July 5, 2024 • 22 mins
Powell is running for the soon-to-be vacant District 7 seat on the County Commission.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hey, Joel Malcolm Ford w Jand O dot com, and my election
(00:03):
spotlight is on the Palm Beach CountyCommission heading into the primary. Now,
there's only one primary for the Commissionand it's in District seven. It is
a Democrat primary. This is theseat being vacated by term limited Mac Bernard
and he's running for a state legislativeseat. Actually the seat that is currently
(00:26):
held by one of the two candidatesin this race, Senator Bobby Powell Junior
from District twenty four. Thank youfor joining me. You're welcome to all.
It is good to be here withyou this morning. Now you are
running for this seat, you're essentiallyvacating midway through a term in the Senate.
(00:46):
You know, let's start there.What made you feel, you know,
like you wanted to go from thestate to a more locally focused position
like county Commission. Well, that'sa great question. As you know,
I've been in there for twelve years. As a matter of fact, as
an African American here in Palm BeachCounty, i am the longest serving a
black state legislator in the history ofPalm Beach County, having done four years
(01:10):
in the state House in eight yearsin the Senate, which technically, if
you look at it, a termis four years. So because of redistricting,
I ended up with an additional twoyears that I could have served.
But I do believe that eight isenough and it's an opportunity to come back
home work locally. And in additionto that, with mac Bernard turning out,
there were a lot of phone callsfrom a lot of community leaders,
(01:33):
a lot of organizations, and anumber of stakeholders in Palm Beach County that
requested that I do run or reallyconsidered coming back to Palm Beach County to
run for the County Commission seat,as they didn't feel that they were the
right candidates had not decided to runfor that seat, so they indicated to
me that they would like to seeme run. Yeah, as I mentioned,
(01:57):
I think I mentioned, there's oneother candidate in this race that you're
facing for the primary, and thenin November there will be whichever the two
of you are standing for the Outof the Democrats, there'll be a Republican
and a couple of writings as well. Let's get a little bit of background
for you know, you've been arounda while but for folks that maybe you
(02:19):
know, we always have people movinghere practically every day. I know a
couple of years ago it was thatway. So for folks unaware, let
us know a little bit more aboutyou. Of course that's great. I
am born and raised here in PalmbeesCounty, a graduate of Palmebase Gardens High
School class of nineteen ninety nine.I left Palme's County to go to Tallahassee
(02:42):
where received at bachelor's in journalism underthe sequence of Public Relations with Journalism and
Graphic Communication in two thousand and threeat Florida A and M University. Then
it went on to Florida State University, where I received my Master's of Science
in Urban and Regional Planning in twentyeleven. I was certified by the American
of Certified Planners, so I aman AICP certified planner. I'm also a
(03:04):
public notary. I have the abilityto notarize legal documents as well as I've
received a number of accolades for workinghere in Palm Beach County, really over
maybe fifty awards. But I canalso tell you in terms of legislative experience,
I spent three years from two thousandand nine to twenty twelve working as
the district's aid to State Representative MacBernard, who at the time is now
(03:29):
running for is now the next senator, but I was his aide at one
point. I was a state representativefrom twenty twelve to twenty sixteen, and
then I've been a state Senator fromtwenty sixteen until now. On the private
side, I've worked as an urbanplanner, formerly for the City of West
Palm Beach early on in my career, and for the last eleven years I've
(03:52):
worked for a firm called Urban DesignStudio, specializing in government approvals and landscape
architecture. Have been there for elevenyears and I am a consistent planner.
That's what I do during the daytime. When you talk about notable awards for
me, I'm a part of Jackand Jail with my wife. Jack and
(04:13):
Jail of the Palm Beaches are Jackand Jail of Pombee County. In twenty
twenty three, I was the Fatherof the Year for Jack and Jail of
America for Palmas County's Chapter twenty twentythree, the Florida Planning and Building Association
deemed me to be the legislator ofthe Year and also how I've received the
Community Service Impact Award from Ephesus SeventhDay Advantished Church, the Florida Education Foundation,
(04:36):
or I think the Palmbech County Chapterindicated that i was the Alumni of
the Year this year. And I'vebeen awarded a legislative award from both the
county for my years of service aswell as the Mayor of West Palm Beach.
And actually this week, actually nextweek, the Florida Associate of Counties
(05:00):
will be bestowing an award upon mefor my year of service and being accessible
and active. Over ten times I'vereceived a legislative Appreciation award from the Florida
League of Cities just for being openand fighting for home rule. And these
are just a few of the thingsthat I've been able to work on and
accomplish. I've passed over twenty fivebills, twenty five new laws have been
(05:27):
created with my name on them sinceI've been in the legislature, and I've
received or helped to get more thanone hundred and thirty million dollars in projects
back here in Palm Beach County.And that runs the gamut of everything that
we do. So I'm super excitedto have this opportunity to run for Palm
Beach County County Commission and that opportunityto continue to serve people here in the
(05:51):
state and in the county. Let'stalk about some of the issues that we
have here in Palm Beach County.You know, as you know being a
long time resident, it's a greatplace to live, but it's not perfect.
So what coming onto the commission ifyou win this seat ultimately in November,
(06:13):
what are the top two things thatyou either want to tackle or make
better. There's two things that Iwant to tackle and make better, but
there's a number of things that Icould list. I think for this particular
call, how focused on housing andcommunity health, and a part of that
community health is mental health as wellas physical health. In terms of housing,
(06:36):
what I realized here in Palm BeachCounty has become increasingly expensive for people
who are from Palm Beach County tolive in Palm Beach County. We're talking
about affordable and workforce housing, whichof course are two different things, but
we need to make sure that peoplewho have lived here can't afford to live
here. We're seeing people work threeand four jobs, and we need to
(06:56):
actually come up with some alternatives interms of zoning and relations that will allow
for innovative strategies that include housing.Maybe we've talked about inclusion are zoning,
which of course sometimes it's ten percentof the homes being built in particular developments
are either workforce or affordable. Butwe need to look at alternatives such as
maybe mother and law suits, oraddition, maybe tiny homes some of the
(07:18):
additional alternatives that we're seeing around thestate. And I'm willing to do the
research and work with different communities andimplement strategies that they've implemented to make sure
that we're taking care of the leastof those here in Palm Beach County.
Now, when you talk about communityhealth, some of the more low income
(07:39):
areas of District seven, which isthe area that I will represent, some
of those areas have seen health crisises, health care crisis as well as mental
health, which many people don't startto talk about. We need to deal
with some of these issues including hypertension, high blood pressure, sickle cell and
a number of issues that have impactedthis community. Of course, we have
(08:01):
community health organizations that some are inthe community and industry. We need to
make sure that we fund those healthcare providers or those healthcare facilities, and
to make sure that people are awareof them and taking advantage of them so
that we improve the quality of lifefor individuals who are living here in Palm
(08:22):
Beach County and sometimes making sure there'saccess to high quality foods, access to
healthier foods, and the availability andinformation in terms of how to prepare those
foods so that you're not continuing toput bad things in your body. On
top of that, we don't reallyaddress mental health instability that well here in
(08:45):
Palm Beach County, which has ledto a number of people being homeless and
facilities not being available to intake thosepeople. I was just I was just
going to go to the homeless issuegone, So you're kind of well king
about that. We can really getinto that when it comes to when it
(09:07):
comes to dealing with that part ofthe issue. When it comes to homelessness
and mental health, we need tocome up with a holeness to approach and
a continuum of care that allows peopleto deal with facilities, deal with their
primary health care and then be ableto either work back into the community or
(09:28):
be in a place where they're takencare of so that those mental health issues
are not impacting the way that theylive. A number of people who are
homeless right now, and this isnot everyone, but there are people who
are homeless who are suffering a mentalhealth crisis, and we have to figure
out ways here in Palm Beach Countyto mitigate that. So let's you know,
(09:50):
you're facing in the Democrat primary herea former West Palm Beach City commissioner
obviously, and talking him, hefeels like he's, you know, the
best one for the job. Whydo you feel the voter should choose you.
Well, I'll tell you this.You talk about legislative experience and the
(10:15):
ability to approach issues at every angle. I will tell you that I've had
the opportunity and during my time asa legislator to work with people. There
has been when we talk about honestyand integrity, There's been no doubt that
I've been honest, open, andI've had I've been and you know,
(10:39):
I've shown my integrity in terms ofhow I've worked in the office and I've
worked for the office. I willtell you that legislative experience wise, even
when I haven't been a county commissioner, I attended county commission meetings. And
I've been a state legislator and haveattended state legislative meetings and delegation hearings.
(11:01):
And when things have not involved orcentered on me, I've had that ability
to work with people and attend andwork. That sets me apart from my
opposition. What also set me apartwould be there's no doubt when I talk
about integrity as to whether I willremain in the seat or sell the seat
or give it away. There arequestions about whether the opposition sold his city
(11:26):
commission seat or gave it away.What we do know is that speculation.
No one knows. But what wedo know is that he was an incumbent
and he failed to qualify for reelection. That in itself is one of the
reasons that many people called on me, because the district's seven seat is too
important for someone to get into thatseat and four years from now be questioned
(11:52):
as to whether they will sell itor give it away or just not requalify
for office. So that's very veryimportant. What I will also tell you
about me in terms of me runningfor the seat in particular, is I
built a number of relationships with electedsorry elected officials throughout the state of Florida
and outside of the state of Florida. I've been a part of the National
Conference of Black State Legislators. Ihave participated in the Congressional Black caucause I
(12:16):
have friends in Congress. I havefriends in legislatives and legislative bodies throughout the
United States, as well as mycolleagues who I've worked within both the Senate
and the House, who have goneon to become local government in terms of
either city commissioners or county commissioners,and those relationships will be impactful when working
(12:37):
here in Palm Beach County to getthings done for our district. I'm,
of course, the only person whohas dealt with the budget here. One
hundred and seventeen billion dollar budget iswhat we dealt with in the state legislature,
which means here in Palm Beach County, I'm pretty sure that I would
know how to maneuver through an eightbillion dollar budget when it comes to taxes
and finance. I've been a homeownerhere in Palm Beach County and I have
(13:00):
a holistic family. But one ofthe other things that I will tell you
that sets me apart from anybody elsein this race. It's not only about
me, it's about the we.And in my time in the legislature,
you can tell by looking at whatI've done the people who have worked with
me, they've gone on to besuccessful in their own right. Some have
gone on to become elected, andothers have gone on to work in high
(13:22):
level positions and other agencies. Forexample, my former legislative ad Kersey Miles
is now working for the Urban Leagueof Brower County in a higher position.
One of my former legislative aids,Clarice Reading, has been a nonprofit CEO
OI chairman in high level positions.Another one of my former aides, Nasby
(13:46):
Chowdery, has worked for the UnitedWay of Browers in high level positions and
it's continuing to excel and exceed expectationsbecause of the work that we've done together
here while working for me. Now, let's not forget the current state representative
for District eighty eight, Gervonte Edmonds, who runs a program called Suits for
Seniors, was once not just anintern in my office, but he was
(14:09):
one of my legislative aids, andhe has worked with me since he's been
in the legislature to continue to passbills together in between the Florida House and
the Florida Senate. One of thosenotable bills being a bill that would allow
the Florida Department of Transportation can theyland that they've purchased as surplus land back
to municipalities for the development of affordablehousing. But let's not also forget my
(14:33):
first legislative aid Troderick McCoy, whois currently a Rivier Beach City commissioner.
So that ability to impact and affectothers sets me apart from any other candidate,
not just in this race, butin any race that will be in
a primary in the year twenty twentyfour. You rarely see people who are
self less as opposed to selfish workingand running in these districts, because once
(14:56):
again, it's not about me,it's about the we. So I just
I just one thing you had mentioned, So I did wanted to do my
due diligence here you were referencing youropponent in this race, and as far
as leaving a seat in West PalmBeach or not maybe running again when they
(15:18):
thought he would, or what ifsomebody was to ask you you know,
I mean, because you're leaving aSenate seat vacated. Obviously it's now been
filled. I mentioned mac Bernard.Actually he won unopposed. But nonetheless,
if somebody was to say, well, you know, what's the difference,
because you're you know, you're leavingtwo years left on a Senate seat,
(15:41):
the difference is people have known forover a year that I was not running
or not returning to the Senate.The different for Alphobe that it gives people
a full year from June of twentytwenty three to June of twenty twenty four
to declare for that particular seat.What we saw in return from the opposition
(16:04):
is he had qualified or said hehad certified that he was running for re
election, and on the day ofqualifying at noon, he had not qualified.
That's a major difference, a difference, a difference in integrity, a
difference and responsibility. Would you hirean attorney who says that they're going to
do something and then on the dayof they don't show up. I have
(16:26):
been forthright and everything that I've done, I've been honest, and people can
say, well, you're doing somethingsimilar, it's completely different. We've seen
this happen in the legislature years before, in terms of former Senate President Joe
Negron resigning from his seat after servingeight years. Remember, I served twelve
years in the legislature. The oppositionserved twelve months. There's no comparison,
(16:52):
and there's no comparison in the termsof quality of people we are. If
you work throughout this community, inthis district and you speak to people in
the district, you will be hardpressed to find people who have said that
I've been arrogant, disrespectful, dishonest, or have lied about anything. If
you talk about the opposition, youdon't have to go further than his financial
disclosure. The forum sixth that werecently found filed to look to see that
(17:17):
he left a lot of things out. What is my opponent hiding? What
does he have to hide? There'sa lot to be desired in terms of
representing the people. A public officeis a public trust. And the truth
of the matter is, and I'llsay this, and I'll tell this to
my opponent, and I'm hopeful thathe's hearing. We cannot elect people who
we cannot trust. And when itcomes to trust, if you look at
(17:40):
me and the opposition, my twelveyears of service in the legislature, has
been honest, has been the fourthright, and has been trustworthy. If
I've had an issue with the person, I picked up the phone and called
them, just like I called him. Recently, when one hundred and thirty
four of my campaign signs mysteriously weretaken out of people's actual yards, which
(18:00):
is trespassing, and I called himto say, hey, my signs were
removed, yours were not, andhe said he didn't know anything about it.
However, video footage would show thatsomebody it looks it appears to be
somebody who's close to him who's doingit. So you know, I don't
want to get into the quid proquo or the tip for tat about the
thing of well, you're leaving thesea. He left the seat. I
(18:22):
left the seat over a year.I told people over a year ago I
would not be returning to the Senate, which gave us ample time to find
a replacement, which means that therewill be no discrepancy or no gap in
coverage of the Senate. See Mylast day being a Senator is November fourth,
twenty twenty four, at eleven fiftynine pm. The next state Senator
(18:47):
for this district. Mac Bernard hasalready been elected because he has no opposition.
He will take over on November fifth. That's no gap in coverage,
it's what else will the seat?When we talk about working and helping black
people and African Americans, the seatthat I'm currently in is held by an
African American. The State Senate seatis held by me, which is Bobby
(19:10):
Powell, a black person. Theseat on November fifth, fifth will be
held by an African American. Richardrows talks about being pro black. The
seat that he held was held byhim who was an African American. When
he did not qualify. Guess whatthat seat is no longer held by an
(19:32):
African American. And as a matterof fact, for the last since I
was a planner in the city wasPalm Beach. There'd always been two African
American city commissioners. One was KeithChanged, the other was ke Robinson.
Then it was Keith Changed and CoreyCorey Nearing. But when it was Keith
(19:52):
Changed, and then it became RichardRowles and Corey Nearing. But Richard Rowles
failed to qualify for office, helost a seat that in West Pombief.
We will probably never see two blackcity commissioners again, and that was due
to the work that he did orhis big mistake. So to compare us,
it's not apples to oranges. It'snot the same thing. It's not
(20:18):
even comparing fruit. It's like comparingapples to cotton balls. All right,
well, you have anything else fora wrap up? Absolutely, I'd just
like to remind people that you know, the election is taking place on August
the twentieth. It's an opportunity tomake sure that you have great representation in
(20:41):
the County Commission and you know youcan experience the difference. I believe the
people of Pombe's County deserve someone whobelieves that a life of service is a
life that counts, and someone whohas integrity and it's really a name you
can trust on August the twentieth,and you can vote, which I think
is two weeks prior to that date, are vote by mail. You will
(21:03):
have someone who you know, who'savailable, who has been trusted, who
has been put in position time andtime again, who has no ties to
anything that's you know, criminal mischief, for unethical or you have the alternative.
But I will tell you that peoplehave chosen me time and time again
(21:25):
because of what I've done, andyou have to look no further than my
endorsements. I have been endorsed bythe mayor of West Palm Beach, Rivier
Beach, Lake Park, Lake Worth, Lantana, Point In Counting, Lantana,
what we Will, Lantana, MangoniaPark. Every major mayor in these
organizations have endorsed me, have beenendorsed by state legislators up and down the
(21:45):
state community leaders, council people commissioners, as well as every major organization such
as the a fl CIO, theEconomic Council, the realtors of Palm Beach
County, the firefighters of West PalmBeach, Bonnington, Palm Beach County,
and the State of Florida, andevery major organization that we've interviewed with has
(22:10):
endorsed my campaign, which means thatpeople can see in advance that we know
who's going to do the work,who has a track record of success,
and who will be successful. AndI'll just say this once again, a
life of service, that's a lifethat counts. Thank you so much,
Joel, all right, once again, Bobby Powell Junior, currently serving in
(22:32):
the state Senate District twenty four,running in the Democrat primary for Palm Beach
County Commission District seven. Thank youfor taking the time to speak with us
on the voters of District seven.You're more than welcome. Thank you
Hey, Joel Malcolm Ford w Jand O dot com, and my election
(00:03):
spotlight is on the Palm Beach CountyCommission heading into the primary. Now,
there's only one primary for the Commissionand it's in District seven. It is
a Democrat primary. This is theseat being vacated by term limited Mac Bernard
and he's running for a state legislativeseat. Actually the seat that is currently
(00:26):
held by one of the two candidatesin this race, Senator Bobby Powell Junior
from District twenty four. Thank youfor joining me. You're welcome to all.
It is good to be here withyou this morning. Now you are
running for this seat, you're essentiallyvacating midway through a term in the Senate.
(00:46):
You know, let's start there.What made you feel, you know,
like you wanted to go from thestate to a more locally focused position
like county Commission. Well, that'sa great question. As you know,
I've been in there for twelve years. As a matter of fact, as
an African American here in Palm BeachCounty, i am the longest serving a
black state legislator in the history ofPalm Beach County, having done four years
(01:10):
in the state House in eight yearsin the Senate, which technically, if
you look at it, a termis four years. So because of redistricting,
I ended up with an additional twoyears that I could have served.
But I do believe that eight isenough and it's an opportunity to come back
home work locally. And in additionto that, with mac Bernard turning out,
there were a lot of phone callsfrom a lot of community leaders,
(01:33):
a lot of organizations, and anumber of stakeholders in Palm Beach County that
requested that I do run or reallyconsidered coming back to Palm Beach County to
run for the County Commission seat,as they didn't feel that they were the
right candidates had not decided to runfor that seat, so they indicated to
me that they would like to seeme run. Yeah, as I mentioned,
(01:57):
I think I mentioned, there's oneother candidate in this race that you're
facing for the primary, and thenin November there will be whichever the two
of you are standing for the Outof the Democrats, there'll be a Republican
and a couple of writings as well. Let's get a little bit of background
for you know, you've been arounda while but for folks that maybe you
(02:19):
know, we always have people movinghere practically every day. I know a
couple of years ago it was thatway. So for folks unaware, let
us know a little bit more aboutyou. Of course that's great. I
am born and raised here in PalmbeesCounty, a graduate of Palmebase Gardens High
School class of nineteen ninety nine.I left Palme's County to go to Tallahassee
(02:42):
where received at bachelor's in journalism underthe sequence of Public Relations with Journalism and
Graphic Communication in two thousand and threeat Florida A and M University. Then
it went on to Florida State University, where I received my Master's of Science
in Urban and Regional Planning in twentyeleven. I was certified by the American
of Certified Planners, so I aman AICP certified planner. I'm also a
(03:04):
public notary. I have the abilityto notarize legal documents as well as I've
received a number of accolades for workinghere in Palm Beach County, really over
maybe fifty awards. But I canalso tell you in terms of legislative experience,
I spent three years from two thousandand nine to twenty twelve working as
the district's aid to State Representative MacBernard, who at the time is now
(03:29):
running for is now the next senator, but I was his aide at one
point. I was a state representativefrom twenty twelve to twenty sixteen, and
then I've been a state Senator fromtwenty sixteen until now. On the private
side, I've worked as an urbanplanner, formerly for the City of West
Palm Beach early on in my career, and for the last eleven years I've
(03:52):
worked for a firm called Urban DesignStudio, specializing in government approvals and landscape
architecture. Have been there for elevenyears and I am a consistent planner.
That's what I do during the daytime. When you talk about notable awards for
me, I'm a part of Jackand Jail with my wife. Jack and
(04:13):
Jail of the Palm Beaches are Jackand Jail of Pombee County. In twenty
twenty three, I was the Fatherof the Year for Jack and Jail of
America for Palmas County's Chapter twenty twentythree, the Florida Planning and Building Association
deemed me to be the legislator ofthe Year and also how I've received the
Community Service Impact Award from Ephesus SeventhDay Advantished Church, the Florida Education Foundation,
(04:36):
or I think the Palmbech County Chapterindicated that i was the Alumni of
the Year this year. And I'vebeen awarded a legislative award from both the
county for my years of service aswell as the Mayor of West Palm Beach.
And actually this week, actually nextweek, the Florida Associate of Counties
(05:00):
will be bestowing an award upon mefor my year of service and being accessible
and active. Over ten times I'vereceived a legislative Appreciation award from the Florida
League of Cities just for being openand fighting for home rule. And these
are just a few of the thingsthat I've been able to work on and
accomplish. I've passed over twenty fivebills, twenty five new laws have been
(05:27):
created with my name on them sinceI've been in the legislature, and I've
received or helped to get more thanone hundred and thirty million dollars in projects
back here in Palm Beach County.And that runs the gamut of everything that
we do. So I'm super excitedto have this opportunity to run for Palm
Beach County County Commission and that opportunityto continue to serve people here in the
(05:51):
state and in the county. Let'stalk about some of the issues that we
have here in Palm Beach County.You know, as you know being a
long time resident, it's a greatplace to live, but it's not perfect.
So what coming onto the commission ifyou win this seat ultimately in November,
(06:13):
what are the top two things thatyou either want to tackle or make
better. There's two things that Iwant to tackle and make better, but
there's a number of things that Icould list. I think for this particular
call, how focused on housing andcommunity health, and a part of that
community health is mental health as wellas physical health. In terms of housing,
(06:36):
what I realized here in Palm BeachCounty has become increasingly expensive for people
who are from Palm Beach County tolive in Palm Beach County. We're talking
about affordable and workforce housing, whichof course are two different things, but
we need to make sure that peoplewho have lived here can't afford to live
here. We're seeing people work threeand four jobs, and we need to
(06:56):
actually come up with some alternatives interms of zoning and relations that will allow
for innovative strategies that include housing.Maybe we've talked about inclusion are zoning,
which of course sometimes it's ten percentof the homes being built in particular developments
are either workforce or affordable. Butwe need to look at alternatives such as
maybe mother and law suits, oraddition, maybe tiny homes some of the
(07:18):
additional alternatives that we're seeing around thestate. And I'm willing to do the
research and work with different communities andimplement strategies that they've implemented to make sure
that we're taking care of the leastof those here in Palm Beach County.
Now, when you talk about communityhealth, some of the more low income
(07:39):
areas of District seven, which isthe area that I will represent, some
of those areas have seen health crisises, health care crisis as well as mental
health, which many people don't startto talk about. We need to deal
with some of these issues including hypertension, high blood pressure, sickle cell and
a number of issues that have impactedthis community. Of course, we have
(08:01):
community health organizations that some are inthe community and industry. We need to
make sure that we fund those healthcare providers or those healthcare facilities, and
to make sure that people are awareof them and taking advantage of them so
that we improve the quality of lifefor individuals who are living here in Palm
(08:22):
Beach County and sometimes making sure there'saccess to high quality foods, access to
healthier foods, and the availability andinformation in terms of how to prepare those
foods so that you're not continuing toput bad things in your body. On
top of that, we don't reallyaddress mental health instability that well here in
(08:45):
Palm Beach County, which has ledto a number of people being homeless and
facilities not being available to intake thosepeople. I was just I was just
going to go to the homeless issuegone, So you're kind of well king
about that. We can really getinto that when it comes to when it
(09:07):
comes to dealing with that part ofthe issue. When it comes to homelessness
and mental health, we need tocome up with a holeness to approach and
a continuum of care that allows peopleto deal with facilities, deal with their
primary health care and then be ableto either work back into the community or
(09:28):
be in a place where they're takencare of so that those mental health issues
are not impacting the way that theylive. A number of people who are
homeless right now, and this isnot everyone, but there are people who
are homeless who are suffering a mentalhealth crisis, and we have to figure
out ways here in Palm Beach Countyto mitigate that. So let's you know,
(09:50):
you're facing in the Democrat primary herea former West Palm Beach City commissioner
obviously, and talking him, hefeels like he's, you know, the
best one for the job. Whydo you feel the voter should choose you.
Well, I'll tell you this.You talk about legislative experience and the
(10:15):
ability to approach issues at every angle. I will tell you that I've had
the opportunity and during my time asa legislator to work with people. There
has been when we talk about honestyand integrity, There's been no doubt that
I've been honest, open, andI've had I've been and you know,
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I've shown my integrity in terms ofhow I've worked in the office and I've
worked for the office. I willtell you that legislative experience wise, even
when I haven't been a county commissioner, I attended county commission meetings. And
I've been a state legislator and haveattended state legislative meetings and delegation hearings.
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And when things have not involved orcentered on me, I've had that ability
to work with people and attend andwork. That sets me apart from my
opposition. What also set me apartwould be there's no doubt when I talk
about integrity as to whether I willremain in the seat or sell the seat
or give it away. There arequestions about whether the opposition sold his city
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commission seat or gave it away.What we do know is that speculation.
No one knows. But what wedo know is that he was an incumbent
and he failed to qualify for reelection. That in itself is one of the
reasons that many people called on me, because the district's seven seat is too
important for someone to get into thatseat and four years from now be questioned
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as to whether they will sell itor give it away or just not requalify
for office. So that's very veryimportant. What I will also tell you
about me in terms of me runningfor the seat in particular, is I
built a number of relationships with electedsorry elected officials throughout the state of Florida
and outside of the state of Florida. I've been a part of the National
Conference of Black State Legislators. Ihave participated in the Congressional Black caucause I
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have friends in Congress. I havefriends in legislatives and legislative bodies throughout the
United States, as well as mycolleagues who I've worked within both the Senate
and the House, who have goneon to become local government in terms of
either city commissioners or county commissioners,and those relationships will be impactful when working
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here in Palm Beach County to getthings done for our district. I'm,
of course, the only person whohas dealt with the budget here. One
hundred and seventeen billion dollar budget iswhat we dealt with in the state legislature,
which means here in Palm Beach County, I'm pretty sure that I would
know how to maneuver through an eightbillion dollar budget when it comes to taxes
and finance. I've been a homeownerhere in Palm Beach County and I have
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a holistic family. But one ofthe other things that I will tell you
that sets me apart from anybody elsein this race. It's not only about
me, it's about the we.And in my time in the legislature,
you can tell by looking at whatI've done the people who have worked with
me, they've gone on to besuccessful in their own right. Some have
gone on to become elected, andothers have gone on to work in high
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level positions and other agencies. Forexample, my former legislative ad Kersey Miles
is now working for the Urban Leagueof Brower County in a higher position.
One of my former legislative aids,Clarice Reading, has been a nonprofit CEO
OI chairman in high level positions.Another one of my former aides, Nasby
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Chowdery, has worked for the UnitedWay of Browers in high level positions and
it's continuing to excel and exceed expectationsbecause of the work that we've done together
here while working for me. Now, let's not forget the current state representative
for District eighty eight, Gervonte Edmonds, who runs a program called Suits for
Seniors, was once not just anintern in my office, but he was
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one of my legislative aids, andhe has worked with me since he's been
in the legislature to continue to passbills together in between the Florida House and
the Florida Senate. One of thosenotable bills being a bill that would allow
the Florida Department of Transportation can theyland that they've purchased as surplus land back
to municipalities for the development of affordablehousing. But let's not also forget my
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first legislative aid Troderick McCoy, whois currently a Rivier Beach City commissioner.
So that ability to impact and affectothers sets me apart from any other candidate,
not just in this race, butin any race that will be in
a primary in the year twenty twentyfour. You rarely see people who are
self less as opposed to selfish workingand running in these districts, because once
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again, it's not about me,it's about the we. So I just
I just one thing you had mentioned, So I did wanted to do my
due diligence here you were referencing youropponent in this race, and as far
as leaving a seat in West PalmBeach or not maybe running again when they
(15:18):
thought he would, or what ifsomebody was to ask you you know,
I mean, because you're leaving aSenate seat vacated. Obviously it's now been
filled. I mentioned mac Bernard.Actually he won unopposed. But nonetheless,
if somebody was to say, well, you know, what's the difference,
because you're you know, you're leavingtwo years left on a Senate seat,
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the difference is people have known forover a year that I was not running
or not returning to the Senate.The different for Alphobe that it gives people
a full year from June of twentytwenty three to June of twenty twenty four
to declare for that particular seat.What we saw in return from the opposition
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is he had qualified or said hehad certified that he was running for re
election, and on the day ofqualifying at noon, he had not qualified.
That's a major difference, a difference, a difference in integrity, a
difference and responsibility. Would you hirean attorney who says that they're going to
do something and then on the dayof they don't show up. I have
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been forthright and everything that I've done, I've been honest, and people can
say, well, you're doing somethingsimilar, it's completely different. We've seen
this happen in the legislature years before, in terms of former Senate President Joe
Negron resigning from his seat after servingeight years. Remember, I served twelve
years in the legislature. The oppositionserved twelve months. There's no comparison,
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and there's no comparison in the termsof quality of people we are. If
you work throughout this community, inthis district and you speak to people in
the district, you will be hardpressed to find people who have said that
I've been arrogant, disrespectful, dishonest, or have lied about anything. If
you talk about the opposition, youdon't have to go further than his financial
disclosure. The forum sixth that werecently found filed to look to see that
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he left a lot of things out. What is my opponent hiding? What
does he have to hide? There'sa lot to be desired in terms of
representing the people. A public officeis a public trust. And the truth
of the matter is, and I'llsay this, and I'll tell this to
my opponent, and I'm hopeful thathe's hearing. We cannot elect people who
we cannot trust. And when itcomes to trust, if you look at
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me and the opposition, my twelveyears of service in the legislature, has
been honest, has been the fourthright, and has been trustworthy. If
I've had an issue with the person, I picked up the phone and called
them, just like I called him. Recently, when one hundred and thirty
four of my campaign signs mysteriously weretaken out of people's actual yards, which
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is trespassing, and I called himto say, hey, my signs were
removed, yours were not, andhe said he didn't know anything about it.
However, video footage would show thatsomebody it looks it appears to be
somebody who's close to him who's doingit. So you know, I don't
want to get into the quid proquo or the tip for tat about the
thing of well, you're leaving thesea. He left the seat. I
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left the seat over a year.I told people over a year ago I
would not be returning to the Senate, which gave us ample time to find
a replacement, which means that therewill be no discrepancy or no gap in
coverage of the Senate. See Mylast day being a Senator is November fourth,
twenty twenty four, at eleven fiftynine pm. The next state Senator
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for this district. Mac Bernard hasalready been elected because he has no opposition.
He will take over on November fifth. That's no gap in coverage,
it's what else will the seat?When we talk about working and helping black
people and African Americans, the seatthat I'm currently in is held by an
African American. The State Senate seatis held by me, which is Bobby
(19:10):
Powell, a black person. Theseat on November fifth, fifth will be
held by an African American. Richardrows talks about being pro black. The
seat that he held was held byhim who was an African American. When
he did not qualify. Guess whatthat seat is no longer held by an
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African American. And as a matterof fact, for the last since I
was a planner in the city wasPalm Beach. There'd always been two African
American city commissioners. One was KeithChanged, the other was ke Robinson.
Then it was Keith Changed and CoreyCorey Nearing. But when it was Keith
(19:52):
Changed, and then it became RichardRowles and Corey Nearing. But Richard Rowles
failed to qualify for office, helost a seat that in West Pombief.
We will probably never see two blackcity commissioners again, and that was due
to the work that he did orhis big mistake. So to compare us,
it's not apples to oranges. It'snot the same thing. It's not
(20:18):
even comparing fruit. It's like comparingapples to cotton balls. All right,
well, you have anything else fora wrap up? Absolutely, I'd just
like to remind people that you know, the election is taking place on August
the twentieth. It's an opportunity tomake sure that you have great representation in
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the County Commission and you know youcan experience the difference. I believe the
people of Pombe's County deserve someone whobelieves that a life of service is a
life that counts, and someone whohas integrity and it's really a name you
can trust on August the twentieth,and you can vote, which I think
is two weeks prior to that date, are vote by mail. You will
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have someone who you know, who'savailable, who has been trusted, who
has been put in position time andtime again, who has no ties to
anything that's you know, criminal mischief, for unethical or you have the alternative.
But I will tell you that peoplehave chosen me time and time again
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because of what I've done, andyou have to look no further than my
endorsements. I have been endorsed bythe mayor of West Palm Beach, Rivier
Beach, Lake Park, Lake Worth, Lantana, Point In Counting, Lantana,
what we Will, Lantana, MangoniaPark. Every major mayor in these
organizations have endorsed me, have beenendorsed by state legislators up and down the
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state community leaders, council people commissioners, as well as every major organization such
as the a fl CIO, theEconomic Council, the realtors of Palm Beach
County, the firefighters of West PalmBeach, Bonnington, Palm Beach County,
and the State of Florida, andevery major organization that we've interviewed with has
(22:10):
endorsed my campaign, which means thatpeople can see in advance that we know
who's going to do the work,who has a track record of success,
and who will be successful. AndI'll just say this once again, a
life of service, that's a lifethat counts. Thank you so much,
Joel, all right, once again, Bobby Powell Junior, currently serving in
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the state Senate District twenty four,running in the Democrat primary for Palm Beach
County Commission District seven. Thank youfor taking the time to speak with us
on the voters of District seven.You're more than welcome. Thank you
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