"What Makes YOU Qualified?"

One of the questions I get most often from people is, “what makes YOU qualified for this job?”

That’s a fair question that deserves an honest response.

By law, the Supervisor of Elections in Florida is a Constitutional Office, meaning - their JOB is to

enforce the laws of the land. That’s it – nothing more, nothing less.

The Supervisor doesn’t make laws, create policy, or dictate position. Their job is administrative

in nature, with the responsibility for enforcing laws, managing processes, leading staff, and

serving the citizens of the county.

So, what really are the qualifications?

Is it a matter of longevity?

I hope not. Just because someone has been in a job forever does not necessarily make them

effective. As an example, we have many people in Congress who have served 25, 30, 40 and

even almost 50 years, yet when you look at the latest Gallop poll, the approval rating for

Congress is a lowly 12%.

Is it a matter of “name recognition?”

Hardly. Some of the most well-known names in government leadership are universally

considered some of the biggest failures of our time. (It doesn’t matter which side of the isle you

belong – pick your poison).

What about “family pedigree?”

Every state, every county, and every city have names we recognize – Kennedy of

Massachusetts, Bush of Texas and Florida, Daily of Chicago, and (fill in the blank) in Osceola.

Some of these people were quite successful, others were complete trainwrecks.

How about how “connections?”

It’s great to know builders, contractors, and other politicians. Heck, if you know the RIGHT ones,

you may even get a building named after you. But “WHO” you know is nowhere as important as

“WHAT” you do.

At the end of the day, the qualifications for this position have nothing to do with how long you’ve

been doing the job, what your name is, what your family pedigree may be, or how well

connected you are. The qualifying factor has to do with your ability to lead, manage, and serve.

To be clear, I have never served as the Supervisor of Elections before, and I don’t have the

longevity of the current Supervisor. However, what I do have is more than 20 years of leading

thousands of men and women in the military. What I do have is another 20 years of managerial

expertise in the corporate sector, leading numerous subcontracted companies in various

worldwide locations in support of multi-million-dollar contracts. What I do have is over 40 years

of community service, ranging from Building Committees to Planning Boards to Homeowner’s

Associations to Election Integrity work. What I do have is the ability to bring people together,

evinced by my work on various non-profit Disaster Relief Teams, PTSAs, Athletic Associations,

and Church groups.

I do not have a name that is easily recognizable in the county, and I may not have the family

pedigree some seek, but those who do know my name associate it with the characteristics of

honesty, integrity, competence, perseverance, and faith.

I may not have the “connections” others may have to get a building named after me, or to easily

pull in political contributions from those who have benefitted from decisions my family has

made, or to influence politicians in partisan politics. But I do have many relationships –

relationships which, when leveraged with like-minded people, will benefit ALL the people of

Osceola County, regardless of party affiliation, ideology, or background.

So back to the original question, “what makes ME qualified for this position?”

You decide.

But remember… “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get, what you’ve

always had.”

ELECTION INTEGRITY MATTERS!