Live Oak — Suwannee Countians, it's time to speak your mind! How? By calling the Suwannee Democrat Rant and Rave hotline. The hotline never closes and is your way to let it out. You can let everyone know how you feel -- as long as you express yourself in a respectful way.

Note: In written entries to Rant and Rave, errors in spelling, grammar or punctuation are those of the authors.

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Let me get this right, OUR VIEW: The Democrat recommends Douglas Udell for Suwannee County Commission, District 2 .

The Lake Louise land deal" cost  $700,000-$1,000,000 for only 6 or 7 parking spots", for example, gives plenty of folks pause,us included"Democrat".

What about the news article on May 27, 2010  $ 5 MILLION FIACO" Suwannee Landing? What about the news article on July 27,2010 Fraudulent bond,stalled airpark still unresolved? News article July 28,2009 Newspaper's inquiries bring fraud to light: Most blamed County Attorney Hal Airth for not keeping them informed of the situation despite their having asked him about it at previous commission meeting.

News article September 3, 2009 "Everyone's on the block" This is a quote from your pick for Commission, District 2 " I'm satisfied with the work these people have been doing, including Mr.Airth. I don't really know what the problem might be, "Udell said.

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I would like to know why my daughter can’t get a job in this area. She had been out of work for a year when the economic crisis occurred. She goes to the job corps two or three times a week, she applied for many, many jobs, never gets called for interviews and of course has not got a job. Are the jobs that she says she applies for, are they real jobs or is this just a joke? She is qualified, she is young and beautiful, she needs a job. She lost unemployment, she has no income. What do people do when they have no income and can’t find a job? Do they leave Suwannee County, or leave Florida, or get in a bread line somewhere? This whole thing is a joke.

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I want to apologize for comments I made at a recent Suwannee Co. com. meeting. In no way did I mean to imply that the Fire Depantment or the law Enforcement of Suwannee Co. were not doing their jobs. I think they are doing an outstanding job in our County. The point I was attempting to make that in our current economic situation we need to be looking at ways to cut Goverment Spending.

John Lacquey

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I just tried to make a business call and the operator said “press 1 for English and 2 for Spanish.” Why do we have to put up with Spanish in an English-speaking country? If these people come over here, learn to speak English or shut up and go home.

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Thirty or forty-five seconds wouldn’t be nearly enough time for the contempt that I have for the Suwannee Democrat and Suwannee County and the city of Live Oak. If the Democrat is going to put the elected officials’ salaries in there, then why don’t they put the real salaries in, that would be perks, benefits like travel, use of a car, lunch when they go over to Tallahassee for joke meetings, etc. etc. So Suwannee Democrat, why don’t you quit joining the good ole boys and be a true newspaper. The newspaper is supposed to tell the truth, and put it out so people will know. But you are not doing it. Check it again and I dare you to print the facts. The facts are, you don’t know what you are doing. Elected officials get three or four times what you printed. Thank you.

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Your article on salarys of local officials was excellant and much needed as shown by the Rant and Rave response in your Friday August 6, 2010 newspaper. The only thing for you to do now is another fine article showing all the perks the same people receive at the expense of the tax payers.

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Hugs to my fellow Suwannee Countians. I believe we have tyranny of government. I have a question for our local national guard and military who are here at home. If you were called upon to stand up against your own, will you? Martial law may be in our lives. Please keep God and family in our hearts, and remember we are red, white and blue. United we stand, in God we trust. Please project our constitution and we who cherish it. God bless you. Thank you.

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With all the complaints about the high salaries published in the paper, I think we ought to go ahead and cut all the wages back to minimum wage. Then we can just hire people who don’t even have a high school education to run the county and city, we would probably, well I was going to say we would probably be better off, but I guess we wouldn’t be better off. In fact we would probably be in a lot worse shape.

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With all the interest in the overpaid individuals running the city and county, I also believe that we are paying some of the hourly people too much. I drove through the parking lot between the police station and city hall this past week and there was one of those very expensive lawn mowers parked there with the key still in it. Maybe it should come out of his paycheck.

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Early voting started August the 9th. I am asking everyone go to the poles to get out and vote early or get an absentee ballot and vote. And don’t vote parties, vote against all incumbents, Democrat and Republicans. Send all elected officials a message. If you don’t listen to the people you represent, we will get the rest of you in 2012. They will understand these results.

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After speaking with all four candidates for Suwannee County Court Judge I can honestly say Mr. Todd Kennon is the best man for the job. Mr. Kennon himself came to my home on his door-to-door doings and met me. Not like others who have sent their children or family. He is a man of integrity and good character. He has 20+ years of Criminal and Civil experience, which makes him most qualified because those are the types of cases the County Court Judge handles. Mr. Kennon is a very hard worker and it is easy to determine that he is running for County Court Judge because his heart is in the court system and he wants to serve the community doing something he is passionate about, not for retirement or career purposes. I urge you to elect Mr. Todd Kennon for Suwannee County Court Judge.

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A political poster read, “A trusted conservative.”  I never thought about it, but I’ve never seen “A trusted democrat,” poster.

However, I will admit, I tend to believe Grover Cleveland was a trusted democrat.

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With the states rights issue being tested across the country, how about the tax paying residents of Suwannee Co? In one of the wealthiest & most populated states, why are we kept at this miserable income level? Why are we one of 5 "dry counties" still? Why do we have to travel elsewhere for employment, education, & healthcare? We must go to other counties for consumer variety, better prices, entertainment or leisure choices. It is because of leadership here being in the grasp of one particular group for so many years. Consider this at election time if you want a secure viable future with increasing opprotunities in our area. While some are squarely opposed to this for whatever reason, they've had it their way long enough with little to show for it and poor results for folks trying to make a living or keep their children close.

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A standing ovation to the employees of Sharon Jordan at the Tax Collector’s office in Suwannee County. The friendly staff of women that answer questions are all so helpful in all circumstances. Your employees have the best knowledge of their jobs as well as displaying an unbelievable amount of patience to a lot of very demanding customers. Keep up the good work.

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Well now all us taxpayers, know how much our leaders are being paid. And well paid they are. It seems the well educated leaders are using their knowledge to lie and cheat us out of our money. Most of them tell great big lies starting around election time. Those that lie the best usually get elected and use their office they are elected to for their benefit and not for ours. It is a fact that the well educated leaders of Suwannee county are not doing a good job. I will cast my vote for a well uneducated candidate, that is if we can get one on the ballot. He or she will certainly not do any worse than the lying, thieving, no-goods that are now running our offices.

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Callers to 386-208-8314 may express their thoughts, good or bad, 24/7 about community issues and politics, but not about private individuals or businesses. If you prefer, you may email your comments to nf.editorial@gaflnews.com. You don't have to give your name, and please, keep submissions to less than 45 seconds (that's about 150 words). We want everybody to have a chance to be heard. Submissions that are overly long will be discarded. If 45 seconds isn't enough time, write a Letter to the Editor. (Guidelines for letters appear on Page 6A of our print edition.)