Florence Snyder, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Florence SnyderNovember 2, 2016

Most free stuff is worth what you’re paying for it. An exception is Above the Fold, a compilation of the front pages of Florida’s newspapers, produced by Cate Communications and delivered to your inbox daily by 8 a.m. In time it takes to drink a mug of coffee, you can take in a drone’s-eye view […]

Florence SnyderOctober 31, 2016

On Halloween, Daytona Beach News-Journal reporter Katie Kustura brings us a timely reminder that for many women and children, every night is “dark, and full of terrors.” Domestic violence is a notoriously underreported crime, but available statistics place Volusia County near the top of what State Attorney R.J. Larizza calls an epidemic. Larizza is fed […]

Florence SnyderOctober 30, 2016

How did Halloween come to be first runner-up to Christmas among holidays that excel at separating families from their money? We can thank people like John Murdy, creative director and executive producer of Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. In an interview with Marketplace Weekend’s Eliza Mills, Murdy recalls growing up in the ’70s, when […]

Florence SnyderOctober 29, 2016

Everyone enters “the helping professions” with high ideals. Forty years later, some emerge as cynics who think it’s OK to “help” themselves if no one’s looking. Not Tim Glover. After decades in Polk County law enforcement, he has his ideals, and a well-earned front page shoutout from the Lakeland Ledger headlined “Officer writes red light […]

Florence SnyderOctober 28, 2016

Kyle Jones‘ mother was among the hundreds who packed The Moon last night for the Tallahassee premier of the Florida State University senior’s first foray into filmmaking. She must be over-the-moon proud. Jones, assisted by fellow students Elijah Howard, Deanna Kidd, and Michael Walsh, received a loud and warm ovation for “641 Muriel Court,” their […]

Florence SnyderOctober 23, 2016

The mortality rate for a family business is staggering. Seventy percent of them will fail or be sold before the founders’ children come of age. Just 10 percent remain active, and in family hands when the third generation is old enough to work for a living. The chances are close to zero that a family business will […]

Florence SnyderOctober 19, 2016

If you want to feel good — really good — about your government, pay a visit to the overworked, underpaid band of public servants who staff Florida’s State Library and Archives. These are the people who preserve, protect and defend our history from those who would rewrite it for short-term political or financial gain. Florida’s […]

Florence SnyderJuly 11, 2016

Editor’s note: Within 24 hours of his layoff, Lloyd Dunkelberger has joined FloridaPolitics.com as a contributor. *** There was yet another round of layoffs last week at Florida newspapers. Men and women with, collectively, hundreds of years of priceless institutional memory and high-functioning moral compasses were unceremoniously kicked to the curb. They will be replaced, […]

Florence SnyderJune 27, 2016

The Department of Children and Families (DCF) is not the worst offender in Florida’s never-ending War on Open Government. It just gets caught in the act more often than fellow offenders at the state, county and municipal levels. That’s because DCF is one of the few agencies left which ever has to contend with watchdog journalism. DCF chieftains, […]

Florence SnyderApril 1, 2016

There’s a dreary predictability to the cycle of corporate child abuse funded by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). It matters not whether the governor is a Democrat or a Republican. DJJ’s patience with well-connected private contractors is limitless, no matter who’s in office. The evidence is succinctly summarized by The Palm Beach Post’s Pat Beall […]

Florence Snyder

Above the Fold: Free, but worth its weight in gold

In violent homes, every night is Halloween

Florence Snyder: Postcard from Halloween

No good deed — honest cop writes own red light camera ticket, gets reprimand

Florence Snyder: Memo from The Moon, ‘641 Muriel Court’

Florence Snyder: A crowd of cousins at The New York Times

Florence Snyder: Notes from the Florida State Archives

Florence Snyder: And another one gone (-30-)

Florence Snyder: At Florida Department of Children & Families, the sun don’t shine

Florence Snyder: State dumps company that lied about care for troubled kids