Author: Warren Redlich

We sent the following question to each candidate who is on the ballot for the upcoming State Legislature and County Commission elections for districts covering West Boca Raton. So far the following candidates have agreed to participate: Geoff Sommers, Melanie Peterson, Steve Perman, James Ryan O’Hara, Paul Tocker and Rick Neuhoff.
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Dear candidates:
Below is Question 1 for our West Boca News campaign coverage for the 2012 election. We will publish your answer in full, unedited. We recommend 100-250 words, but feel free to write as much or as little as you like. Please respond by June 22nd. We will post your answer shortly after we receive it. If we receive no answer by the 22nd we will publish that you did not respond, but will revise to include a late answer whenever it comes.
For state candidates (State House and State Senate), Kevin Rader, James Ryan O’Hara, Geoff Sommers, Melanie Peterson, Steve Perman and Joseph Abruzzo:
Q: According to the Florida state budget, the State of Florida spends approximately $70 Billion a year.
Do you think the state government should spend more, less, or is this about the right amount?
If more, where would you spend more and where would you get the money from?
If less, what spending would you cut?
For county commission candidates (Mary Lou Berger, Steven Meyer, Rick Neuhoff, Paul Tocker):
Q: According to the county budget summary, Palm Beach County spends approximately $3.3 Billion a year (not including internal and interdepartmental charges, and interfund transfers).
Do you think the county should spend more, less, or is this about the right amount?
If more, where would you spend more and where would you get the money from?
If less, what spending would you cut?

The candidates have filed their paperwork for the 2012 elections. At the statewide level, there is a primary and general election race for US Senate with many candidates in the major parties and also candidates who have no party affiliation. If any of the candidates come to West Boca, we hope to cover such events.
While most media attention is focused on the presidential race, there are significant local elections coming up that more directly affect West Boca. And because there are far fewer voters, your vote matters more in these races. Any voter can vote by absentee ballot. Get more information here: Palm Beach County Absentee Ballots.
The races that are more local include US Congress. In our district Democrat Ted Deutch (website not working at the moment), who apparently lives about 10 houses from me though I’ve never met him. Also on the ballot are Cesar Henao and Mike Trout, neither of whom appear to be associated with a major party.
For State Senate for our area, the GOP has two excellent candidates I’ve met quite a few times: Geoff Sommers and Melanie Peterson. The two will face off in a primary in August. The winner will face Democrat Joseph Abruzzo (website under construction) in the general election.
For State Representative, there will be a Democratic primary between Steve Perman and Kevin Rader, also in August. The winner will face Republican James Ryan O’Hara in November.
These two primaries were a bit of a surprise to many. Peterson and Rader were both originally planning to run different offices and switched at the last minute. Rader’s switch was apparently so recent that Google thinks he’s still running for Senate. This is what I saw in my search for his name just now:

For County Commission, West Boca is in District 5. There are three Democrat candidates who will compete in a primary, with the winner facing Republican Paul Tocker. Tocker is an old friend of mine so I have to confess I’m rooting for him. The Democrat candidates are: Mary Louise Berger, Steven H. Meyer, and Rick Mark Neuhoff.
There are a number of other positions up for election. Click the following for: Qualified candidates for Palm Beach County.
We will do our best to cover the elections most local to West Boca, and will reach out to candidates to ask them to answer questions about what they would do in office.