it's fair and pertinent to include the other side. I am not looking to go on the offensive, rather, I want to put the spotlight on this truly deserving public servant.

RadiKaL Updates

Two former Senators & Voice Party leaders, James Argento & Nick Capezza, have agreed to come together for a limited time, to give a unified opinion on a topic of my choice for the month of June. For the month of July we'll select a topic question from the blog-audience and for August we'll have something special planned -- we hope. A&C will prove to be one of the most insightful columns ever to appear on this blog. August will also mark the Second Anniversary of TheRadikal.

---

Not Ready For My Close-Up, Just Yet
I was touched to have been asked for a Q&A, but found myself compelled to politely decline. TR still has a long way to go before we can officially call it quits on regular-blogging. This blog will always blog about SG, there will be no end in sight. However, the blog will cease to cover on a regular basis and past 2007 I don't think I will have the time or interest to keep following the scene, as I'll be in law school somewhere, anywhere, lol.

This having been said, there is a lot more to cover in SG than has been recorded by Gatorpedia...TR isn't going to a WIkipedia spinoff, system or GDI, this blog has been around far too long, it's left Swamp PUndette, Reitz Rambler, Gatorman, I could name blogs all day and night, and we've blown all of them away -- where are they now? Yes, the authors are in D.C. or working jobs, well I'm in Gainesville and working jobs too, they just DRIED UP, they proved that SG was only useful while they were using it. Today, the Gavin Bakers, the Ryan Nelsons, the Jordan Lohs, the Sam Greens, when they needed TR they were some of the most regular contributors, but now out of office or off their SG thrones, the blog gets about as much priority as XXX Spam mail and Get Rich Quick emails from that no-money-down lunatic from the infomercials. But with them or without them, TheRadikal has continued on, getting bigger, more accepted, and more feared each year after.

Anyway, I don't think we need an interview to show the readers that two blogs are in fact on the same page. Let me boldly say that I support the SG Observer. I have been very public about that since they came on the scene. I do have issues with the fact that on TR I bear no secrets, my readers know who I am, they love me or mock me, but they don't just know my name, they know how I think, when my life sucks, when my life rules, and so on. 99.9% of my readers have never met me in ./person, but they know me on a certain level by reading this blog and I think that says something.

On the other hand, the SG Observer is very Andrew Sledd'ish, their senate coverage is second to none (though undeniably SP-inspired) and I like the fact they used my idea of interviewing SG'ers to raise their numbers and quality. They never officially credited me or gave me props for the idea, they just kind of took it, but there's no harm in that. On the other hand they do put TR on their RSS feed which is nice. But most importantly and all minor dealings aside, they are a great blog and I will do an interview with them towards the end of the year, but I will not do it via the net, I will want to sit down with someone and have it recorded (I'll bring my own device to have a copy).

---

I've got to get to bed. Goodnight.

June O.E.P. Volume 2

---

From: "Gareth Kerr" kerrg@ufl.edu
To: me@ChristianDuque.com
Subject: from Gareth Kerr
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 17:16:35 -0400

Hey Christian!

I applied for a Summer Replacement Senate seat. I emailed John Boyles and made him aware of my application. So, I made some contact and maybe he'll remember my name when it comes time to look for applications.

I also applied for a University Committee. I am attaching a copy of my "resume of activities". What do you think about it? Its too late to ammend it much because its what I've submited with 2 SG applications.

Thanks!

-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Its Great To Be A Florida Gator!"
Gareth Kerr
Kerrg@ufl.edu
954-401-0247

What a great GDI...they turned him away time after time, but he finally got into senate. No one should forget Gareth Kerr. Finally getting into senate made him so happy, God Bless the Independents!

---

From TheRadiKal Vault (10/20/2005)

"Speaking directly to your points:
1-I'm not inspired by John Boyles either. Behind closed doors or in confidence he'll say one thing. In public, in front of his greek masters he'll say something completely different. There is nothing than angers me more. I think you and I in particular have always respected one another for saying what's on our minds and respected one another for it.

That being said, we're going to be hard pressed to find another candidate either with the kind of financial backing Boyles would bring (rumors speak of $15K) or the kind of broad-based organizational support John carries. As it is right now, Boyles, Jared, and Cosimi are the three that are running. No one else with any experience or qualification is being mentioned (there are rumors that John Dicks is being encouraged to run by Joe..but like I said, experience and qualifications lack). Diane Kassim is graduating. She'd be the perfect answer to anyone Gator threw up, even Boyles; but she seems wholly unavailable.

Written in red...

---

Christian, buddy, it looks like your pressure is working. Let me just say that you are doing a great job in your blog, keep it up! Read this e-mail I just received....

“Jared Hernandez and the Unite Party would like to thank you for your time and effort on this campaign. While the top of our executive ticket did not win, we did win 13 senate seats and our Treasurer candidate Lola Bovell is currently in a run-off to become Student Body Treasurer. We would like to invite all of you to a cookout to celebrate our successes and plan for our futures Sunday at 1 PM at Jared's house. The house is located on 2nd Ave directly across from the 2nd Ave entrance to the Levin College of Law. Please park at the law school and look for the red baloons on 2nd Ave to find Jared's house. If you have any questions, please feel free to call David Meyrowitz at (352) 514-6066. Thanks for all of your hard work and we look forward to seeing you at the cookout.”

Sincerely,
The Unite Party


**INTERNAL PARTY COMMUNICATION**

---

Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2006 13:57:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Pedro M. Allende" pallende@ufl.edu
To: "Christian Duque" chris@christianduque.com
Subject: Re: Interview Request


Hey Christian,

I hope all is well. I just got back from a vacation so give me a
couple of days to think it over. I tend to avoid any sort of
public commentary as I'm a rather private person but I'll think
about it and let you know.

Otherwise I may recommend a couple of other people who may help
you out. In any case I'm sure we could have some interesting
conversations off the record, I'm always up for good discussion.

Regards,

PMA

P.S. - I dont need to ask anyone's permission.

The offer remains on the table.

---

News

Well sadly, the only non-adult-content info I got on Josh was a rather boring one-liner by Will Foster (sorry Will). I promise that tomorrow night, post-workout of course, I'll try and deliver something good on here. With no teaching in the summer-time, I applied to Kangaroo and got hired for management, woo hoo! It'll be good to get some management experience on the resume, especially since no one really buys the milking job I've done w/ SG, Fiji, and the various organizations I either founded or controlled behind people of lesser intellect...

Monday to Friday, 5am - 3pm training under a really cool manager. In one month I'll have my oen store, my own little team, a nice salary (long gone will be the days of hourly pay :o(, and bonuses for just about every little store function one could conceive of. I can't wait...but will I return to teaching? Will I go up north to the law school that accepted me, will I re-take the LSAT? Who knows, but what I won't be doing tomorrow is covering Josh Simmons, I just don't have the time, and I apologize profusely.

Paying Tribute

I think I've waited long enough. It's time to honor Josh Simmons. I mean I've really done him wrong by attacking his most noble of efforts to fight for the students, he's a true asset to them. So now I ask all of you, to please give me as much information as you can on him, anything you can think of, because I would like to truly honor him. I do have a few things in my files, but no where near enough.

I want to honor him in such a way that he will remember this tribute and hold near and dear to his heart. I think many of us just take, take, take and very seldom do we pause and recognize the hardest workers amongst us. Sometimes there's a man and I'm talkin about the Dude here, he's the man for his time and place, he fits right in there.

As always, if you want to contribute anything and you don't want your name attached to it, I will respect that. Like if, I don't know, you were starving one day, your stomach was growling, and you doubled over in aching pain and you wanted a plateful of green, non-Board-of-Health-supervised, Hare Krishna food and all you had was $.75 in your pocket and along passed JOSH and reached into his pocket and gave you TWENTY DOLLARS! and when you said "I'll pay you back," he wouldn't let you finish and just said, "no sweat, that's what friends are for," and walked away, which I'm sure he does often. So no, in that case if you didn't want to give your name b/c you didn't want people thinking you were a broke bum, I'd totally understand, so no worries.

Please....let the information flow. Our piece will go up in five days. Thank You to all of you, but most especially, thank you to Josh for all of his invaluable service to the students. He is a great man. And for any of you that think this is going to be a time to bash my critic, your wrong, it will be a tribute.

The Sam Green Block: Revisited

How Hot Did It Get For Green?

Coming almost full circle, almost a year later, I believe the slap on the wrists by FBK on a then-burgeoning African American block has left very real scars, scars that will allow for Moseley to rule almost unopposed and that will surely have an effect on the '08/'09 UF-SG Executive ticket.

---

First let's see the switch. Upon Green's return for the Holiday break, we see a change in from his pre-Break outraged shock, which given a natural progression sans the break could have easily turned into more of a combative positioning. Instead, let's read his letter:

Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2006 16:42:52 -0500
From: "Samuel Green"
To: chris@christianduque.com
Subject: Hello

Christian,

How are you?

I hope that you had a great holiday break. The blog comments have grown quite fast and have become a phenomenon across the campus. Just to clarify, I just wanted you to know that I have never taken a stance on anything that may have occurred. Your intentions to pursue this matter is appreciated, but I believe people are believing that I charged you with this initiative. The responses and follow up articles have been overwhelming, but I believe that it has taken a negative turn and it is degrading my character.

Nevertheless, after taking the holidays to go home and reconnect with my family and God. I have accepted peace with everything that was at one point hostile or uncomfortable within my life. This situation and my overall involvement in SG has taught me to that I cannot make everyone happy and that people will believe whatever they want. At the end of the day, I am more concerned about my personal character and the positive legacy that I leave behind. However, I am more concerned with having the confidence to believe that I had the best interest for students at heart and that I worked hard for others. Today I am blessed and happy! I have moved on from this situation and am focusing on being the best Senate Pro Tempore doing what I was elected to do.

Thanks and God Bless,

Samuel

---

But putting the blame on Green is simply NOT fair. In fact, a large portion of the blame goes to Stephanie Garry and Lyndsey Lewis, both high ranking then-employees of the Independent Florida Alligator. After a series of pre-and-post emails, I was able to get this. Read how the student paper effectively leaves the students in the lurch. NOtice that the letter even speaks of countless other pleas to look into FBK's control of SG. Notice how the reporter, nor her editor, nor anyone on the current or past staffs HAVE LOOKED INTO THIS. It's clearly not impossible, even by the author of the letter's own opinion, just apparently too difficult for them to spend their time on. That's real reporting right there folks!

Date Tue, 28 Nov 2006 17:57:50 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: An Injustice Worthy of Print
From: "Lyndsey Lewis" llewis@alligator.org
To: "Christian Duque" chris@christianduque.com


Christian,

As a former SG reporter myself (and reader of your blog, believe it or not), I'm well aware of the situations you're describing. You're not the first person to offer these kinds of tips, and I doubt you'll be the last. The problem is convincing people to go on the record about this sort of information. I can't publish anything based on anonymous tips or non-credible sources, of course, so I'm reluctant to assign stories about Greek corruption or FBK conspiracies when there's no solid information to back up accusations.

Stephanie Garry and I discussed the Sam Green situation, but we're not necessarily going to publish something about it. I'll probably have one of my reporters look into this, but personally, I don't think the situation merits an entire story. Despite whatever private ties SG and FBK may share, they're not officially linked, and the last thing I want to do is run a story filled with unfair implications and unsubstantial evidence.

Thanks for taking the time to contact me and Stephanie. We always appreciate reader feedback, but I do need to add that this e-mail is not for publication.


Lyndsey Lewis
University Editor
Independent Florida Alligator
(352) 376-4458

I love how Ms. Lewis speaks of SG and FBK as two old friends or two individuals. The fact is any possible "private relationship" between a public body entrusted with representing ALL STUDENTS and its PRIVATE RELATIONSHIP with an organization that only represents a FRACTION of students is ---> NEWSWORTHY. But how can we fault poor Sam Green when we have MORONS covering the news? I'm taking a risk being sued here, but I don't care, I initiated contact as the author of a blog and I've waited a fair amount of time, either way, I'm doing what I feel is right by the students, anything that comes of it, oh well.

---

Ok, so now I'd like to put a few anonymous comments (anonymous to keep my sources' privacy intact, as promised).

I talked with ----- about Mr. Green. It was politics, nothing more. The A.A. Community knew the story. Green is in the middle of an SB president battle. By spring, it will have sorted itself out and he will likely be tapped.

Now, the Party Chair, as we know, is appointed prior to slating, and often becomes the Party Leader in Senate, but not always. An example of this happening is Laura Gonzalez, and example of this *not* happening is Sam Green -Laura remained Party Chair and Access phased out of R & A representation because they were 2 elections removed from office.

I hope this helps some. I wish I could sugar-coat the entire thing, but it wouldn't be what I truly believe. I ultimately see Sam taking a spot as Treasurer on Josh's camp. Politically it is the right move, and I don?t think he would do the worst job as SBT.

---

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

The Bud Calderwood Interview

The RadiKal: Who are you? How long have you resided in Alachua and what, if any, positions of leadership and/or community service have you held?

Bud Calderwood: I graduated from Univ. of Penn College of Veterinary Medicine and came to Gainesville in 1971 as a faculty member of the College of Medicine in the Dept. of Anesthesiology. I was there for five years and then moved over to the College of Veterinary Medicine for four more years. I left as a tenured Associate Professor to start the first private practice of veterinary medicine in Alachua in 1980. Since that time I have been on the Board of the Chamber of Commerce, serving as President twice. I am on the Board of the Alachua Historical Society as Treasurer. I was a member of the Friends of the Alachua Library, for the City I served on the Police Pension Board, the City Land Development Regulation Committee and The Greater Alachua Transportation Taskforce. The Chamber recognized me as Businessman of the Year and as Volunteer of the Year, I have served as Chairman of the Annual Christmas Parade for the past three years and as a member of the Annual Sportsfest Committee since it’s beginning. The Sportsfest has raised over $100,000 for youth sports in Alachua. I am also a member of the City’s Recreation Board. I was a member of the Annual Good Life Community Festival when it was active several years ago.

I came to Alachua because I saw it as a growing community way back then. Alachua has an interesting history. It was basically a one company town when the Copeland Sausage Co. was open. It was bought out and then closed before I came to town. That closing devastated the economy and the City was close to bankruptcy. Some visionary Commission businessmen realized that they needed to do something to revitalize the city. James Lewis was one of those men. They borrowed bond money to bring water and sewer infrastructure to the city. That combined with the location of Alachua in the Rt 441 and I-75 corridor drew attention to Alachua. General Electric opened a battery factory, Driltech (now Sandvick) and Hunter Marine opened. IBM bought 2000 acres with plans to open a computer manufacturing plant. The rest is history as they say. The IBM land sat vacant for close to twenty years and then was bought by WACO Corp. who proposed a DRI which was ultimately turned down. Since then the property has developed with Dollar General and Wal Mart Distribution Centers. Sysco Corp. is in the process of opening a third distribution center. We see that High Springs, Newberry and towns like Hawthorne are just now putting in the infrastructure that Alachua has had for forty years. That is one measure of why Alachua has had such positive growth.

Alachua has averaged about a 6% increase in residential growth for the last five years which is about the state average. Compare that with the County which is less than 3%. The increase in jobs in that period is around 2000 which includes 950 in the high tech industry at the Progress Corporation Park.

The RadiKal: How has the City of Alachua grown over the years? Are there any areas of the community (e.g. industry, agriculture, tourism) that you'd like to see more on emphasis placed on?

Bud Calderwood: Alachua has averaged about a 6% increase in residential growth for the last five years which is about the state average. Compare that with the County which is less than 3%. The increase in jobs in that period is around 2000 which includes 950 in the high tech industry at the Progress Corporation Park.

I see two groups of people in Alachua, the “old timers” who lived thru the Copeland closing and who remember the bad times for the city. Then there are the new people who moved here from Gainesville to live in the country and those from south Florida who want to get away from that urban environment. This is the clash of forces in the political arena. I believe that the present commission has been able to juggle those two groups. The City has joined the twenty first century and also been able to keep the small town charm that we all want while having a diverse tax base of industrial and residential so that no one group is supporting the other. We are growing into a self sustaining community with a wide variety of good paying jobs so that the younger generation doesn’t have to move away for employment opportunities. I want to see more diverse jobs brought to Alachua. We are getting a Santa Fe Community College campus with all the educational opportunities that brings.


The RadiKal: To the best of your knowledge what exactly is NUBA, the ALA? How are these groups similar, how do they differ, and what (if any) contributions do you feel they make to the City & its residents?

Bud Calderwood: NUBA stands for Neighborhoods United for a Better Alachua. The name changed from The 441 Group to Neighborhoods of Distinction to NUBA. I was never a part of the group except to help them once with a fund raising project for which I got little to no recognition.

TThe ALA had lost all credibility in Alachua due to their no growth agenda. In my opinion, the core ALA group was looking for a way to build support in the Black Community. McCoy, the Canneys and Thomas organized a group that called itself the 441 Group. They recruited several blacks like Louis Washington, Michael Perkins and Leslie Richardson. They looked for a project to endorse and decided to use the long dormant Community Center. Around this time there was a falling out between core ALA members. These are very negative people and I guess their personalities got on each other’s nerves plus they were not getting anywhere with taking over the Commission. The ALA is the morphed result of another group, The Alachua Community Association, Inc. The original group formed to fight the Dollar General Center . They were primarily residents who lived near by and these ALA people joined them. Let me interject, this whole issue is about growth vs no growth.

When they were not able to stop the DG center the original group disbanded. They had incorporated and the present ALA members took over their 501C corp.

What has NUBA contributed to Alachua? I give them credit for pushing the present day Cleather Hathcock Community Center project. However, as the project was coming to a close the cooperation between the City and NUBA fell apart. My wife was a major player in getting the city to move on this project. The NUBA people (at least the white members) decided that they wanted to control the center and even name it. The City said no. It was city property, city liability and city staff that was to man it. The property had originally been donated for a center to be named after Hathcock, a long time black city commissioner. The white NUBAs wanted to name it after some white civil rights woman from Calif. I believe. Well that started a real battle which has ended in the black members of NUBA divorcing themselves from the Canneys et al. The black members were happy to see it named after one of their own but the Canneys et al went to the mat to fight for what they wanted. More reasons that CG only got 10 votes in that district.

What good has the ALA done for Alachua? Nothing but division and disruption for the city and costing the city hundreds of thousands of tax dollars defending itself from frivolous lawsuits.

The RadiKal: In your opinion, what was it like having Tamara Robbins on the City Commission? I've heard some stories about ALA members and the city, could you share any you might have heard about?

Bud Calderwood: Tamara Robbins was the worst commissioner I have seen in the twenty seven years I lived in Alachua. In my opinion she has a serious anger management problem. She can be charming if she likes you but watch out if you disagree with her. She called my wife a prostitute at a public meeting. The two City Managers that worked under her described her to me as “evil”. She abused city staff to the point that some would not take a phone call from her unless it was on speaker with a witness in the room. The City Planner complained that she felt that Robbins was trying to give her directions, which is prohibited by city charter. Her vendetta against Clovis Watson is legendary. She even filed a police report that she felt threatened because he hung up on her during one of her shouting escapades. There is at least one police report of her ex-husband reporting that he was a victim of domestic violence. She walked out of a Commission Meeting once when she felt that she couldn’t get her way. Her no growth agenda went so far that she tried to return grant money that had been awarded to the city for projects for the Wal Mart Distribution Center . The city attorney had to tell her that that would be illegal as the city had signed on to the project. Ms. Robbins doesn’t like me.
The RadiKal: Name Association, one sentence or less what comes to mind:

Connie Canney:Bud Calderwood: I have rarely seen her smile. She seems to be a very unhappy person.

Stafford Jones: Bud Calderwood: He is a dedicated, hard working Chairman of the Republican Executive Committee. He took over a badly run committee and has straightened it out and has it moving in a positive direction.

Theresa Kenyon: Bud Calderwood: She is a no non-sense active member of Alachua. Her concerns are primarily directed toward school related issues but doesn’t hesitate to speak her mind.

Carol Thomas: Bud Calderwood: Another very unhappy person, in my opinion. I dislike the fact that she won’t Pledge Allegiance to the flag at commission meetings, a habit she shares with Grapski.

Ron Dupont: Bud Calderwood: I have known him since before he took over the Herald. His main interest is in the environment but seems to have become the mouth piece for Grapski. They feed him their agenda and it looks like he supports it. He knowingly published an edited video of the Grapski-Brady incident. I find that very unprofessional for a journalist.

Charles Goston: Bud Calderwood: I have only recently met Mr. Goston. He is the Chairman of the Black Caucus of the Alachua Democratic Party and supported Bonnie Burgess in her successful campaign for Alachua City Commission.

Orien Hills: Bud Calderwood: Mr. Hills was born and raised in Alachua and has been a member of the City Commission for many years. He is a retired school teacher and serves as the City’s representative to the County School Board .

Michael Canney: Bud Calderwood: I don’t trust him. He has been very hostile to Brady to the point that Brady had to call the police because of his shouting obscenities on city property. He is a very poor representative of the Green Party of which he is the local Chairman.

Clovis Watson: Bud Calderwood: I admire the fact that he has overcome a poor beginning in the projects and managed to educate himself and reach such a high position as City Manager. Everyone that I know who has known him since childhood admire him. He has a great future in politics if he wants to go that route.

Charles Grapski: Bud Calderwood: In my contacts with him I find him to be a consummate liar. I don’t know if he does it for effect or if it is pathological. Some have said that he suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I can see that he has a lot of the clinical traits. Unfortunately NPD victims seldom seek help as they don’t realize that they have the disease.


David Pope: Bud Calderwood: He was raised in Alachua in a farm family. He is presently the Chairman of the Board of the Suwannee River Water Management District. He is also the Ag Manager for N.G. Wade Investment Co. He ran for the State House of Representatives and lost by approximately 600 votes.

Ward Scott: Bud Calderwood: He is a Professor of English at SFCC and long time friend of Clovis Watson who was one of his students. He ran for Alachua County Commission as a Democrat several years ago. The Dems pulled a political maneuver with a write in candidate to prevent Republicans from voting for him. This played a big part in his changing Parties to Republican.

The RadiKal: For those at UF/Gainesville unaware of all the players, could you tell us, in your own opinion, who Paul Rothseiden is and what is his role, if any, in the ALA?

Bud Calderwood: Paul Rothseiden is a bully. He has threatened me on more than one occasion and has made ugly comments about my wife to me. Paul can be counted on for financial support of ALA candidates. He supported Grapski in his House and city commission races.


The RadiKal: There are rumors that Grapski may have security personnel, I think these assertions are ridiculous. However, has Charlie Grapski or any member of the ALA (again in your opinion) ever resorted to physical abuse, be it on person or property?

Bud Calderwood: The rumors that Grapski has security personnel are false. Grapski doesn’t resort to physical abuse. He uses verbal abuse to get his way. There have been a number of incidences of property vandalism. The Alachua County Today have had their paper stands spray paint numerous times. My practice was spray painted twice with anti-Wal Mart graffiti. An ACT paper stand was found on a Rothseiden property.


The RadiKal: Could you talk to us about who Mr. Lewis & Mr. Irby are and the 2006 City Commission election was so close? Also, do you believe there was any deliberate foul play carried out by way of the City of Alachua government? Why or why not?

Bud Calderwood: Both Mr. Lewis and Mr. Irby are life long residents of Alachua, although Mr. Irby did move away for some years. Mr. Irby is the brother of William Irby, a much liked Principle of a school in Alachua. He got instant name recognition because of this. I don’t think it was an accident that his political signs emphasized the name Irby. It did cause confusion in some citizen’s minds. A point not missed by the ALA members who backed him and worked on his campaign.

The election was close because there was unrest in Turkey Creek over a development at the entrance to the community. Some blamed Lewis and voted for Irby. The usual no-growth people voted against Lewis because of the whisper campaign conducted by the ALA.

I am not aware of any deliberate foul play in the election by the City. There were some minor errors which can be expected in a small town without a permanent elected Supervisor of Elections. It never raised to the level of fraud that Grapski claimed. Reading the Summary Judgment arguments for both sides it is evident that no fraud was uncovered or supported by testimony.

The RadiKal: What concerns, if any, do you have on Charles Grapski's claims that the City is so indebted that it's charging folks $500 dollar utility bills? Please give us as much information as possible on this.


Bud Calderwood: I have given you evidence that the utility rates of the City are inline with other municipalities in the state. The claims that the City is over charging its citizens is ridiculous. People with high bills have reasons for that and it isn’t the rate that they are charged. Problems with poor insulation, setting thermostats too high in winter and too low in summer, leaving light on and doors open all contribute to the high bills, not the rate. The City just got very high marks for its financial health. We have a diverse tax base that helps the residential home owner. The City lowered its Ad Valorum tax rate and still had a great report from the auditors.


The RadiKal: What are your thoughts on Mayor Calderwood asking Mr. Grapski to leave various City Commission meetings and for the APD's decision the charge him with a felony for resisting arrest?

Bud Calderwood: The Mayor runs a very organized meeting. Before she became mayor the meetings ran over midnight on more than one occasion due to people high jacking the agenda. She feels that every citizen is entitled to a meeting that stays on agenda. Everyone has time to speak to the issue without being rude or insulting. Mr. Grapski likes to high jack meetings to get attention to his agenda. There are better ways to make his points without the theatrics and disruptions. At times it looks like he does this on purpose to antagonize the city and try to get them in a situation that he can bring a lawsuit.

The RadiKal: To the best of your knowledge, what would your response be to allegations made by ALA members like Michael Canney who say that the COA keeps tabs on them? Do the City and/or its supporters actually spy on or keep tabs on ALA members?

Bud Calderwood: I am not aware of any effort to spy on the ALA members. This is a small town and people move around and see and talk to one another. If you don’t want people to talk about you, move to a big city.


The RadiKal: What are some of your thoughts on the incident at the Rec. Center? There is talk of assault by Michael Canney?

Bud Calderwood: In my opinion this was another staged media event orchestrated by Mr. Grapski and Mr. Canney. If they had a real problem with Mr. Brady they should have gone through the proper channels and not harassed Brady and the rest of the staff. Mr. Canney has been accused of invading people’s private space with his video camera. In my opinion this is done intentionally.

The RadiKal: Is the City of Alachua' government in Republican hands? How many Democrats, if any are currently in power?

Bud Calderwood: First of all the commission is non-partisan, but in reality there are four Democrats and one Republican on the dais. The split of the voters is about two thirds Democrat and twenty five per cent Republican and the rest No Party or Independent.


The RadiKal: The Walmart issue is a no doubt a divisive one. I opposed the Super Center in Gainesville, but apparently you support it in Alachua. Unlike Gainesville, it seems that the anti-Walmart movement in Alachua has resorted to other tactics. Could you elaborate on your own personal experiences and/or property damage with this movement? And, do you draw any connections between this movement and/or Charlie Grapski and/or the ALA?

Bud Calderwood: I don’t have strong feels about the Wal Mart Supercenter being proposed for Alachua. I rarely shop there. I prefer small businesses that offer better service and more convenient parking. I did support the Wal Mart Distribution Center. There is a big difference between the retail division and the distribution division. Number one is the wages paid and the benefits offered their employees on the distribution side. The distribution industry is one of the cleanest businesses there is and is sought after by cities and counties that want clean industry and good tax bases.

My wife and my support of the Wal Mart DC brought us into the cross hairs of the ALA. We have endured many slanderous comments and ugly name calling. My veterinary practice was vandalized twice with anti-Wal Mart graffiti. There are police reports of the incidents. As I have said before the primary political issue in Alachua is growth. The ALA are definitely anti-growth. Mr. Grapski’s motives are unclear at this time but his association with the ALA lead me to believe that that is also one of his also. I also feel that there are county/Gainesville parties who have their hands in our politics, primarily Busy and Mike Byerley. I don’t think it was a coincident that Mike Byerley showed up with Mr. Grapski in one of his staged media events on the steps of Alachua City Hall . Mr. Byerley doesn’t come to Alachua very often.


The RadiKal: In closing, what do you think the administration of Gib Coerper will do for the City of Alachua. Do you perceive he will be any more, or less, successful in dealing with some of the more pressing matters at hand that Mayor Calderwood? Do you feel there will be any sort of tactical change by the ALA to engage Mayor Coerper than say with Mayor Calderwood?


Bud Calderwood: Gib Coerper has served as Mayor before. He is well qualified to run the commission meetings. I expect that Grapski and Canney will test him soon. It will be captured on video, I’m sure.

Open Email Project (R1)

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*These are not entries. I'm working on my opinion regarding the most-noble appointment. Also, the Bud Calderwood interview will be up by tomorrow night.

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Be Careful Who Seduces You...
Great Clip, From The Very Unpopular Sequel

The O.E.P. provided excerpts of vaulted emails. We don't edit the excerpts, but, I try to protect my sources by not giving clues as to who they may be. Even if you email me privately, I will not divulge their identities in any way, shape, or form.

Leaked Pre-Election

"Ben Grove, Josh Simmons, Ryan Day, and Kim Cruts were trying to barter off an Indie Spring Campaign for positions of their own. Kim and Josh wanted into Senate, Ryan Day wanted an Asst. treasurer post and Ben wanted something in Lobby."

Sam Green & The Undeniable Moseley/FBK Connection

"The three blocks that took place (Agrusa and Asher being the other two) are all well-chosen blocks. They are all allies of Josh Weiss, meaning that at some point down the road, like the Spring, they will get in when they apply again. Lauren Asher is a fabulous I+C chair and her block makes no sense, except that she favors Weiss and Pace favors Moseley. Block Asher and it looks like a Weingard/Theta Chi block. Ditto for Agrusa, who did not run for Pro-Tem after it became well known that Theta Chi was going to sit Kevin Reilly in favor of Sam Green. These two are good committee chairs."

[Real] Indies Grow Weary

"I still go here...I still have to deal with these people on campus. The majority of them I don't give two shits about--morons like Josh Simmons, Kim Sluts...err, Cruts--but I'm feeling very sorry for people like Ben Grove, who when I last spoke to him seemed very confused about supporting the system in a very un-indie-like fashion."

Much, Much More To Come...

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