Last night the Republican Party of Pinellas County
Executive Committee elected Nick DiCeglie as its new Chairman. DiCeglie was
nominated by Larry Ahern who said, "Nick is focused on one thing, putting
Republicans in office, [but] he has his priorities right, he loves the Lord and
his beautiful family."
To get a full view of how Nick will approach is new
responsibility, here is my recent 5 Post interview in a single Post for quick
reading. Here you will get a good idea of what's to come.
Our interview took place Nick's office in Clearwater.
"Tell me a little about your
background, your family and your business." I asked
Nick started the conversation, "I grew up in Long
Island New York. I grew up a third-generation in the family business which is
garbage and recycling collection. My dad and his two cousins purchased the
company here in Clearwater in 1980.
One of the original partners passed in 1992, and my
parents moved here immediately after to essentially pull the business out of
the dumps, no pun intended, and at that time I had just entered community
college in Long Island. The next few
years my dad’s health worsened so my then girlfriend, now wife, Erica and I
moved to Pinellas County in September 1996. Unfortunately my dad passed about
seven months after I had moved here and I have helped run the family business
ever since.
I got married in
2002 to Erica and we have two beautiful children Livia our daughter who’s 10
and little Carlo, who is named after my dad, is 6 1/2." Nick replied.
"How long have you been active in
Pinellas Country Republican Politics? And what caused you to start?" I
asked.
"Since 2009." Nick replied
"My business is regulated by the County Commission
so at that time the County Commission was looking to, in my opinion, over
regulate the industry which could’ve potentially put myself and a couple of
other smaller, local haulers out of business.
At that time I
said to myself, either I’m going to sell the business to my billion-dollar
competitors and not deal with County government, or find a solution.
Not dealing with trying to find a solution to the issue
at the time was not an option. You know, at that point we were pushing on 30
years of business In Pinellas County and I just wasn’t going to not tell our
great story. We have a great business with great employees and an incredible,
loyal customer base and I just wasn’t about to quit on any of them.
So I got involved in Republican politics.
Ever since moving here I really didn’t pay a lot of
attention to local politics but I started getting involved in politics so I
could be better informed about the County Commission. One thing lead to
another, and the great thing with all of it, I was able to lead the industry to
help the County find a solution and improve the solid waste collection system
in unincorporated Pinellas.
Once I accomplished that, I wanted to stay actively
engaged in the business community, active in non-profits and active in politics
and that's what I did.
I really turned what was a pretty nerve-racking
process, which I didn't realize at the time I was lobbying for my own company
for my own industry, and turned that into something extremely positive and I
vowed to stay involved with the community and politics and here I am five years
later."
"Many registered Republicans know
very little about the Republican Party of Pinellas County. Let me ask you a couple of questions about
that. How does the County organization
relate to the State and National Republican organizations?" I asked.
"You have the Republican National Committee which
primarily is responsible for Presidential campaigns; Presidential elections and
obviously they get down to the Senate and Congressional level but primarily the
objective is to get a Republican elected to the White House." Nick
responded.
"At the State level, we have the Republican Party
of Florida which is responsible for electing your State Senators and State
Representatives, and we(Republican Party of Pinellas County) are really underneath the RPOF (Republican
Party of Florida) umbrella and then coming down to the local level, the
Republican Executive Committees or the other local Republican GOP’s.
We are responsible for electing County Commissioners, constitutional
officers and then there’re some circumstances that we get involved in municipal
races even though those are non-partisan.
Basically the structure puts the local Republican
Executive Committee underneath the RPF umbrella and of course we have the
Republican National Committee at the very top." Nick replied.
"What is the primary focus of the
Republican Party of Pinellas County?' I asked.
"To elect qualified Republicans to office."
Nick responded.
"What offices have you held and
what is your current role with the Republican Party of Pinellas County?" I
asked.
"My current role is the Vice Chairman of the
Republican Executive Committee in Pinellas County.
I am also a Governors' appointee to the Regional
Planning Council and I have served five years on the Indian Rocks Beach
Planning and Zoning Board. I was also chairman of the Ivory Club in 2012 which
is our social, fundraising arm of the local Republican Executive
Committee." Nick answered.
"Current Executive Committee
Chairman Michael Guju is stepping down. You have announced your intention to
run for the Chairmanship. Why?" I asked.
"I think we need a new fresh, youthful energy to
our Republican Party in Pinellas County. These last 2 years I’ve really learned
a lot about how the organization works and what we’re really responsible for;
but also at the same time, I think that as we are looking toward 2016 we can't
hang our hats on these recent midterm elections and say, okay, we had a huge
amount of success in 2014 and we can take some time off and enjoy 2015.
Then try to get ready for 2016 in January of 2016.
Those days are over. This is about the ability to hit the ground running in
2015 and begin preparing for the huge election cycle in 2016.
I think Republicans have a great opportunity
particularly here in Pinellas County. You know things weren’t so rosy in 2014.
We lost a county wide County Commission race and we were not able to improve
our results from 2010 for Rick Scott here in Pinellas County despite having so
many hard working grass root volunteers involved. So that being said, we need
to hit the ground running in 2015 with a strategy that will help us improve our
organization.
We need to be focused and to be organized. We need to
train our volunteers; we need to be ready to deal with the huge heavy lifting
of 2016 because that's what it is going to take."
If elected to
the Chairmanship, where do you hope to take the Republican Party of Pinellas
County as we lead up to the next election cycle in 2016?" I asked.
"I think number one we’ve got to provide our
candidates with the resources that they need to be in a position to win,"
Nick responded.
"So what does that mean?
We’ve got hundreds of volunteers that have helped us
win various races this election cycle but we need to make sure that they’re
organized at Party headquarters, trained at Party headquarters and deployed to
help the various candidates from Party headquarters.
Then once we get past the primary, we can provide
telephone callers to a particular candidate who is running for County
Commission and we need to be able to organize precinct walks for a particular
candidate who is running for a Constitutional officer’s seat.
We need to be able to deploy these volunteers and the
necessary resources to the candidates. The direction of the volunteers are not
only decided by the Party, but in conjunction with our various candidates
because they’re the ones that tell us they're doing a Precinct walk this
Saturday in this specific precinct and this coordination is extremely important.
This last election our volunteers were scattered all
over the County. We had some walking for various House candidates, some for
County Commission and some for State Senate they were just really all over the
place.
I think you have to prioritize what we do. We need to
inform our volunteers, we need to train our volunteers, we need to get them
ready to get hit the ground running as soon as the primaries are over.
Considering when the absentee ballots go out that’s
really when these races start. It doesn’t start 10 days before election or on
Election Day. This effort is going to start 30 or 40 days prior to the
election."
"What do
you see as the major issues that need to be addressed by the Republican Party
of Pinellas County?" I asked.
"There’s a lot. Honestly like I just mentioned, we
need to make sure we are organized to be effective for our candidates.
I think that we need to have an outreach program that
that is going to get into the communities that Republicans haven’t done a very
good job getting into.
We talk about minority outreach all the time and you
know we got a Hispanic Outreach club and they do a great job; but we really,
really need to rally around what they do and how they do it. And provide resources so they
can be effective.
I do think, looking at what’s going on at the national
level, Republicans have a huge opportunity to pass legislation, pass
conservative policies that are going to be able to show the American people the
difference between the last six years under President Obama and what good,
solid, smaller government and fiscally responsible policies can mean for the
average middle class American.
We want government to get out of the way so middle
class Americans have the opportunity to realize their dreams. Republicans
finally have a platform to be able to get those policies passed and in place so
that we can begin turning this Country around.
It is easier said than done with Barak Obama in the
White House these next two years. He has the veto pen.
I get the sense that there’s going to be a different
focus for Republicans. You are already hearing that they don’t want to talk
about government shutdowns. That's not a positive message that Republicans need
here in these next two years. It is vital that a negative message does not
reflect down to the local level."
"The
demographics are changing here in Pinellas County. The Hispanic and Asian
populations are growing and overall the average age is dropping. What
approaches will you take to reach these emerging voters, and have them
represented in the Republican Party Pinellas County organization?" I asked.
"What’s so important and we saw it in the Senate
races, we need to have good, solid, qualified, viable candidates that can
articulate our message and our platform," Nick replied.
"And take that a step further, we must have the
ability to identify where they should go when they’re on the campaign trail to
connect with various minority voters like Hispanic voters, African-American
voters and Asian voters. We must connect
with them in their communities. Senator
Rand Paul is doing an outstanding job in this regard.
Let's look at what Rick Baker did. When he first got
elected, and correct me if I am wrong, but I think he had very little
African-American support the first time he ran.
But when he ran for reelection, because he went to
those communities, his support wasn’t 51% it was well over the 75% level of
support because he took the time and the energy to go into those communities
and listened to find out what would be needed, what were their issues and he
took action on their behalf to improve their communities.
To me, that’s s an example we can certainly follow and
try to replicate because it was sincere and it worked. It worked to perfection
and that’s one reason why Rick Baker is such a great leader."
"What role
or to what extent does the County organization or the Executive Committee play
in selecting candidates or setting up who is going to run? I asked.
"Great question, in the last two years we haven’t
had had a major role in identifying potential candidates, so I'm looking
forward to that process.
I feel I’ve got a lot of community connections from the
years of me being extremely involved, so for example, I have a very good friend
who’s involved in St. Pete politics and knows the people involved. He’s a great professional, really
knowledgeable about who’s who and what’s what in St. Petersburg politics and
will be a great asset to help us identify quality, viable conservative
candidates to run for these important offices.
I would like to have representatives like that and a
connection to each of the municipalities so that we can identify as a Party who
are the leaders in these different communities. Who are the young people moving
through the ranks? Who are the people that have been involved for a long time
who understand the various ins and outs of the communities where they live.
That can equate to strong candidates for the County Commission,
constitutional officers, State House and Senate races.
I think having those connections in the community is having
a pulse of what's going on. It's going to help us, as a Party, find quality
candidates that are going to be able to articulate our Republican platform.
It's about the quality of the candidate that really
makes a difference.”
"With the
voting population almost evenly divided in Pinellas County how will you go
about reaching out to the undecided and non party affiliated voters?" I asked.
"Face to face communication is vital," Nick
replied.
"Certainly I am going to encourage not only our
Executive Board but the Executive Committee as a whole to get involved. Get
into Rotary Clubs, get into the various community service clubs, speak with
your neighbors and fellow church parishioners and send the positive Republican
message.
Doing that over time, doing that sincerely and doing it
consistently, having a consistent message is the key. I think that approach
begins to evolve to the point where people say I know John Doe or Sue Ann and
they're involved in the Republican Party and I want to get involved too. They are making a difference.
It is not what we see on TV. I think Republicans have a
perception issue due to the media painting a negative picture of our
party. If we want to change this
perception, taking whole bunch of money and throwing it at the problem will
never get to the root or the core of the problem.
It is going to take one on one relationship building
and cultivating those relationships over a long period of time. The rest will take care of itself."
"Many
people now believe that the 2014 Florida elections were essentially over before
the polls opened on Election Day. With the extension of voting opportunities
due to mail in ballots and ever expanding early voting how do you see election
campaigns changing?" I asked.
"One of the first things we are going to focus on
in 2016 when it comes to campaigning is voter registration. We need to have a
major voter registration drive and at the same time encourage those who
register to vote by an absentee ballot. Once they vote absentee then campaigns
have a better picture of who voted when, who still has the absentee ballots and
when we have all that information we see get out the vote programs perform at their
best," Nick Replied.
It was incredible here, especially for Governor Scott
and how they chased the absentee ballots. We will see an uptick in those kinds
of programs going into 2016 because they work. There so many ways to squeeze
that sponge and making sure all of these voters get out and vote.
It all starts with voter registration from there it's
all about positioning the Party and the campaigns to be able to get out the
vote and squeeze that sponge."
"Recent campaigns that have used social media both
to organize and inform the voters seem to have fared well. If elected as
Executive Committee chair, do you see an expanded use of social media by the
Republican Party of Pinellas County?
...and how?" I asked.
"It always seemed like we were reacting to issues
that would come up during the 2014 election instead of staying ahead of various
issues including the national side. We want to be in the position to make a
statement; we want to be in the position of acting on things instead of
reacting.
We will have a social media strategy, and we want to
get our message out there. We want to get our conservative platform out there.
We want to do that ahead of time and be proactive to things around us. And I think social media really does help in
that regard."
"Looking
ahead, if the battle between President
Obama and the Congress continues with full fury up to the 2016 election and the
result is gridlock with little being accomplished, how do you think that will
affect local and state races, and what can the local Republican Party
Organization do to make sure their candidates have the best chance?" I
asked.
"When our candidates hit the campaign trail they
are going to get questions just like that one.
Why aren't the Republicans doing anything? Why are the
Republicans obstructing? You've had the House and Senate for the last two years
and nothing is happening.
That's when we need to have a positive message. Inform
the voters what Republicans have done and why it’s the better solution.
Ultimately if we pass legislation, the Keystone pipe
Line is a good example, it goes through the House and goes through the Senate,
something Republicans think is going to have a positive impact for the Country
but then the President vetoes it, our candidates and volunteers need to be able
to articulate to the voter why we have the better policies.
Don't get me wrong, easier said than done. But having
that positive tone coming from anybody in a leadership role is going to help us
do the best we can to counteract that problem.
I think we saw that in the Florida Governors race. Both candidates were running extremely
negative campaigns, people just wanted to turn it off.
It was really, really difficult for a lot of our
volunteers who had telephones slammed on them when they were making calls,
doors slammed in their face when they were knocking doors at people's homes, it
is not an easy situation to deal with, but given the opportunity and having
them prepared with a positive message about what is going on is all we can
do."
"Finally,
this is a big County and the Chairmanship of the Pinellas County Republican
Executive Committee is a big job. You have growing family and a business to
run. How does the family feel about your decision to jump deeper into politics
and how will you make time for all of it?" I asked.
"Well, that's a good question; it's all about whom
you surround yourself with. Here in my business, I have an operations manager
who is just great. He understands what I am doing here business wise but he
also understands what I am trying to do for our County and the big picture of
things. So that's making my life a lot easier here.
At home, my wife and my kids they fully support what I
do, my mom supports what I do, where there's a will there's away. It's all about balance, I think moving
forward the incoming Executive Board, whoever that may be, we are going to have
solid, committed people to move our party forward and we will be operating as
one united team.
We will make it happen," Nick said with a big
grin.
Comment:
Nick DeCeglie will bring a new and refreshing approach
to the Republican Party Executive Committee. Look for some major changes and a
fast start on the next election cycle.
The Chair of the
Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee is elected by a vote of the board
membership. You can get more information at Republican Party of Pinellas County website.
E-mail Doc at: dr.webb@verizon.net. Or send me a Facebook (Gene
Webb) Friend request. Twitter@DOCONTHEBAY. Please comment below, and be sure to
share on Facebook and Twitter. See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos
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