Saturday, October 18, 2008
Betty G is featured Democrat at FlaDems.com
Our Betty G has been named a "Featured Democrat" on the Florida Democratic Party's website. Go to www.fladems.com to see more.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Herald Tribune Endorses Betty G
She'd bring enthusiasm and a broad perspective to Tallahassee
Published: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 1:00 a.m.
At a time when economic challenges are top of mind in Florida, it is fortunate that both candidates running for House of Representatives, District 71, have small-business backgrounds.
Ken Roberson, a Republican, is the president and owner of Roberson Funeral Homes in Port Charlotte. He points to his service on the state Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers as an entree to the political culture in Tallahassee. He promises to keep taxes low and reduce government expenses -- through unspecified tactics. Roberson lost his first campaign for the Legislature in 2004, but he beat two other Republicans in a primary earlier this year.
Betty Gissendanner retired in 2006 after operating her own State Farm Insurance agency in Port Charlotte for 20 years. Be fore that, she served as an assistant director of nursing at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. A native of Alabama, Gissendanner received her undergraduate degree in nursing from Troy University, the first member of her family to attend college. She went on to earn a master's degree and moved to Florida in 1982.
Though this is Gissendanner's first try at elected office, she is no newcomer to politics. She has held leadership positions in the community, primarily focusing on education. As welfare reform was taking shape, she headed a five-county organization called the Work and Gain Economic Sufficiency coalition. She is past president of the Murdock Kiwanis Club and served as a mentor for Take Stock in Children at Port Charlotte High School.
A Democrat, Gissendanner says she believes the Legislature needs to take a more active role to help families keep their homes and avoid foreclosures. Her strategy for implementing that role needs details and development, but she deserves credit for highlighting one of the most pressing problems in the district.
With a background in both insurance and nursing, Gissendanner has considerable knowledge in areas that are of great interest to residents of District 71, which includes much of Charlotte County along with North Port, portions of Englewood and a small part of North Fort Myers.
Both candidates have solid records of volunteer service and community engagement. Both offer good ideas, though often are short on details.
Gissendanner's enthusiasm, broad perspective and unique experiences in community service give her an edge. We recommend Betty Gissendanner for Florida House of Representatives, District 71.
Published: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 1:00 a.m.
At a time when economic challenges are top of mind in Florida, it is fortunate that both candidates running for House of Representatives, District 71, have small-business backgrounds.
Ken Roberson, a Republican, is the president and owner of Roberson Funeral Homes in Port Charlotte. He points to his service on the state Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers as an entree to the political culture in Tallahassee. He promises to keep taxes low and reduce government expenses -- through unspecified tactics. Roberson lost his first campaign for the Legislature in 2004, but he beat two other Republicans in a primary earlier this year.
Betty Gissendanner retired in 2006 after operating her own State Farm Insurance agency in Port Charlotte for 20 years. Be fore that, she served as an assistant director of nursing at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. A native of Alabama, Gissendanner received her undergraduate degree in nursing from Troy University, the first member of her family to attend college. She went on to earn a master's degree and moved to Florida in 1982.
Though this is Gissendanner's first try at elected office, she is no newcomer to politics. She has held leadership positions in the community, primarily focusing on education. As welfare reform was taking shape, she headed a five-county organization called the Work and Gain Economic Sufficiency coalition. She is past president of the Murdock Kiwanis Club and served as a mentor for Take Stock in Children at Port Charlotte High School.
A Democrat, Gissendanner says she believes the Legislature needs to take a more active role to help families keep their homes and avoid foreclosures. Her strategy for implementing that role needs details and development, but she deserves credit for highlighting one of the most pressing problems in the district.
With a background in both insurance and nursing, Gissendanner has considerable knowledge in areas that are of great interest to residents of District 71, which includes much of Charlotte County along with North Port, portions of Englewood and a small part of North Fort Myers.
Both candidates have solid records of volunteer service and community engagement. Both offer good ideas, though often are short on details.
Gissendanner's enthusiasm, broad perspective and unique experiences in community service give her an edge. We recommend Betty Gissendanner for Florida House of Representatives, District 71.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Sun endorses Betty G- "An agent for change..."
From the Charlotte Sun-Comfortably retired from the insurance business, Betty Gissendanner looked at the rising number of foreclosures and bankruptcies and made a decision. She drove to Tallahassee in March and filed to run for the open District 71 seat in the Florida House of Representatives.
The Democrat faces fellow longtime Charlotte County businessman Ken Roberson, who won the Aug. 26 Republican primary, in the Nov. 4 election.
Gissendanner's foray into politics constitutes a third act in her accomplished career. She was a registered nurse, college nursing instructor and director of nursing at a nursing home before launching a State Farm insurance office in Port Charlotte. She also chaired the region's workforce council that implemented President Bill Clinton's welfare-to-work initiative in the 1990s.
"We put hundreds of people to work, many of them for the first time," Gissendanner said.
Gissendanner set a goal of retiring at 55 and did just that. Her experience in the industry, especially after Hurricane Charley impacted many of her 3,300 clients, gives her a front-row perspective on the state's insurance problem.
Gissendanner believes, as do we, that competition is the key to lowering insurance rates. The underfunded state-run Citizen's Property Insurance, which is subsidized by Florida residents, is a symptom of what's wrong with our insurance industry, not a cure. Its premiums can't cover its exposure to storm damage. What was supposed to be the state's insurance of last resort, is the dominant player in the industry. Gissendanner said reversing that situation and restoring competition to the market will be a priority.
With Medicaid spending gobbling up an ever-increasing share of the state budget, Gissendanner said the state must work with hospital administrators on paring costs, including administrative overhead. She said the state must do a better job helping patient's manage their chronic illnesses through the health departments in each county and focus on preventative medicine. We liked her idea of having case workers assigned to Medicaid clients to coordinate their various health care options such as surgery, disease management, rehabilitation, etc.
Gissendanner said a key to lowering Medicaid spending is education because it produces job-ready people who would have insurance coverage in better-paying jobs.
Florida has the second highest number of home foreclosures in the country, but the Legislature has been on the sidelines during the real estate and credit meltdown, Gissendanner said. She would push for stricter screening and oversight of mortgage brokers, pointing to an alarming number of cases where brokers with criminal records defrauded clients. She said the state needs to be more actively involved in keeping people in their homes.
Roberson, who defeated Chris Constance and Richard Santos in the Republican primary, is a formidable opponent in the general election. We were impressed with his grasp of important state issues and his broad base of support.
But as we have written repeatedly, we strongly disagree with the Legislature's current push to micromanage county and city governments while failing to effectively address major issues the state faces, such as Medicaid, education and economic development. We respect Roberson's business experience and public service credentials, but we don't see him as an agent of change Tallahassee desperately needs.
Gissendanner is an intelligent, focused candidate with a clear, well-articulated agenda for transforming the Legislature into a business-minded entity that treats taxpayers as customers not subjects and considers state and local governments as partners servings citizens, not enemies.
The Sun recommends Betty Gissendanner for the District 71 seat in the Florida House of Representatives.
The Democrat faces fellow longtime Charlotte County businessman Ken Roberson, who won the Aug. 26 Republican primary, in the Nov. 4 election.
Gissendanner's foray into politics constitutes a third act in her accomplished career. She was a registered nurse, college nursing instructor and director of nursing at a nursing home before launching a State Farm insurance office in Port Charlotte. She also chaired the region's workforce council that implemented President Bill Clinton's welfare-to-work initiative in the 1990s.
"We put hundreds of people to work, many of them for the first time," Gissendanner said.
Gissendanner set a goal of retiring at 55 and did just that. Her experience in the industry, especially after Hurricane Charley impacted many of her 3,300 clients, gives her a front-row perspective on the state's insurance problem.
Gissendanner believes, as do we, that competition is the key to lowering insurance rates. The underfunded state-run Citizen's Property Insurance, which is subsidized by Florida residents, is a symptom of what's wrong with our insurance industry, not a cure. Its premiums can't cover its exposure to storm damage. What was supposed to be the state's insurance of last resort, is the dominant player in the industry. Gissendanner said reversing that situation and restoring competition to the market will be a priority.
With Medicaid spending gobbling up an ever-increasing share of the state budget, Gissendanner said the state must work with hospital administrators on paring costs, including administrative overhead. She said the state must do a better job helping patient's manage their chronic illnesses through the health departments in each county and focus on preventative medicine. We liked her idea of having case workers assigned to Medicaid clients to coordinate their various health care options such as surgery, disease management, rehabilitation, etc.
Gissendanner said a key to lowering Medicaid spending is education because it produces job-ready people who would have insurance coverage in better-paying jobs.
Florida has the second highest number of home foreclosures in the country, but the Legislature has been on the sidelines during the real estate and credit meltdown, Gissendanner said. She would push for stricter screening and oversight of mortgage brokers, pointing to an alarming number of cases where brokers with criminal records defrauded clients. She said the state needs to be more actively involved in keeping people in their homes.
Roberson, who defeated Chris Constance and Richard Santos in the Republican primary, is a formidable opponent in the general election. We were impressed with his grasp of important state issues and his broad base of support.
But as we have written repeatedly, we strongly disagree with the Legislature's current push to micromanage county and city governments while failing to effectively address major issues the state faces, such as Medicaid, education and economic development. We respect Roberson's business experience and public service credentials, but we don't see him as an agent of change Tallahassee desperately needs.
Gissendanner is an intelligent, focused candidate with a clear, well-articulated agenda for transforming the Legislature into a business-minded entity that treats taxpayers as customers not subjects and considers state and local governments as partners servings citizens, not enemies.
The Sun recommends Betty Gissendanner for the District 71 seat in the Florida House of Representatives.
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