Tis the Season for Political Parties

In the State of Florida, there are some elected positions that should probably be nonpartisan. Supervisor of Elections, State Attorney and Public Defender are examples of jobs where we want the most qualified candidate, not necessarily someone with a particular ideology. That being said, I really want to express my appreciation to the Democratic Clubs of Sarasota and Manatee counties. I ran for Circuit Court Judge in 2002, which is strictly nonpartisan. There were times when Regina and I felt very alone during that campaign. We had to do everything ourselves, whether it was send out invitations, host meet and greets, or buy the food and drink for a party. Things are different this time around.
The Democratic Club of Sarasota hosted its monthly meeting on December 8. Journalist Jim McCartney spoke to over one hundred people about his career covering various presidents. On Tuesday, December 11, I was given the opportunity to address the Longboat Key Democratic Club, where I shared the podium with Congressional candidate Christine Jennings and the editor of the Sarasota Herald Tribune's opinion page, Tom Tryon. Thursday found Regina and I at Sunset Towers in the heart of Precinct One, for a lovely party hosted by Jan Holmes, Dwight Hoover, and Marcella and Art Levin. From there we headed over to O’Malley’s for party hosted by the Sarasota/Manatee Young Democrats.
On Friday evening I made my way through a deluge to get to the North Port Democratic Club holiday dinner held at the Family Table restaurant. Saturday I headed south again to join the Englewood Democratic Club's holiday luncheon. I bought raffle tickets, as is customary, and was then asked to draw the winning ticket. Did you ever get that feeling that you were going to win the prize right before your number is called? That happened to me and there might be better election strategies than choosing your own raffle ticket in a contested drawing. I ended the week at a lovely potluck dinner hosted by the Venice Area Democratic Club inside the community center of Venetian falls. Thanks again to all the hard working members of these clubs who put on such wonderful affairs.
I must also thank the Lakewood Ranch Business Association who welcomed me to their Main Street festival; Conexion Latina where I made many new friends (and won the door-prize, a great barbecue kit); the Manatee County Bar Association whose Holiday party featured great food, drink, and a lot of old friends, and the hospitality of Captain Wayne Genther where I finished Saturday with the great crew from WSLR. I would like to wish you and your family a safe and joyful end of the year.

Many Anniversaries

Friday, December 7, marked the 66th anniversary of the attack upon Pearl Harbor. It was also the 46th anniversary of the day I was born in Tampa, Florida. I began the day at the League of Women Voters, Pancake and Politics, with Florida House of Representative Keith Fitzgerald, and fellow birthday boy Representative Doug Holder. It was also Sarasota County Commissioner Jon Thaxton's birthday, but he wasn't there. From there I went to Cafe Bacci to address the Association of Private Investigators. That afternoon I collected petitions at the holiday party of my friends, attorneys Darren Finebloom and David Haenel. Next I walked over to Assesment and Psychotherapy Services to attend the party of Dr. Eddy Regnier. Finally, Regina and I finished the evening at the home of Mark and Jenny Famiglio for the Florida Association of Woman Lawyers holiday party. It was truly a memorable birthday!
Saturday, December 8, Regina and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. I cooked her breakfast before hitting the Democratic Club of Sarasota luncheon, where Jim McCartney gave an entertaining and informative talk. After a quick nap, we headed out to the friends of Myakka River State Park picnic and bluegrass party, where the the above self-portrait was taken. We then headed to the Palmer building for the Cattleman Association's dinner and dance. They provided an excellent meal, friendly people, and a great dance band for us to celebrate.
Earlier in the week I taped another episode of "Law and Sarasota," attended a fund-raiser for Florida Red and Blue, went to a Democratic pot-luck dinner in Cortez, attended the breakfast for the Mental Health Community Centers, and met a bunch of nice people from Riverwalk at George Spector's building party at 1800 2nd Street. This month I also celebrate my 23rd anniversary of working for the Public Defender's Office of the 12th Judicial Circuit, which means I officially have spent half my life there. Maybe I'll see you this week at Conexion Latina, the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance, or the Manatee County Bar Association party.

Cesar Chavez, at the Gateless Gate, with a Red Ribbon

Prior to Thanksgiving I had an opportunity to speak at the South Venice Civic Association. That was convenient because I was headed to Venice to discuss my career with students in Jake Jacoby’s class at MCC. Regina and I then headed to Cleveland, where it was 34 degrees and sleeting upon our arrival. We had a special dinner with her parents as they celebrated their 60th anniversary. There was also time to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and to play in the snow. We returned to Tampa in time to join our children Mike and Jessie at Raymond James stadium to watch the Bucs hold on to beat the Washington Redskins.
I was fortunate to attend the Cesar Chavez Memorial dinner sponsored by the Sarasota/Manatee Farm-worker Supporters, on November 26. The Golden Apple Dinner provided excellent food and service, and my friends Jim Delgado and Luz Corcuera
were honored for their leadership in the Hispanic community. There was also a presentation of a powerful one-act play, “Earth and Dust,” written by Corinne Fleisher. I finished the evening at New College discussing my campaign with some of the students I hope to enlist as volunteers.
On Tuesday, November 27, there was an excellent presentation at the Community Foundation about improving the strategic planning process for Boards. This was put on by the Non-Profit Resource Center which continues to provide extremely valuable services to many civic and charitable organizations. For further information, visit their web-site at http://www.cfsarasota.org/NonprofitCenter/tabid/53/Default.aspx. That night I was at the Manatee County Democratic Executive Committee meeting to see first hand the leadership of C.J. Czaia, Vicki Waters and Sasha Taurke.
Wednesday found me at the Manatee County Bar Association luncheon where we heard presentations about Teen Court and the Substance Abuse Coalition. That evening was spent at the Sarasota County Openly Plans for Excellence (SCOPE) appreciation party at the lovely Art Center. On Thursday I attended the holiday party at Flemings sponsored by the Young Lawyers Division of the Sarasota County Bar Association. Most of the evening, however, was spent at the Rosemary District walking around, seeing the new businesses, and getting petitions signed.
After making the rounds of a few holiday parties on Friday, I went over to the Quaker meeting-house. Abbott K.C. Walpole of the Gateless Gate Zen Center in Gainesville gave a powerful talk about prison reform. I had the opportunity to work with Abbot Walpole on a case earlier this year. He uses meditation techniques to achieve stress reduction amongst inmates and staff at several prisons, including Lowell correctional facility for women. He is shown in the picture with me at the top of this blog entry.
On Saturday I began my day at the Council of City Neighborhood Associations. I then put on my red ribbon and headed over to Ringling College of Art to honor World Aids Day. Michael Kehoe had worked tirelessly with others to put together a Health and Wellness Exposition at the College and Martin Luther King park. I left in the middle of the afternoon to attend the immigration forum held at Sudakoff Center. Over a hundred people turned out to hear a very serious discussion on this hot topic, and I managed to meet and speak with a number of them. I had hoped to continue petition gathering at the Christmas paraded but found myself just too exhausted to carry on.
This week Regina and I will celebrate my 46th birthday and our 11th wedding anniversary. Maybe we will see you at the Friends of Myakka Park picnic, or at Pancakes and Politics, or one of the many parties taking place.

From Anna Maria to Arcadia, From Ellenton to Englewood

I am running for Public Defender of the 12th Judicial Circuit. The 12th Circuit is all of DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota Counties. DeSoto County is approximately 640 square miles, and had an estimated population of 35,000 people in 2005. The county seat is located in Arcadia, which is the largest population center on the Eastern side of the 12th Circuit. There is a beautiful courthouse in Arcadia, and the DeSoto County jail is located nearby. The Public Defender's Office is located right in the courthouse.

Manatee County is approximately 893 square miles, and had a population of 262,000 people according to the census of 2000. Anna Maria is one of the westernmost cities of the 12th Circuit. The growing area of Ellenton is north of the Manatee River, with the lovely town of Parrish found a bit to the north and east. The Port Manatee Stockade serves as the Manatee County Jail, and a new courthouse is going up in downtown Bradenton. Presently the Public Defender's Office is located just a bit east on Manatee Avenue.

Sarasota County has 725 square miles, and an estimated population of 326,000 people according to the 2000 census. The beautiful Englewood straddles Charlotte County to the south, which is part of the 20th judicial circuit. There is a small courthouse located near Venice, but no jail or Court has been built in the fast-growing city of Northport. The main courthouse is located in downtown Sarasota, across the street from the historic courthouse, and the Sarasota County jail, which presently holds more than 1,000 inmates. The Public Defender's Office in Sarasota is located next door, on the 5th floor of the criminal justice complex, which also houses the Sheriff's Office and the State Attorney.

Public Speaking about Public Defending

While it was a great week on the campaign trail, it was a bad week in the courtroom. Sunday was a busy Veteran’s Day. I started at the parade in downtown Sarasota and particularly enjoyed seeing the Booker High School ROTC contingent. From there I ventured out to Old Miacca where a fall festival was underway to benefit the historic schoolhouse. Afterwards there was a picnic at Red Rocks park featuring a speaker from “Veterans for Common Sense.” The day ended at the volunteer party for community radio station WSLR located at 96.5 on your FM dial. Gallery Billiards in Northgate hosted the affair and is a fabulous venue with a big stage, crisp sound and abundant lights. My new favorite band, the Hacienda Brothers from Tucson, Arizona, had everybody dancing within minutes.
The National Philanthropy Day luncheon on November 13 was eye-opening. Nearly 400 persons were in attendance to celebrate the good works of individuals and businesses from our area. On Wednesday I was at the Sarasota County Civic League where I heard Commissioner Nora Patterson make a compelling case against the property tax amendment we will all vote on in January. That evening I was invited to the First Presbyterian Church of Sarasota by Reverend Clayton Thomas to participate in the evening’s discussion on capital punishment. I am honored to speak at churches about my legal experiences, and I always learn as much from the audience as they do from me. On Thursday I enjoyed speaking to the members of the Southeast Manatee County Democratic Club at their lunch meeting at Peridia.
Meeting all the wonderful people of our three county judicial circuit helps me cope with days like Friday. While I knew it was likely that I would be sitting next to a young man sentenced to death, there is really nothing you can do to prepare yourself for the experience. This case in particular is a family tragedy of immense proportions and the legal system and the State of Florida failed the survivors by insisting on a death sentence. I can only take comfort in the fact that I did everything I could to prevent this from taking place.
I tried to recover my bearings by attending the Booker/Hardee playoff game Friday evening. It was a beautiful night, the food at Booker is some of the best in the area, and the Tornadoes prevailed in a tight defensive battle. On Saturday Regina and I attended E-Fest in search of signatures for our petitions so that I can qualify for the ballot. This was definitely the best E-Fest yet, held on the beautiful polo grounds of Lakewood Ranch, and with thousands of people in attendance. We tried not to be too intrusive in our signature gathering and we would like to thank everyone who was gracious enough to take a minute to speak with us. My petitions are now available online and if you are a registered voter in DeSoto, Manatee or Sarasota counties, I would be very grateful if you could download, sign and return a petition to me. My petition can be found at: http://www.sarasotadems.org/docs/adam-tebrugge.pdf
Regina and I ended another busy week in Englewood at the birthday party of our dear friend Kerry Mack. Even at a party, however, I was busy collecting petitions and hearing the concerns of citizens from south Sarasota County. With lots of family and travel plans this coming week, I will take a little break from the campaign trail. I wish you a safe and relaxing Thanksgiving.

Eating, Meeting, And Learning On The Campaign Trail

My primary approach to campaigning is to go to as many events as possible throughout the three counties. Most of these events involve food and speeches. If you have a good appetite and a good attitude than you can really enjoy the experience.
Sunday, November 4, we began the day in Tampa with the Buccaneers beating the Arizona Cardinals. We had to leave the game a few minutes early to get back in time for the Democratic banquet that evening at Michaels on East. The keynote address was given by Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Shultz, a dynamo out of South Florida. Her main job was to stoke the enthusiasm of the two hundred plus local Democrats in attendance, and she did her job well.
After work on Monday I went to the Community Foundation of Sarasota to hear Jack Levine describe the “Children Are Our Future Fund.” This fund gives donors an opportunity to use their IRAs to help a variety of Sarasota county programs, and further information can be found here: http://www.cfsarasota.org/NewsEvents/FullCircle/tabid/378/Default.aspx I then went to Metro Café for a special meeting of the Stonewall Democrats to learn about the Fairness for all Florida Families coalition, and their web site is found here: http://www.fairnessforallfamilies.org/coalition.html.
Wednesday night was the annual New College clambake. Your admission gets you access to beverages, salad and chowder bar, ribs, chicken and a large main lobster. Several hundred people were gathered on a chilly but lovely night on the bay-front. It was a great chance to see old friends and make some new ones. On Thursday night I went to the Sierra Club meeting to hear a presentation about the effects of global warming upon wildlife the world over.
Friday evening was the Red-Tie gala and silent auction at Ringling College of Art to benefit World Aids Day on December 1. There will be a variety of events at the college and at nearby MLK park to commemorate the day. The gala was a fun affair with plenty of hors d’oeuvres, music and conversation. I was even given a brief opportunity to speak.
Saturday’s lunch was the Sarasota Yacht Club with the Sarasota Democratic Club to hear Howard Simon, chair of the Florida ACLU. That afternoon we attended the wedding of the Reverend Charles McKenzie and Lorna Washington at the beautiful bay-front home of Dick and Caren Lobo.
As you can see, it was a fun and educational week and I will have to walk off any extra pounds I may have acquired. Maybe this week I’ll see you at a Veteran’s Day celebration, or out at Old Miacca, or at E-Fest on Sunday.

The Petition Process

There are two ways to qualify for the ballot. The first is to pay a hefty filing fee. For the Public Defender race, that fee is nearly $10,000. I prefer the petition process. This involves collecting the signatures and voter information of your fellow citizens. I need almost 5,000 petitions from registered voters in DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota counties in order to qualify. The petitions are due by March 31, 2008. This means we need to collect a thousand a month to be successful. I like the petition process because it gives me a chance to meet voters, explain the Public Defender's Office to them, and ask for their support.
Yesterday Regina and I went to work gathering petitions. We started at the Sarasota Reading Festival. Now we try not to be too aggressive and infringe upon anyone's day, so we mostly looked for people in line, folks sitting down, and friends. It does take a minute or two to complete the petition, and you have to supervise the process in order to ensure that it is filled out properly. Most folks are agreeable, but not all, and we try to be understanding if denied.
After three hours at the Reading Festival it was off to the Blues Festival. For a minute I thought they might not less us bring our clipboards inside but security relented. People were having a good time listening to the music and eating, so we adopted a more passive approach. As it grew dark we put away the petitions and got close to the stage so we could better see and hear the legendary Buddy Guy.
When we counted the petitions up at the end of the day, we had collected around eighty valid signatures. If you see any candidate out with his or her clipboard, please consider taking a moment to help them out. Your signature does not consitute an endorsement or a pledge to vote a certain way. Running for office is a challenge and I'm always willing to sign someone elses' petition, based on my personal knowledge of all the effort involved.

Colman McCarthy at New College

I had the opportunity to meet with, and listen to, veteran journalist and peace activist Colman McCarthy during his two days of appearances in Sarasota and Bradenton. McCarthy is well known from his days as a columnist for the Washington Post. On Thursday, November 1, he spoke with 300 students at Booker High School before heading over to New College for an informal conversation with the students there. He then spoke with a few of us at a reception, before finally addressing over a hundred citizens at the Sainer auditorium on the New College campus.
The title of his talk Thursday evening was "How to be an Effective Peacemaker." McCarthy reflected upon his time spent covering Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu and Mother Teresa. He pointed out that a journalist typically gets the most insightful responses at the end of an interview. The common message of peacemakers, he said, was to go to where the people are in order to solve conflict. McCarthy asked the audience how many people had taken a course in school on conflict resolution or peacemaking. Only one hand went up and it was that of a former student of his. McCarthy then offered one of his best known quotations: "Unless we teach our children peace, someone else will teach them violence." In the same vein, McCarthy pointed out that "It is much easier to raise a peaceful child than to reform a violent adult."
McCarthy now teaches courses at Georgetown law school, as well as at high schools throughout the Washington D.C. area. He related stories of taking his law students to women's shelters, to illustrate his point that "laws represent the failure of love, peace is the result of love." He also described bringing in the high school custodian from El Salvador to address the students who had previously treated her as invisible. McCarthy called upon the New College students to demand Peace Studies be offered at the school. Peace studies relates not just to the military, but to our private lives as well. The talk concluded with the obviously energized audience sharing their views on how we can all work together to build a more peaceful community.

On the Campaign Trail

I am now a candidate for the Office of Public Defender. Campaigning is always an interesting experience, and I thought I would document some of that in this blog. Since announcing, I have been to the Nokomis Area Civic Association to hear Chief Judge Lee Haworth, to Tiger Bay to hear Speaker of the Florida House Marco Rubio, to the North Port Chamber of Commerce Hob Nob, to the Florida Democratic Convention in Orlando, and tonight to the "Amy awards" at the Golden Apple Dinner theatre honoring Rob Lorei.
The convention was great for a novice like myself. I met some talented people, picked up some free advice, and even enjoyed the speakers. The whole political process is a bit intimidating but at the convention you are surrounded by like minded people. People even ignored the Florida-Georgia football game in order to attend training sessions.
Maybe this week I'll see you at the Colman McCarthy talk on Thursday night at New College, or the Booker-Palmetto football game Friday night, or the Sarasota Reading Festival on Saturday, or at the Sarasota Blues-Fest Saturday night.