Democratic candidates Coretta Anthony-Smith and Alan Grayson explained their vision for Florida Senate District 15’s future during a June 12 forum at Patmos Chapel in Apopka.
“It’s time for new leadership and new voices with new solutions that adequately represent our community,” Anthony-Smith said.
The forum followed the death of state Sen. Geraldine Thompson in February. Since then, four Democratic candidates have announced their campaigns for the special primary election, but sibling candidates LaVon Bracy-Davis and Randolph Bracy did not attend the forum.
“I’ve spent my time in the Florida House fighting for everyday people – expanding access to affordable housing, protecting voting rights and ensuring our schools and families have what they need to thrive,” Bracy-Davis said in a statement read by moderator Monica Hoyos. “My passion for justice, service and equity is deeply rooted in both my faith and my family’s legacy of civil rights leadership.”
The forum took place 12 days before the primary election on June 24. While four candidates vie for the Democratic nomination, Republican candidate Willie Montague is unopposed. He will face the winner on Sept. 2 in the special general election.
In front of about 30 people, Anthony-Smith and Grayson answered questions from Hoyos that primarily concerned education and affordable housing. Grayson highlighted his record from his time in the U.S. Congress, while Anthony-Smith looked toward incentivization and conversations with the community for her solutions.
“You may recall those of you who were here back then, ‘Alan Grayson saved our schools,’” Grayson said in response to a question concerning teacher shortages in District 15 schools. “What were they talking about? They were talking about the fact that seven schools, mostly minority schools, were scheduled to close, and 8-year-olds would have had to walk an extra two or three or four miles to get to school every morning. And I prevented that from happening.”
After sharing her family’s history of teaching, Anthony-Smith argued that helping teachers with their student debt would be crucial to public school teacher retention.
“A lot of teachers come out, and they have a lot of loans,” Anthony-Smith said. “If they can’t afford to take the jobs because of those loans, then they can’t teach our children.”
In response to a question regarding school vouchers, Grayson implied that the divide between private and public schools was similar to that between white and black schools.
“We have public schools and we have private schools, and we used to have white schools, and we used to have black schools, and it didn’t work,” Grayson said. “We’re undermining the public school system. We’re doing this because crazy ideologues, Republicans in Tallahassee, want to give money to special interests outside of the public school system.”
Anthony-Smith’s response focused on using the school vouchers to raise standards for Florida schools.
“We need to make sure that schools that receive those vouchers, if they’re going to be going to private schools, that they be held to the same standards as public schools,” Anthony-Smith said. “They need to be able to take those same tests [and] to pass those tests, so they receive the same education.”
Both candidates responded similarly to the evening’s questions concerning affordable housing.
“Those with untreated mental illness and substance abuse state that their conditions make it difficult for them to obtain gainful employment and stable housing,” Hoyos said. “How would you address that challenge?”
Anthony-Smith suggested copying the model set forth by Matthew’s Hope, saying she was inspired by the previous night’s Apopka City Council meeting. Matthew’s Hope provides buses for the homeless and/or those struggling with mental illness, with the goal of helping them find housing and employment on their own.
“They were saying that they get most of their money from different organizations and donations,” Anthony-Smith said. “What I would propose is, since that’s already a success, let’s copy that model.”
Grayson said he had already addressed that challenge in the 111th Congress (2009-2011). On his last day, he passed an amendment that mandated a psychological test for those leaving the military — a “checkup from the neck up.” Anything that would be found in that exam would be covered for the rest of the soldier’s life.
To provide affordable housing opportunities for working class families, Anthony-Smith suggested expanding the Live Local Act. This act incentivizes large corporations to build housing for their employees to purchase. Anthony-Smith, however, would like to see that act include small businesses as well.
“Small businesses make up 99% of the employers in the state of Florida,” Anthony-Smith said. “I’m a small business owner. If I was provided tax incentives or tax breaks, I, of course, would help my employees to the best of my ability to be able to afford a house, a mortgage, but you have to incentivize medium and small businesses to be able to do it, and that’s what I would work on when I get to Tallahassee.”
Grayson suggested reforming property taxes and insurance while pointing to his association with the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA).
“I was on the housing committee when I was in Congress, and I’ll tell you that it was shocking to me to see the extent to which the government made things happen or not happen in the housing market,” Grayson said. “I brought an organization called NACA here that provided 0% mortgages – no interest mortgages – to this area.”
He said NACA provided zero down payment mortgages as well.
In closing, Grayson lamented the current political state of Orlando and pointed to his six years in Congress as a beacon of hope.
“We have here a complete, total collapse of the political class in doing its job here in Orlando and around the state,” Grayson said. “Now, the one thing you can be sure of, based upon my six years of Congress, is good stuff’s going to get done.”
During her closing statement, Anthony-Smith emphasized the forum’s value to the community, especially as it revealed which candidates would “show up” for the audience in Tallahassee.
“It’s real easy to sit back and just have a one-on-one conversation with someone and just give them your ideas, but what about being challenged?” Anthony-Smith said. “Vote for people who are showing up today. Vote for people who are asking and who are responding to the hard questions.”
