Gravis Marketing showing signs of that Central Fl across the aisle je ne sais quoi.

[Baitball Blogger]

Last edited Tue Nov 3, 2015, 01:10 PM - Edit history (1)

Just have to say, that anything that comes out of Winter Springs should be examined carefully. This is a town where things are, but aren't. In other words, there is a backroom government where decisions are made that affect even our private Associations. In addition to the legal way that many of us are familiar with, there is the Winter Springs way and the two don't always match up. But the latter will prevail.

It's a pay article. I took the four paragraphs that might be the most interesting.




Winter Springs firm seeking place among national pollsters

Since it began conducting and publicly releasing free national and statewide polls in 2012, Gravis' track record has been a bit spotty and even drew the ire of online political observers. MacManus said that is not unusual, particularly as new pollsters struggle to adjust to the natures of voters in different states.

But Gravis has been getting more consistently reliable as experience and refinements have fine-tuned its staff and methods, and its credibility and visibility have risen. Throughout the current election cycle, which began last spring, Gravis polls have been regularly cited on major TV networks and in newspapers and prominent political blogs throughout the country.

The firm also is developing a partnership with a conservative cable news operation called the One America News Network.

The firm's clientele is not entirely Republican. Its paying clients from California to Virginia include the occasional Democrat. Locally, it has worked for the campaigns of U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-gravis-marketing-polls-20151101-story.html

[Baitball Blogger]

2. I would never make out Winter Springs to be anything but what it is.

It is a backwater community that had a strong influence with developer control and city attorneys that were tampering with sovereign rule. Because of that foundation, there is now an insular society that manages to control decisions that even cross into our private Associations. I will be writing about it in the future. In the nineties, the city intentionally embedded itself into the private civic organization where it would find some of the more politically vocal voices. There were financial rewards and political advantages to be reaped through their alliance and those are benefits that the insiders will refuse to let go of.

We are well into the "I got mine, you get yours" stage of these backwater style communities. The city has a history of putting businesses ahead of homeowner interests. And by homeowners, I mean individual homeowners, and not the Association that claims to be the umbrella of protection for all our HOAs. That's a chapter that still needs to be written.

[Baitball Blogger]

9. In the story I have to write, lawyers don't come up smelling like roses.

When it comes to the interests of individual homeowners, there has been no one that stands out as a proponent. There may be agreement on a common good where the umbrella HOA has run as frontman, but, there's always a downside that no one wants to talk about. In backwater communities, everyone wants to be a boss hog and they will use whatever political clout they get from serving on boards to turn around and encroach on the rights of neighbors. It is a tale as old as time-for Southern sticks, maybe.

If you understand Winter Springs' history, conceptual plans, constitutions and blue prints are words that never got in the way of the latest scheme.

[Baitball Blogger]

13. I think we can both agree, that if this is to be an ideal suburban community, we don't need these

kind of political machinations interfering in the lives of ordinary people.

[Baitball Blogger]

15. Well, you are a lawyer.

That would put you out of the realm of being an "ordinary person." Even by court definition. I doubt very much that you would be subjected to the stupefying explanations that our community leaders use to justify patronage agreements.

[Baitball Blogger]

18. Has already been tried.

Too much risk for someone to take if they have small children to consider, since the networks reach well into the school system. But most of all, anyone who is a small business owner, or relies on local employment knows what to expect if they go against the grain.

There is also the problem of inducements. In one HOA meeting where I thought we got the upper hand, one of the main proponents for the other side was undeterred and asked the board members what they did for a living. To me, it was an obvious attempt to interject themselves into their lives. And, it wouldn't have been difficult. He built warehouses, and the president of the HOA had a business that required them. Most small business owners who stock merchandise need them. I may not have known the outcome of any conversations that may have gone on after that meeting, but by the end of the year, the president of the HOA had a complete change of personality. He was no longer a by-the-book type, and, instead, was telling the other board members that he didn't need their approval. He could make decisions without them.

He also refused to let go of an attorney who had a very obvious conflict of interest. The end came when he set up a system that involved talking to this lawyer before board meetings, and the board meetings were to be followed immediately by the HOA meeting. This would have prevented the other board members the time they needed to research information. I knew at this point, that he had jumped the shark on ethics. I also knew that this was a major step-up in strategy, so he probably got it from the attorney-who, as I said, had a conflict of interest.

Anyway, I would never recommend a reasonable, ethical person to join a board where the other board members are following an agenda that requires them to tell lies to their neighbors. And, that is what has happened in the wake of that fight with the former owner of the Country Club, which, if you are a local, you know what I am talking about. Of course, this is all my humble opinion.

The best option is to write what I know, because good people need to understand how things devolved. One of the first things they need to know, is to avoid those who have an agenda to hide.

[Eleanors38]

19. "tampering with sovereign rule:" Disney World, early and often...

The last frontier culture in the lower 48 was in Florida, where vast areas were unfenced and ownership was by "quit-claim;" the notion of muscling over delegated authority is nothing new.

Friendly correction: "I got mine, you'll give me yours."

[Baitball Blogger]

20. You sound like you know what you're talking about.

I'm just saying, homesteaders need a break. Those of us who just want to live in peace without all the hostility that comes from adverse possessions and dirty tricks, deserve a break.

[Eleanors38]

21. We are in a corporate state with little discernible opposition...

Of the corporatists, the far right is clearly most powerful, and frankly is in the early stages of political consolidation.

"No where to run" -- Martha and the Vandellas

"When love is gone, there is always justice.
And when justice is gone, there is always force.
And when force is gone, there is always Mom."
-- Laurie Anderson

[OilemFirchen]

5. I remember Winter Springs.

In the late 70s they had a strip club shaped like two giant breasts and painted pink.

[Baitball Blogger]

10. Sounds like the Booby Trap on Lee Road.

It just closed this year.

[OilemFirchen]

17. That's it.

I'm terrible with names but I remember facades.

[RandySF]

3. Gravis has a bad track record.

[Baitball Blogger]

4. According to the article, they are looking to improve their record.

Apparently, they were the first to poll that Ben Carson would be a front-runner, or that he would be polling high numbers.

[hobbit709]

7. "Je ne sais quoi"

[Baitball Blogger]

11. Will correct.

Thank you.