Silence in the Competition for Staub's Commission Seat?

THIS BLOG ENTRY IS THE FOURTH IN A SERIES DEALING WITH THE SUCCESSOR TO COMMISSIONER SHANNON STAUB. As mentioned in a previous blog posting on Shannon Staub’s successor, the Englewood Sun called for “someone with a strong South County background and a strong voice.” So I have to ask, is it just me, or has the silence been deafening?

Everyone seems to know and expect that applicants for the District 3 seat will be working back-channel access to the Governor, trying to narrow six degrees of separation to one or two. And any contenders that may have the Governor’s number on their cell phones can be expected to place a call. This sort of behind the scenes jockeying is part of our political process and is actually somewhat explicit because the gubernatorial appointment form (Question 27) asks for three persons who have known you well for the past five years. This is not the place where applicants list two neighbors and their favorite barista (unless a neighbor or the barista knows the Governor). Which happens.

But is that it? Everyone keeps their head down, seeks out contacts that might put in a good word in Tallahassee, but otherwise tries to stay out of sight? What about the strong voices? The Republicans held auditions that I believe afforded everyone present three minutes to test their voices. But since then, what has been heard?

If any readers are aware of any blog postings, interviews, letters to the editor or any other public pronouncements from others vying for the seat, please use the comment section to let me know. Because I am not hearing or seeing much.

As promised I’m attaching my responses to my own form below. Please read the previous blog entry if this seems perplexing.

Yes, I know it is small. It's a pdf and if you click on it you should be able to enlarge and read it. If you are reading this on Sarasota Speaks, the pdf may not be visible. If not, click on FULL ARTICLE to go to the original blog entry.