Temple Beth El Candidate Forum – October 16th

Temple Beth El in East Boca will have a candidate forum on October 16th at 7 pm. I’m honored to serve on the committee that set up this event and also to be on the panel asking questions of the candidates.
The event will include congressional candidates in two races (Frankel-Hasner and Henao-Deutch) the State Attorney candidates, candidates for State Senate, State House, and more. I’m told this event draws an audience in the hundreds.
As a bonus, I believe there will be a presidential debate-watching party starting at 9 pm.
Flyer for the event is below, with more details below that:

Drawing hundreds of voters from the Jewish Community, the Candidates Forum allows candidates in the federal, state and local races to share their positions, answer questions and challenge their opponents.
Confirmed candidates include:  Ted Deutch, Cesar Henao, Lois Frankel, Adam Hasner, Joseph Abruzzo, Maria Sachs, Ellyn Bogdanoff, James Ryan O’Hara, Kevin Rader, Sean Michael Kasper, Lori Berman, Robert Gershman, Dina Keever, Dave Aronberg, Mary Lou Berger, Paul Tocker, Steven Engel and Tom Thayer.
The event is co-sponsored by: Temple Beth El of Boca Raton, American Jewish Committee, Boca Raton Synagogue, Congregation B’nai Torah, The Jewish Community Relations Council and the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County.
The moderator will be Matthew C. Levin, Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County.

Disastrous Experience with Brightway Insurance and Florida Peninsula

A few months ago we were looking for new property insurance. I sat down in the Brightway Insurance – Boynton Beach office. Everything seemed to go well. I filled out a bunch of paperwork, made some payments, and understood we’d be paying lower premiums on both our homeowners insurance which many individuals acquire through websites such as www.insurancequotes.com and our umbrella policy.
I started getting notices. I’d get a notice from Florida Peninsula (the homeowners insurance) that something was missing. Then there’d be a notice from Pacific Specialty Insurance (the umbrella).
Whenever something came, I’d contact the agent and he’d say he was taking care of it. That’s the idea, right? The agent is supposed to take care of it.
So in September when I got the notice from Florida Peninsula that they were going to cancel my insurance effective October 1st, and that I was some $3500 short on the policy that was originally quoted to me as $3500 and that I had already paid, I was a little upset.
The agent at Brightway was not responding to my inquiries at this point. Not at all. I also notified the supervisor at the local Brightway office about my concerns. I got a brief response but there was no follow-up.
So I called Florida Peninsula directly. I sent them copies of the documents Brightway had failed to get them. I spoke with someone (MJ?) on September 19th.
We worked out what the correct premium was and I paid an extra $500 over the phone just to get it done. I was assured that everything would be fine and our insurance would not be canceled.
Then in early October we got the notice that our policy had been canceled. No, that’s not what I expected.
So I called today and found out that our mortgage company paid the $3500 or so that had been requested earlier. This was now an overpayment, due to the corrected papers I submitted, so they’re going to send me a refund for what the mortgage company paid. Huh?
I explained to the customer service rep at Florida Peninsula that this was not satisfying. I tried to explain that this is the kind of thing that might lead a mortgage company to cancel our mortgage. This is the kind of thing that could damage our credit rating. The rep was completely unhelpful.
I asked repeatedly to speak to a supervisor. She said no one was available but she could put me into someone’s voicemail. But I don’t want voicemail. They’re never going to get back to me. Eventually she found someone, Delisa who appeared to be competent.
I’m still not convinced that everything is resolved. I’m still worried about the notice that might be coming from our mortgage company. I’m not a happy customer.
After this experience I can recommend to everyone: Do not use Brightway Insurance and do not use Florida Peninsula. Neither of them cares about getting things done correctly. Neither of them shows any concern for the consequences when they make mistakes and how that affects the customer.
Below is an image from Brightway’s website. I have confidence alright. Confidence not to use them ever again.

Chamber Breakfast Report

The West Boca Chamber was at Boca Greens this morning for a buffet breakfast. It seemed like a big crowd, maybe over 70 people.

20121009-081946.jpg
We started with the buffet, with plenty of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, potatoes and more. I’m not sure why but breakfast was particularly good.
During morning intros we had a surprise: one attendee spoke out for Amendment Four on the November ballot.
It was also reported that the Chamber golf event yesterday was a success.
There is a diaper donation drive by Junior League. You can drop them off at Mission Bay Self Storage.
December 7th Seacoast Toast cocktail event at Gumbo Limbo was announced. $50 if paid before November 23 and $55 after.
The scheduled speaker, Robert Watson, was very late. This led to extra announcements stretching things out.
December 5th – save the date for the Chamber holiday event.
There was talk of a debate watching party but it’s not clear if that will happen.
There was a mini presentation on Florida’s homestead protection, which extended into power of attorney rules and interstate issues. This filler presentation went quite long, and was actually very good. Unfortunately attorneys were unable to get credit for continuing education, but it was better than many CLEs I’ve attended.

20121009-084514.jpg
Next meeting Nov 13. Hopefully the speaker will show up.
And hopefully Mr. Watson is okay.

Upcoming Events: Tomorrow's Chamber Breakfast and More

Here are some upcoming events in and near West Boca. As always, we appreciate tips for any other events: [email protected]
Tomorrow, October 9th
West Boca Chamber Breakfast with Robert Watson
7:30 am at Boca Greens
More info at West Boca Chamber Events page.
October 13th
Daggerwing Nature Center: Spooky Creatures
1 – 1:45 pm.
With spiders, owls, snakes, and more.
October 14th
Atlas Shrugged at Cinemark with CFO Jeff Atwater
5-7 pm contact [email protected]
Flyer pic below
October 19-20th
Both genders may appreciate Nordstrom’s Fall Lingerie Event at Town Center.
October 21st
Start of the GBYSA (Youth Soccer) winter session
October 26th
Italian-American for Romney rally at Boca Greens
6 pm, $10 at the door.
Several candidates, mostly Republican but including at least one independent, will speak.
Daggerwing Nature Center
5th Annual Halloween “BOO”ardwalk Event
6:30-8:30 pm
Bug spray recommended

Flyer from Atwater/Atlas Shrugged event:

GOTV Rally in Delray Beach: October 20th

The Delray Beach Republicans are putting on a “Get Out The Vote” rally at the Delray Garden Center, at 3827 West Atlantic Avenue.
It’ll be on Saturday October 20th from 1-4 pm. They seem optimistic about this being a big event:

We are expecting the arrival of several hundred guests and organizations, and will provide plenty of parking. Refreshments and great food will be served, and of course we will have live musical entertainment and professional security.
In addition to the candidates and their campaigns, we will be welcoming to the stage Billy and Karen Vaughn, parents of of slain Elite Member Navy SEAL Team 6, *Aaron Carson Vaughn*.
Space will be designated for campaign materials to be distributed during the rally. A secure VIP area is being readied for clergy and celebrities, as well as our candidates from various local, state and federal campaigns who have committed to speaking to the crowd of voters.

They’ve indicated a large number of candidates will be in attendance. No word yet on the Romney or Connie Mack campaigns.
As always, if anyone can tip us off to comparable Democrat (or other party) events, we’ll be happy to publish them too.
As a bonus, you can double up that day and hit the Festival of Crafts from 8 am to 2 pm at Our Lady of Lourdes, 22094 Lyons Road in West Boca.
Map to Delray Garden Centerbelow.

View Larger Map