Jason Steele: No Toe-To-Toe

NOTE:   This is or may be a "Paid Political Advertisement. Paid for and approved by Linda McKinney 6025 Keystone Ave. Port St. John, FL 32927, Independent of any campaign, committee, candidate, or whiney butt.

Okay, here's the thing: I want a Conservative candidate to run against Lisa Cullen. I happen to think that she has ruined the Tax Collector's Office and that it was a big mistake for the union to have gone into that office. So I looked at what was happening with the election via checking the Supervisor of Eletions website. The idea popped into my head that, since there were two Republicans running against Ford, maybe one of the people running against Jim Ford could switch over and run against Cullen. Whether that is even possible I have no idea, but I thought it would do no harm to ask. So, I did just that. Both of Ford's opponents, Jason Steele and Dana Blickley, had their e-mail addresses listed. So I sent them (one e-mail addressed to both) the following e-mail:

"Mr. Steele and Ms. Blickley,

"I don’t know you from Adam and Eve but I do wish you success if you are both Conservatives. I don’t know if it’s possible, but I do know that both are running for Ford’s place, too. What I would like to suggest is that – I don’t even know if it’s too late – if one of you could run against Lisa Cullen, it would be almost a shoo-in. I think Cullen’s a very unpopular person in the County, even amongst her own employees who would vote for anyone instead of Cullen. Have either of you considered running for Tax Collector instead of Property Appraiser?

"I honestly don’t know who has a better chance of unseating him [Ford] between the two of you, I hope one of you does. Which, I don’t know, but someone needs to kick Ford’s backside out of there. It’s also important to get Cullen out, too, though and she has no opponent. As I said, I don’t know if it’s too late to do this, but maybe one of you should/could consider it?

"Linda McKinney"

I got no response from Ms Blickley. Which is fine: I don't demand responses. But I did receive a response from Mr. Jason Steele. As always, without changing anything in any of the e-mails he sent me (no grammar, punctuation, spelling corrections), we had the following e-mail exchange:

"From: Jason Steele
"Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2012 7:33 AM
"To: L McKinney
"Subject: Re: Suggestion for possible change?

"Thank you so much for your e-mail. Please look at the poll I enclosed, information on me is at www.standwithsteele.com .

"Dana and Jim have wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars of our money fighting each other , a fight that is theirs, not ours. I would appreciate your help. Please feel free to call me at anytime 321-258-8993

"Jason Steele
"447 Kimberly Drive
"Melbourne,Florida 32940
"www.standwithsteele.com
"321-258-8993"

Of course, you know me and I read the attached poll (since it is someone else's work and I have no rights to publish it, I am trying to find a link to it; until then, look at this: Steele on the Issues some of the subjects were covered in our talk), and I had to comment. On Apr 3, 2012, at 3:43 PM, L McKinney wrote:

"Mr. Steele,

"First, I must disagree with the results of your poll on a personal level. I think that EVERY elected position should have party affiliations disclosed with every candidate. Party affiliations tell us something about the candidate – or at least they used to – and it is in those affiliations that we wish to place ourselves that a bit of information is revealed to the public. For instance, I cannot currently find out much of anything on any of the judges that I am supposed to vote to put on a particular bench. That, to me, is wrong. I need to have the information of who this person is before I vote on whether they are someone I want to pass judgment on my friends and neighbors (not on myself because I plan to never give purpose for me to appear before a judge). So party affiliation for ANY position, dog catcher to president should have party affiliation exposed. The first question of your poll just tells me something about you.

"Second, if Blickley and Ford are spending taxpayer dollars on the election, that’s wrong. They should not be spending taxpayer dollars and if they are electioneering with our money, they need to be turned in to the Ethics Commission and the State Attorney’s office. Should I do both of those things on your good word, or should I allow you to do so? Whichever you decide is fine. But I will use your e-mail as part of the evidence for my complaint, which means that whichever of us turns them in, you will be contacted as part of both investigations.

"Third, the question in your poll regarding who is better known or more favored amongst the voters means nothing to me. If you had checked out my website (www.spacecoastconservative.com) you would have seen that I care less than a ”jot or tittle” (Matthew 5:18 KJV) about what others think. I do my own research, my own digging and decide by myself what to do, for whom to vote. My personal motto is “Find the Truth!” And I shall.

"Fourth, thank you for responding to my e-mail but you did not address my question. I suppose that tells me something about you as well.

"Sincerely,

"Linda McKinney"

Mr. Steele wrote back:

"From: Jason Steele"
"Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2012 4:15 PM
"To: L McKinney
"Subject: Re: Suggestion for possible change?

"BTW , an actual conversation would be good. Please send me your phone number so we can talk. Please do not jump to conclusions. I am not getting out of the property appraisers race to run against Lisa Cullen. I am by far the best candidate to beat Jim Ford. Once again I am open to a meeting at any time. Respectfully , Jason

"Jason Steele
"447 Kimberly Dr
"Melbourne, Fla
"32940
"www.standwithsteele.com
"321-258-8993

" Paid for and approved by Jason Steele, Republican candidate for Brevard County Property Appraiser"

NOTE: Somewhere in this time frame, I wrote an e-mail asking Mr. Jason Steele if he would bring the union into the Property Appraiser's office as Cullen did to the Tax Collector's office? He wrote a one word response: No. That's fine. I like that.

Soon thereafter, I found this message from Mr. Jason Steele to Mr. Jim Ford linked in a Florida Toady website page. Apparently, Mr. Jason Steele had called Mr. Jim Ford and said, among other things, that he "can't stand Dana Blickley" and about Mr. Ford, "I like you. You've always been a friend." and that Mr. Jason Steele "didn't want to run against" him. Well, okay. I had a question about that. So I sent the recording to Mr. Jason Steele in the following non-commital, non-confrontational way. On Apr 3, 2012, at 5:08 PM, L McKinney wrote:

"Mr. Steele,

"One more thing, if I may. What do you do with the attached mpg file?"

"Linda McKinney"

"From: Jason Steele
"Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2012 2:18 AM
"To: L McKinney
"Subject: Re: Suggestion for possible change?

"I do not understand the question, any good person will attempt to have conversations with people they may run against. If you search the public record, specifically the Brogan report, you will see why I have a distaste for Dana Blickley . I may be wrong about her, I have seen her on the campaign trail, and I think she is bright. But the point is, there has been a war going on for 6 years between Blickley and Ford, both of them have ruined this office, wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars of our money. As for the message I left for Jim Ford, I did meet with him, he told me he was not going to run. Nobody wants to run against an incumbent, it was a courtesy call."

"In the end I believe that I am the right person for this job. Thanks for the e- mail. Jason

"Jason Steele
"447 Kimberly Dr
"Melbourne, Fla
"32940
"www.standwithsteele.com
"321-258-8993
" Paid for and approved by Jason Steele, Republican candidate for Brevard County Property Appraiser"

To this I responded, On Apr 4, 2012, at 10:36 PM, L McKinney wrote:

"Mr. Steele,

"While we were talking on the phone, you were telling me that Mr. Ford has been using the Property Appraiser’s office “for years” to appraise people’s property based upon what political party they were affiliated with. You tell me that Blickley and Ford have been wasting taxpayer dollars via a sexual harassment lawsuit for at least six years. You tell me that lawsuits can be dismissed for a number of reasons – hinting that Ford faced a number of lawsuits or possible lawsuits through the years. You tell me now to check the Brogan report.

"On the recording you say to Jim Ford, about whom you’ve just said all this bad stuff, “I like you. You’ve always been a friend.” But you act like there’s no difference between the two? Let me guess, you’ll claim you were trying to butter him up and get him off his guard?

"The term, “forked tongue” comes to mind.

"Linda"

Mr. Jason Steele wrote:

"From: Jason Steele
"Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2012 3:00 AM
"To: L McKinney
"Subject: Re: Suggestion for possible change?

"Thanks , I appreciate your kindness, you have a right to your opinion. Thanks for jumping to more conclusions. Jason

"Jason Steele
"447 Kimberly Dr
"Melbourne, Fla
"32940
"www.standwithsteele.com
"321-258-8993
" Paid for and approved by Jason Steele, Republican candidate for Brevard County Property Appraiser"

"Mr. Steele,

"Buck up! You’re in politics now and you’re a big boy. You should be able to handle a little “called on the carpet” questioning. If you can’t handle me calling you on that, you’re too wimpy to be in politics. I don’t have to be “kind” to politicians. I want the best, most Conservative, most intelligent, most qualified, most battle-ready, hard-nosed, toe-to-toe, stand up for what is right candidate I can find. You’ve just proven you’re not it. Now you can watch my website. Guaranteed, you won’t like it."

"Linda"

Now, when I contact a political candidate and ask them questions, I expect a response. I don't mind carrying on a conversation with them and getting answers is important during political campaigns. I got answers from Mr. Jason Steele. His final -- so far -- answer for this particular posting, though, admittedly surprised me a little. It seems that I've heard it somewhere before... although... I'm not sure I haven't heard it twice before. Sounds more like a Democrat Wrongie than a True Conservative, don't you think?

"From: Jason Steele
"Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2012 5:29 PM
"To: L McKinney
"Subject: Re: Suggestion for possible change?

"Linda, you seem to have taken my response as whining. I do not whine about any personal. or professional attacks. I do however take offense to you jumping to conclusions. I am a mature enough individual to be able to separate my politics from personal opinion of a person. I am not sure why you have chosen to be combative with me, I have done nothing but faithfully serve conservative principal's for my entire adult life. If you choose to slander me you will be receiving a letter from my attorney.

"Just for the record, I like Lisa Cullen, I consider her a friend, and I think she is doing a fine job.

"Jason Steele
"447 Kimberly Dr
"Melbourne, Fla
"32940
"www.standwithsteele.com
"321-258-8993
" Paid for and approved by Jason Steele, Republican candidate for Brevard County Property Appraiser"

As to his statement, "Just for the record, I like Lisa Cullen, I consider her a friend, and I think she is doing a fine job." For that statement alone I refuse to support or endorse him.

Taking my encounter with Mr. Jason Steele as a whole -- the e-mails, the phone conversation, the statement that he wants the public to have to go find out what political party the Property Appraiser's office is because he wants it to be non-partisan, his railing against Jim Ford -- after saying on the phone that Ford had "always been a friend", the accusations he can make against someone he likes (using the Property Appraiser's office in a political way, possible other law suits that had been dismissed before going to trial), his support of Cullen -- I consider it as one of the most negative experiences I have had with a recent candidate. Third only to the rupester, and pushing Cullen (while a candidate) down the ladder to fourth behind rupester, tiddlywinks and now, Mr. Jason Steele. Can you believe that?

Am I saying don't vote for him? Nope. Am I saying you should vote for him? Nope. I am saying that you need to know for whom you may be considering voting and this is important information for you to take into consideration.

One final thing to take into consideration: Does he threaten to sue Jim Ford when Mr. Ford says something about him? If it's just "We, the People" who are subject to being sued, then there's a problem with the election process that needs to be corrected and there's a problem with Mr. Jason Steele being a Republican and "considered" CONSERVATIVE! Agree?

ADDITION:   So that you can see the whole thing in one place, I give you the fiancee/wife's e-mail and my reactions to it as well. Enjoy!

April 25, 2012: 12:53 p.m.   Hahahahaha... Mr. Jason Steele has sicced one of his attack dogs on me! WooHoo! Happy camper! This morning I received the following e-mail:

"From: Halbert Lori
"To: editor@spacecoastconservative.com
"Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2012 10:53 AM
"Subject: Just for the record

"Ms. McKinney,

"Although this may be a bad judgement call (my father always says if you wrestle with a turd...) I feel I had to contact you regarding your inflammatory post on Jason Steele.

"Your remarks about the Property Appraiser's office not being political are completely off base. IF you had truly been paying attention to the political scene the last year or so, you would see that Jim Ford singled me out and has now filed a lawsuit with the Dept of Revenue over my house. I have been in legal preceding since April of 2010 over this. So, get your facts straight.

"As for Ms. Blickley, if you do your research on her, you will find court documents (public record) of her office mates comments regarding her OBSCENE behavior in the office. Furthermore, if you research a little further, you will see that she takes the liberal approach and sues people rather than "bucking up".

"While I do not expect you put this in your blog, I do give you permission to use it. It is people like you that keep good people from running for office. Please do MY party a favor and quite representing yourself as a Republican.

"Lori Halbert"

"From: Linda McKinney
"To: Halbert Lori
"Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2012 12:50 PM
"Subject: Re: Just for the record

"Ms Halbert,

"For the following reasons I think you need to re-read my posting.

"1) I NEVER said, implied, nor thought, that the PA's office has NOT been used for political purposes. Never did I say that Mr. Ford has NOT done so. As a matter of fact, I firmly believe that Mr. Ford HAS done so. I have heard it from more than you. You have been "singled out" along with others. You chose to fight it. Good for you.

"2) I did not post anything "inflammatory" regarding Mr. Jason Steele. I posted the e-mails he sent me -- without revision, correction, or addition -- and my e-mail responses to them (as they were sent to him). I did post some comments and questions about the things Mr. Jason Steele said and wrote. Does that make my page "inflammatory"? Or is it his words, his attitudes and the truths they represent that makes them "inflammatory" in your mind?

"3) As to Ms Blickley, I knew about the lawsuits Ms Blickley has been involved in because she told me herself (after Mr. Jason Steele told me about the one she filed about Mr. Jim Ford) when I met her for the first time yesterday. I know that she sued a Titusille [sic] resident and won and is awaiting the resident to pay her. I know that Ms Blickley sued Mr. Jim Ford and I have the legal papers that surround that suit. I also know about the "Grogan" Report (not Brogan as Mr. Jason Steele called it) and what it says in it. Have you read it? Do you know what is in it? Do you know how it was put together and for what it was used? Remember that "political purposes" yo umentioned? Did you know that the Grogan Report was used as an intimidation factor to try to silence Ms Blickley about the affair Mr. Jim Ford was having with a subordinate whom he later married? Did you know that the Grogan Report was done by someone specifically hired by Mr. Jim Ford to do so? Did you know that the truth about that report is that it was put together strictly to try to prevent Ms Blickley from acting in a reasonable and responsible manner? Considering your experience with Mr. Jim Ford, do you really think that tactic beneath him? Ms Blickley is innocent of being "obscene" in the work place. The report is as political as what was done to you.

"4) I almost always put things on my website when people send me e-mails, along with my responses. I do not post things that are strictly complimentary, that mention another individual in a defaming manner, nor those that are just conversation between myself and someone else. While I do appreciate your "permission" to use your letter, legally when you send me an e-mail that e-mail becomes mine (ask Mr. Jason Steele's attorney) and I have the legal right to do with it as I will. So, legally speaking, I do not need your "permission", I thank you for it and will take you up on it momentarilly.

"5) IF you had read my website prior to Mr. Jason Steele sending you to it in an effort to support him and intimidate me, you would know that I have not been a REPUBLICAN since November 13, 2008 when the REPUBLICAN Party attacked its own Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin (in case you've forgotten) and no one within the leadership of the party stood up for her. The truth later came out that none of the allegations were true and Sarah Palin handled the whole thing with grace and forgiveness, but the fact that they would do that to her -- the one who got more votes for the REPUBLICAN Party than their presidential candidate -- appalled me. You may hang with that kind of people and allow your leadership to do that to someone who did their party good, but that's below -- far below -- my standards, so I went to the Supervisor of Elections office and changed my registration to "NPA" (No Party Affiliation). I have maintained that NPA registration since. Next time you assign political parties to someone, you may wish to read their own words a little more before you jump to such erroneious [sic] conclusions.

"I hope this clears any misunderstandings on your part. If you have further mud to sling or questions regarding the TRUTH, please feel free to respond. I am more than happy and willing to continue this conversation.

"Sincerely,

"The Turd"

Note: Considering the fact that thousands of others have tried to dispute their tax appraisal and none of the others won, I think Ms Lori Halbert "doth protest too much". She was not singled out for not having her taxes lowered. On the contrary, she was treated exactly the same as the other 2,652 people who appealed their appraisals. No one got a decrease. Considering it was a straight, across the board denial, how is Halbert singled out on that account? She did get preferential treatment in that she was the ONLY person granted a special hearing. That's something to complain about, but it's not Ms Lori Halbert that should be complaining, it is the other 2,652 people who should!

Additionally: Fact: Ms Lori Halbert, was the fiancee/wife of Mr. Jason Steele in June of 2010 (check the date on the article). In October of 2010 her fiance/hubby says that Mr. Jim Ford "has always been a friend". In June 2011, Mr. Jim Ford didn't give his "always been a friend['s]" fiancee/wife a tax break after she appealed the appraisal along with the 2,652 others who appealed. Now either Mr. Jim Ford was just being even handed, or he was not such a good friend as Mr. Jason Steele supposed. You figure it out. I think that if Mr. Jason Steele is the candidate, then perhaps Mr. Jason Steele should handle this himself. Or does the contact from Ms Lori Halbert have more to do with the britches of the family?

Another Note:   Considering the fact that Ms Blickley did sue instead of "bucking up", there are two things that make it a much different situation between the situations of threatened/actual lawsuits. First: There is the fact that Mr. Jason Steele is running for public office and had an e-mail interaction and phone conversation with someone who would be under his "authority" if he actually won. As a result of a casual "conversation" with a constituent, he threatened to sue the constituent when the constituent said that she would voice her opinion. An opinion that is legally allowed and that the law itself says is open to much broader interpretation due to the candidacy of Mr. Jason Steele. Anyone with knowledge of the law knows that people who throw themselves into the public eye in a bid for public office are much more open to public scrutiny and public ridicule than a private person. Second: In both instances of Ms Blickley's lawsuits, she sued while she was a private citizen being negatively affected by the words of the person she sued. Apparently in the Titusville resident case the court agreed with her. In the case of Mr. Jim Ford, the court gave more weight to his being Ms Blickley's superior than I think should have been given. (That and the fact that I believe the lawsuit should have been based upon a different legal premise: not a free speech issue, but a wrongful firing issue.) Mr. Jason Steele -- your fiancee/hubby (whichever) -- threatened to sue me (a private citizen) for saying that he should watch my website and I published our e-mail conversation, some info on our phone conversation (although I excluded the most damning portions: aren't I nice?) and I commented a little on the exchange. Is that a difference that everyone but you can detect? Yep. Sorry. You lose.

This is a paid electioneering communication. Paid for and approved by Linda McKinney 6025 Keystone Ave. Port St. John, FL 32927, Independent of any campaign, committee, or candidate -- or Property Appraiser Candidate!