This article, originally published by Al Zucaro on BocaWatch.org, is preserved for historical purposes by Massive Impressions Online Marketing in Boca Raton.
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After the Special Election was over, Al Zucaro received many messages of support and otherwise. Here are some of the letters he asked us to share. There’s also a message from Al Zucaro, to his supporters, he asked be shared.
Al,
Thank you for always exposing the dark side of the city.
Still admire your street smarts. Please continue your efforts.-
Jana C.
Good Day Al & Yvonne,
There are times in our lives that things happen for the best. Perhaps the voters of Boca Raton were sending both of you a message. That message was simple, we don’t care about quality leadership, our town, or the future of Boca Raton.
We are not youngsters but I’m certain loosing anything is hard to accept no matter what our ages. Al and Yvonne, both of you offered many precious moments to the citizens of Boca Raton. You fought a very hard and difficult campaign. For this and many other champions for your cause are very proud for the way you conducted yourselves not only during the campaign, but, for years before. Barbara, my friend, was a supporter of your campaign. We and many others who attended the evenings gathering place were very impressed with Al’s conduct and grace while giving his concession speech. Al’s conduct demonstrated Al is not a Politician, he is a Statesman. A statesman is a gentlemen who wants to serve for the good of everyone; a Politician is, well why ruin a nice email Yvonne can read without turning red!
I feel honored to call you both a friend and would always do what I can for both of you.
God Bless,
Bob M.
Hello Al and Yvonne,
Thanks for being our candidate, and thanks for giving us hope.
Best to you both,
Respectfully,
Joe G.
Al,
You fought the good fight and stood up for what you believed. You still have an important role to play in shaping Boca’s future. Fingers crossed for Kathy!
John G.
Al,
As a follow up to my words last night, I just wanted to again THANK YOU for your personal commitment, time, money and effort on behalf of the residents of Boca Raton. You have opened the eyes of many of us to the political workings in our city, and I strongly encourage you to keep at it! We need people like you, and Boca Watch, to stay involved in the community.
Most of us can talk the talk, but YOU walk the walk. Having never run for public office, I cannot imagine the hard work that you have put in, but I can tell you that I appreciate it. Congratulations to you for the great effort.
Thanks, again,
Dr. Richard K.
Good morning Al ,
Antonella and I had the opportunity to meet a very good friend of Yvonne and yours her name is Vivian she arrived shortly after you left last night what a very inspiring woman we had a great conversation. I want you to know that we did not lose this race we won in many respects the things that you have done for this community by exposing Susan Haynie and bringing the message of less development with more consideration for the residents of this community was a message that is heard loud and clear. I’m personally very thankful for all your efforts and your desire to effect change in this city. Now our voice is heard because of your voice thank you for all you’ve done with Boca watch and all the many different ways you stood up and continue to stand up for what’s right for Boca Raton . Never give up ! You are admired by thousands of people and your name will always be a name of great honor to those who respect what you’ve done and even those who don’t !
Enjoy your days ahead as you deserve a great life !! Its a tough fight when dealing with corruption but God will expose much more in the days to come. Let’s get together soon and have breakfast or coffee. It’s obvious you have a great heart for success and I pray you always find it no matter what stage of life you are in. God Bless you and Yvonne you are truly great people who care about others.
See you soon,
Frank & Antonella B.
And finally, since he always liked to let others have their say first, here’s words from The Man himself: AL ZUCARO – PUBLISHER OF BOCAWATCH
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Yvonne and I want to express our most sincere appreciation for your support of my campaign for Mayor. We are forever grateful for your belief in the mission of creating a better Boca Raton.
During the past few days, my phones and emails have been deluged with messages of dismay and shock as to the final results of this election. Like you, we felt buoyed by the incredible grassroots support of like-minded residents, and we all had been very hopeful that a ‘resident friendly’ vision would be the one elected.
So why did Scott Singer win this election?
It was a brilliant political move on his part. One that circumstances afforded him because of the timing of this election. Unlike the typical March elections, this August 28th ballot was a full partisan one, being voted on by both Republicans and Democrats. Palm Beach County is a Democrat stronghold, and while Mr. Singer is a Republican, he aligned himself with local Democrat leaders, receiving endorsements from high profile personalities like Lois Frankel and Ted Deutch to name just a few.
Although a registered Republican, his name was added to the palm cards circulated by the south county clubs as their preferred candidate for mayor in a non-partisan race. These cards provided the names of suggested candidates for voters to select. Singer also utilized his commanding war chest in excess of $150,000 and supported largely by developer interests, to send pre-filled out absentee ballots to the entire voting community.
These advantages swayed the election in his favor. While he is now the Mayor winning with this partisan formula, many of the people who voted for him are not the active community-minded people who are passionately “watching” how our City is being run.
To those of you actively watching, I say, your job is never over! Fighting for our community and preserving the spirit of our town is something you must remain committed to in the future.
Thank you again for your support and well-wishes!
Al Zucaro
Publisher of BocaWatch
Shame on the residents of Boca who don’t do their own research and educate themselves as to what is going on in “their” city. One resident had posted on the Next Door site looking for recommendations of who to vote for.
Great job Al, looking forward to future transparency via Boca Watch!
I would like to take this opportunity to address five segments of our Boca Raton community: voters, non-voters, endorsers, Scott Singer- Thompson- Jeremy Rogers and the truely concerned citizens.
Voters: Some, not all simply did not do your homework: if in fact you were truly concerned with over development in our city. Singer approved 25 developments and is likely to continue to do so. Thompson if declared the winner is a developers candidate, Jeremy hopefully will vote with the wishes of the citizens he represents, doubtful. To the resist democrats who did not vote for Al because he is a republican, shame on you, you hurt our city and yourselves by doing so. Enjoy the six lane streets coming your way and higher taxes. Same to the ones who didn’t even take the time to vote.
Endorsers: Your endorsement were for self gain instead of what was best for the city. This includes fire fightesr, police, Sun Sentinel, Chamber of Commerce the Republican Party and Democratic Officials, Louis Frankle. This election by law is non partisan. By your endorsements you took the focus off local issues and instead made it a party issue or self serving issue.
Scott Singer: There will have no congratulation coming from me ever. You lied and deceived the voters, you denied your voting record of voting for 25 development, you convinced the fire and police you would address their retirement issues when you did not do so in your four years in office, in appearance you convinced others you belonged to both parties and you were ran out side the rules of this being a non-partisan race. You are undeserving of the office of mayor or for that matter for any office.
To those voters and especially to the volunteers who have worked tirelessly for the last 20 years fighting for the betterment of Boca Raton, congratulations to you for a job well done.
Along with Al Zacaro and Kathy Cottrell who sacrifice both time and money you tried your best to make our city council worthy of your efforts. Take a bow, you deserve the applause!
,
Al Zucaro is an honorable man who ran an honorable campaign. His goal of giving the residents a voice has never changed. Al has inspired thousands to wake up, speak up, vote – and never stop trying to make a difference. He will always be the real winner in my book.
Thank you Al, and Thank you Yvonne.
I liked reading these letters and I’m glad they are posted. Al Zucaro and all of us at BocaWatch continue to support Al and the community. Al is a great supporter, friend and I’m looking forward to everything our future has to offer. 🙂
I have known Al for a short period of time but from the first time I met him, I realized that he was a people person dedicated to the little person, who works hard. Al is a true role model for the community someone who will fight for what is right even if he has to take a shot or two. He fought a good clean campaign by just telling the truth and the facts. To bad it fell on deaf ears. If telling the truth is too controversial, then we are in sad shape because the alternative is to lie, lie, lie your way to the top. Great job, Al, you will always have my support and admiration.
It was a pleasure to support and work for Al’s campaign for Mayor. He would have made a great Mayor. He is a man with an innate desire to serve and help his community by providing a platform (BocaWatch) to present issues, offer solutions, personal support and representation for the under served, and exposure to the over served. He is a man of integrity, insight and leadership. Thank you Al, for all you do and will do, to keep Boca’s issues in the spotlight.