Presque Isle, ME: School board allows registered sex offender to speak at meeting.

https://thecounty.me/2022/05/20/news/education/school-board-allows-registered-sex-offender-to-speak-at-meeting/

Yes, I agree with you that our side has to go the extra mile when it comes to trying to dispel honest suspicion and meet honest disagreement with a reasonable exchange of views. There’s a time for turning the other cheek. But not every time. Once they make clear they see registrants as opponents and want to tag them as such for their own advantage, and resort to dishonest rhetoric, it’s time for a bit more bluntness.

Very few people like bullies like those commissioners when that is what they are clearly shown to be. But they also want to see that people are willing to fight back a bit when being nice just provokes further insults.

That’s a great response! I agree with what you’re suggesting, however, politicians are a tricky bunch. There’s a fine line to walk with politicians between pandering and truth giving. I believe that if a message is not communicated showing some degree of love, it will be received as banging pots and pans (which will never be heard). I think assertiveness is appropriate, but when it’s from registrants, treated as aggressiveness, hence the entire need for advocacy groups such as FAC.

I’m not an registrant myself so forgive me if this seems like presumptuous advice. But it seems to me that you all need to stop answering their insincere, sarcastic question ‘Do you consider yourself a victim?’ by abjectly insisting “Of course not!” A better answer would be “Insofar as I am being punished by ordinances that hide behind the false cover of regulatory law, you’re damn right I am!”

I know even most non-RSOs don’t like anything that sounds like self-pity, but think about it. If someone walked up in the meeting and shot you in the chest would you not be able to admit you are a victim of that? Are the commissioners so stupid that they can’t be made to understand that victimhood is not a static quantity? And even if they are, should we confirm them in their stupidity?

I would’ve told the commissioners all the above, and more: that if prostituting for votes and publicity instead of money were a sex crime, they’d all be registered.

https://www.facebook.com/Floridatoday/posts/brevard-county-commissioner-john-tobias-relationship-with-matt-gaetz-went-beyond/10158932814785937/

Tobia’s relationship with Matt Gaetz was more than just being a roommate. According to Florida Today’s Facebook post, Tobia’s name was often associated with Gaetz socially and politically. “Tobia was…the go-to source for journalists looking for background on the congressmen.”

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-ne-matt-gaetz-revenge-porn-20210405-5qbme6ilzna3rhry6gzqeevwpq-story.html

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the nonconsensual porn legislation passed in 2015 with a vote of 114 to 2 in the Florida House, The two nays were Gaetz and Tobia. Gaetz said that if someone sends an intimate image to you, then that image becomes your property to use in any manner you so choose. Does Tobia’s nay vote mean that he agrees? Not for me to say.

As a Brevard County Commissioner, Tobia tries to come across as the savior for all victims. Maybe he is. But then why would he vote against a bill that would have protected would-be victims of revenge porn, etc.?

As county commissioners, I respect your titles and as human beings, I respect your opinions. I humbly ask that you recognize that the majority of registered citizens do not claim to be victims, and certainly do not disregard the victims within their individual circumstances.

Every person will view this particular subject matter through different lenses that have been crafted from different life experiences, opinions, and facts. As elected officials for the county of Brevard, your leadership as an elected official should always be done through objective facts and not subjective feelings.

No human being in their sane mind would disagree with any proposition that does not align with the safety of children or the safety of the general public. Why then would this commission push to enact laws and ordinances that are contrary to public safety? I encourage the board to examine the research on how these laws affect family members (including children) of those that have been stigmatized in society.

Contrary to the board’s statements of distrust towards those convicted of offenses, it is important to realize that many offenses are not predatory in nature and are, in fact, a single mistake that has been met with unforgivable punishment. Society continues to be led by myths implied by the board that 1) only the worst of the worst are offenders, 2) they are never to be trusted, and 3) continued punishment (in the form of laws) must be maintained to keep them from reoffending. In actuality, over 90% of sex offenses are committed by someone that is not registered, therefore, our focus should be on awareness, education, and notification before an offense takes place; if we truly are looking out for the safety of everyone. I respectfully ask that you examine this topic from all perspectives, including those citizens that exhibited the courage to speak out in a public forum.

Commissioner Tobia, your complete disregard for human life is evident through your pompous dismissal of human beings, disconcerting posture, and the segregation of an entire group possibly based upon a single pothole in one’s life. Please understand that there is a less than 10% recidivism rate in all sex offense cases. Legislation has been extremely off in the past (reference any legislation relating to the Civil Rights pre-1964), so quoting a stance from the state without formulating a view based on factual data is ill-considered.

My humble prayer for all our leaders, whether local, state, or federal, to recognize that staying strong on the stance of public safety (including all children) is an expected and admirable goal, add to it your ability to see that single mistakes occur and registrants are not cursed with the incurable stigma similar to what alcoholics once endured.

My sincere apologies that any of you were even considered in the same category as a homicidal genocidal maniac such as Adolf Hitler. I believe that statement is towards all legislation that continues to brand and mark individuals until death.

I understand that as a non-constituent to your district, county, and even state that your time is not warranted to the reading of this email, therefore, if you have read it this far, I thank you from the bottom of my heart from a registrant of the state of Florida, now a resident in the state of Texas. I am not a victim, I’m just pressing on to help create a better society for my wife and 9-month-old daughter as we face its uncertainties together as one family.

If you wish to have any further dialogue on this subject, please do not hesitate to contact me. If not, please accept these words as humbly and respectfully as the text will allow them to be read.

With Love and In Him,

Eldon
Yes and thanks to politicians like Desantis who has made life so hard for Disney World ,Kansas City is offering to help bring there wonderful world back to Kansas City where Walt Disney first Started his great business. Wouldn’t that be a great pay back for no clue politicians in Florida.

I disagree that “most fail”