Candidate for State Representative, District 92
(Photo courtesy of Justin Flippen for Florida House 92)
By BOB KECSKEMETY
Wilton Manors Vice Mayor Justin Flippen is running in the Democratic primary for District 92, Florida State Representative. Earlier this week I had an opportunity to ask Justin a few questions.
Florida Agenda: You call yourself a public servant and not a politician. What is it about politics that makes you uncomfortable with the term ‘politician’?
Justin Flippen: To me, the term politician is a person who is concerned mainly with power and that’s not what I’m interested in. My faith, family and values
taught me when I was a younger child to use my abilities to give back to my community and to better other people’s lives. I think that referring to myself as a public servant first, holds me to a higher standard and it reminds me that my first duty is service and not a position of power and authority.
FA: What accomplishment are you most proud of in your career in public service?
JF: Holding myself to high ethical standards and being governed by them as I make decisions and exercising fiscal responsibility on budgetary matters.
I was also instrumental in insuring that matters of equality were written into matters of law. For example, police and parking contracts in Wilton Manors contain anti-discrimination provisions. The police contract didn’t allow for family sick leave for domestic partners. That was an inequality in the contract and was changed to include not just the spouse. I created a Women’s History Month program to recognize the contribution of women to the city. I’ve worked with community leaders in addressing the parking needs on Wilton Drive and to preserve green space. I also worked on the master plan incorporating ideas of pedestrian connectivity within the city so we can have safe sidewalk and bike lanes.
FA: Many in Florida have been disappointed by the lack of real job growth in recent months. What more do you think can be done to put Floridians to work?
J.F.: I believe it’s time that Florida provides tax incentives to attract new businesses like the next wave of industrial development which includes smart growth and clean green technologies.
I think expanding the Sunshine’s State’s tourismbased economy to also include solar and clean energy technology is what the business of the state should be about. I work in tourism and I know that folks come to Florida for the sun but I think we can do more and harness the power of the sun to strengthen the economy. A workforce needs a properly educated and trained and because of that, education must be made affordable and accessible to the general public.
FA: Do you feel that, in this time of budget deficits, we have to cut back on social services?
JF: No. In fact, if the state were to properly invest in health and human service programs, like providing home care to our aging population instead of dumping money into institutionalized assisted living, it could save the state millions of dollars. If Tallahassee were to exercise greater fiscal responsibility due to the recession, I don’t believe we need to just cut services just to save money. I think we need to increase spending in health and human services and public education. In rough economic times, like we are in right now, we need a social safety net which is important to our society and we need to be educating our children.
FA: Why do you feel that it is so important that gay and lesbian couples have the right to marry? That is to say, why aren’t domestic partnership rights sufficient?
JF: Domestic partnerships in Florida are not equal in rights afforded by the contract of marriage. And because I have a commitment to equality, I believe that the civil contract of marriage be available to all regardless of sexual orientation.
FA: But your opponent in this race does support domestic partnerships.
JF: She does not support full equality she does not support marriage right to gays and lesbians couples. Domestic partnerships do not carry the same legal weight as marriage. There are county and municipal constructs in Florida that don’t afford the same rights and benefits and responsibilities. Nor are they required to be recognized beyond the county or even by businesses in the private sector. They are not equal to the civil contract of marriage. Her support of DOMA and those behind Amendment 2 which was passed in 2008 to deny marriage or any other union or contract similar to the rights afforded through marriage to same-sex partners underscores her lack of commitment to the gay and lesbian community here in Florida.
FA: Isn’t marriage fundamentally a religious issue?
JF: Civil marriage is a government contract — one that affords approximately 1,500 special rights and responsibilities and benefits to the parties that entered that contract. It is not the role of government to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation — who may or may not enter into such a contract. The sacrament of “Holy Matrimony” is indeed a religious matter. Religion retains it’s authority by the separation of church and state principles to confirm or deny religious sacraments based upon membership requirements or subscription to each religion and their religious beliefs.
FA: You have criticized your [Democratic] opponent in this race for taking money from Republican groups. In the current era of partisan gridlock, what is so wrong with a Democrat taking money from a Republican?
JF: It isn’t a matter of a Democrat taking money from any Republican group. This specific group is anti-Democratic, anti-Obama, anti-public education and anti-gay. This group has given so much money to anti-Democratic causes and it continues to work against every principle supported by the people that my opponent claims to serve. I believe that taking money from such a group and rewarding that group by voting for their special interests in opposition to the interests of the people you are elected to serve, is just, plain wrong. And it shouldn’t be the practice of a State Representative. I’ve called on my opponent to give the money back and not to hide behind the title of ‘Democrat’ when in fact she is not [legislating like] one. I’m a Democrat because I believe in what it means to be a Democrat.
Early voting is currently underway in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. The election will be held on Tuesday, August 24, 2010.