Jacobs, Chapin and the Pigs at the Trough

PigsattheTroughby Vicki Nantz
Many gay folks and other Dems were recently dismayed to receive a letter from Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs' campaign ostensibly authored by former County Mayor Linda Chapin, a Democrat. It seems that Jacobs has enlisted the former county mayor's help in her reelection bid, and Chapin has obliged with a written endorsement that is now in mailboxes all over Orange County.

Now let me tell you why this endorsement is especially odious and unforgivable.

In Chapin's letter, the listed reasons for why she supports Jacobs include her "higher standard and new code of ethics." Seems Chapin conveniently ignores how Jacobs broke Florida's public records law in 2012 during the shameful text-gate campaign to prevent Central Florida workers from obtaining earned

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sick time. I can only assume that as a fellow aristocrat (and whose son is a V.P. at Mears Transportation - one of the companies found to be secretly texting the county commission) Chapin must also endorse Jacobs' efforts to prevent, at all costs, earned sick time being on the ballot.

Even more offensive to the LGBT community is another listed reason for why Chapin is endorsing Jacobs. She credits Jacobs with "passing" Orange County's Domestic Partnership Registry. For anyone unaware, Jacobs tried with every fiber of her being to kill the DPR for over a year, and even enlisted the help of anti-gay zealot John Stemberger. At her staff meeting she actually said that a DPR would never happen "on her watch." The DPR only happened because leaders within the local LGBT community fought back and made it happen.

If you are an LGBT person in Central Florida, or an ally, you need to know exactly how Mayor Teresa Jacobs regards the gays. When the community was seeking domestic partner benefits for county employees, at yet another staff meeting, the gay community was referred to as "pigs at the trough" for seeking health insurance for their partners. Yes, the gays are "pigs" at the Orange County Mayor's office.

Chapin's endorsement of Teresa Jacobs has clarified some things for me: 1) Chapin has a stained and sad legacy and is no longer relevant politically; 2) Teresa Jacobs thinks gay people (and Democratic women and independents) are stupid; and 3) this unethical, anti-gay mayor is rightfully very afraid of Val Demings.



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