Friends,
On November 3rd, all of the hard work that we put into this campaign paid off -- I was elected to the Coconut Grove Village Council. I am the youngest person to ever have the honor of serving this community and one of the youngest elected officials in Miami's history. Thank you to the 681 people who came out and voted for me. A lot of people gave their time and energy to help me achieve this and will forever have my appreciation for their support and dedication. Hope Mohr was instrumental in getting the word out in the Center Grove, organizing the Meet and Greet BBQ and keeping me motivated and energized throughout the campaign. I cannot thank her enough. Nancy and Oliver were my biggest champions in the West Grove -- knocking on doors, passing out fliers, and speaking with their friends and neighbors about me. Many others were involved in some way or another and you know who you are. Thank you!
For me, the work has only just begun. We are faced with some major challenges here in Coconut Grove that must be addressed. While I will not assume office until January, I have already started working on putting together an agenda, will be giving a few speeches before January, and testifying in front of the current Council on Thursday about the 5am closing rule. I am working on three projects right now in the West Grove, the details of which I will release soon.
Coconut Grove is at a critical time in its history and needs real leadership to ensure its success. It is my promise to the residents I serve to make sure that our officials are up for the challenge. With a new mayor, new commission chairman and two new commissioners, it is essential that the needs of Coconut Grove's most forgotten and left behind community are not further neglected moving forward. I wish our officials the best of luck in their coming terms and hope to work together to address issues of mutual concern.
I care deeply about Coconut Grove and will continue to fight for you.
-Stephen Murray
Councilman-Elect
November 8th Miami Herald Article
November 4th Grand Ave News
Congratulatory Letter from Congressman Kendrick Meek (D-FL)
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Get out and Vote!
Friends,
The campaign is starting to come to a close. Early voting began yesterday and goes through Sunday. The polls are open from 7am-7pm until the weekend, and then on Saturday/Sunday they are open from 9am-1pm. Our Early Voting location is at Miami City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive. If you don't want to early vote, election day is Tuesday, November 3rd, where you will be able to vote at your assigned precinct polling location:
The campaign is starting to come to a close. Early voting began yesterday and goes through Sunday. The polls are open from 7am-7pm until the weekend, and then on Saturday/Sunday they are open from 9am-1pm. Our Early Voting location is at Miami City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive. If you don't want to early vote, election day is Tuesday, November 3rd, where you will be able to vote at your assigned precinct polling location:
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Media Updates
Our Meet and Greet BBQ was featured as the centerpiece of the Miami Herald's story about the Coconut Grove Village Council candidates. You can read the article and see a few pictures of the event here.
The November issue of Miami Monthly Magazine has a picture of Morgan and I on page 59, "In and Around Town with Erika King," along with campaign supporters Vanna and Alex. It was taken at the Full Moon Party held at the Barnacle a couple weeks ago. Pick up a copy and check it out!
Grand Ave News has video statements from all of the candidates. Visit www.grandavenews.com and click on my picture.
There should hopefully be an article in next week's Miami Hurricane about my candidacy. I will post a link when it goes up.
Thank you to everyone who has been following my campaign and showing their support. We are only about a week away from election day. Early voting starts Monday, please come out and vote!
-Stephen Murray
The November issue of Miami Monthly Magazine has a picture of Morgan and I on page 59, "In and Around Town with Erika King," along with campaign supporters Vanna and Alex. It was taken at the Full Moon Party held at the Barnacle a couple weeks ago. Pick up a copy and check it out!
Grand Ave News has video statements from all of the candidates. Visit www.grandavenews.com and click on my picture.
There should hopefully be an article in next week's Miami Hurricane about my candidacy. I will post a link when it goes up.
Thank you to everyone who has been following my campaign and showing their support. We are only about a week away from election day. Early voting starts Monday, please come out and vote!
-Stephen Murray
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Picnic and Theodore Gibson Memorial Fund
584:
The picnic was a huge success. Thank you so much to the people who made it out to have a nice afternoon in the Community Green Space. We had over 75 people come through at various points; some stayed the entire time and others came in just to say hi and grab lunch. A special thank you to the amazing individuals who put the entire thing together: Hope Mohr, my Event Coordinator and go-to gal did an amazing job of organizing everything and reminding people about the event. Michelle Wedderburn and the ladies of Simply Jerk who catered the event. Morgan, Vanna, Bob, Deter, Melanie, and Andrew who all helped out immensely. I couldn't have done it without you all and I am extremely thankful for your help. We had quite a few special guests and many news outlets were there to cover it. State Representative Carlos Lopez-Cantera and his legislative assistant Joeseph Ruiz, who I've been working with on the FP&L issue both made it out as well. Tom Falco, Editor of the Coconut Grove Grapevine, was there as well and wrote this post (and took a great picture of Councilwoman Michelle Niemeyer, State Rep. Lopez-Cantera and I).
Tonight, Morgan and I went to the Theodore Gibson Memorial Fund's annual fund-raising dinner at Jungle Island. It was nice to see a lot of familiar faces from the West Grove, and we made some new friends as well. Coincidentally, I was sitting next to Vanessa (Thelma Gibson's niece) and Stephen Murray (her husband), so now I have some 'family' here as well. A thank you also goes out to Melissa Meyer, my neighbor and member of the fund's Board of Directors, who invited us.
We are only about two weeks away from the election. Let's keep the momentum going.
-Stephen Murray
The picnic was a huge success. Thank you so much to the people who made it out to have a nice afternoon in the Community Green Space. We had over 75 people come through at various points; some stayed the entire time and others came in just to say hi and grab lunch. A special thank you to the amazing individuals who put the entire thing together: Hope Mohr, my Event Coordinator and go-to gal did an amazing job of organizing everything and reminding people about the event. Michelle Wedderburn and the ladies of Simply Jerk who catered the event. Morgan, Vanna, Bob, Deter, Melanie, and Andrew who all helped out immensely. I couldn't have done it without you all and I am extremely thankful for your help. We had quite a few special guests and many news outlets were there to cover it. State Representative Carlos Lopez-Cantera and his legislative assistant Joeseph Ruiz, who I've been working with on the FP&L issue both made it out as well. Tom Falco, Editor of the Coconut Grove Grapevine, was there as well and wrote this post (and took a great picture of Councilwoman Michelle Niemeyer, State Rep. Lopez-Cantera and I).
Tonight, Morgan and I went to the Theodore Gibson Memorial Fund's annual fund-raising dinner at Jungle Island. It was nice to see a lot of familiar faces from the West Grove, and we made some new friends as well. Coincidentally, I was sitting next to Vanessa (Thelma Gibson's niece) and Stephen Murray (her husband), so now I have some 'family' here as well. A thank you also goes out to Melissa Meyer, my neighbor and member of the fund's Board of Directors, who invited us.
We are only about two weeks away from the election. Let's keep the momentum going.
-Stephen Murray
Friday, October 16, 2009
What needed to be said last night can not and will not wait.
Last night was supposed to be the televised candidates forum for the Coconut Grove Village Council election. Since I do not have any real proof on some of the theories as to why the plug was pulled, I can not go into that yet. What I can say though is that regardless of the shut down, I have a couple things that I had planned on saying that still need to be said.
The 5am bar closing issue has been the subject of much debate. I have made my position very clear on this issue: we must stay competitive in one of our greatest pulls for business. The concerns many of us share can be addressed by better enforcement of public safety laws as they are done elsewhere in the City, and can be done without an ordinance that specifically constricts our already hurting businesses. Public opinion overwhelmingly supports this position. However, back door politics are currently taking place to block action and scare our residents.
Now is not the time to shy away from the mission of the Village Council. We must not be afraid, we must not allow this type of misconduct to go unchecked, and we must not let scare tactics govern Coconut Grove.
And my message to those in positions of power who wish to subvert the voices of dissent – I am not running for the Village Council to be your enemy nor your friend; I am running to partner with you and to support the decisions you make that keep the best interests of our residents at heart. But mark my words: I will publicly call you out when you fail to do so. For far too long, you have been permitted to intimidate our friends, colleagues and businesses behind closed doors and under the cloak of anonymity, but that time has now passed. The only thing worse than a playground bully, is one that doesn’t have the decency or the courage to fight their battles out in the open. Here in the Grove, we can and we will be better than that.
It is my pledge to you that I will never back down from fighting for what I believe is best for the community I serve.
-Stephen Murray
PS: On a completely unrelated note, Happy Birthday to both my mom and little sister (the other day). I love you both!
The 5am bar closing issue has been the subject of much debate. I have made my position very clear on this issue: we must stay competitive in one of our greatest pulls for business. The concerns many of us share can be addressed by better enforcement of public safety laws as they are done elsewhere in the City, and can be done without an ordinance that specifically constricts our already hurting businesses. Public opinion overwhelmingly supports this position. However, back door politics are currently taking place to block action and scare our residents.
Now is not the time to shy away from the mission of the Village Council. We must not be afraid, we must not allow this type of misconduct to go unchecked, and we must not let scare tactics govern Coconut Grove.
And my message to those in positions of power who wish to subvert the voices of dissent – I am not running for the Village Council to be your enemy nor your friend; I am running to partner with you and to support the decisions you make that keep the best interests of our residents at heart. But mark my words: I will publicly call you out when you fail to do so. For far too long, you have been permitted to intimidate our friends, colleagues and businesses behind closed doors and under the cloak of anonymity, but that time has now passed. The only thing worse than a playground bully, is one that doesn’t have the decency or the courage to fight their battles out in the open. Here in the Grove, we can and we will be better than that.
It is my pledge to you that I will never back down from fighting for what I believe is best for the community I serve.
-Stephen Murray
PS: On a completely unrelated note, Happy Birthday to both my mom and little sister (the other day). I love you both!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Campaign Meet and Greet and BBQ
We will be having a campaign Meet and Greet / BBQ on Saturday, October 17th, from 1-3p.m. in the Community Green Space right off of SW 32nd and Grand Ave. The event flier, which includes a map and some extra details, is included below. We are looking to turn out about 100 people, and it would be great for you to be one of them. Please get in touch if you have any questions about it.
-Stephen Murray
StephenMurrayMeetandGreet
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Stephen Murray for Coconut Grove Village Council
Candidate Bio
I am an undergraduate student at the University of Miami (Class of 2011, BBA in Political Science), Research/Teaching Assistant in the School of Business, Community Activist in the West Grove, and the Democratic Party Committeeman of Precinct 584. I am originally from New York, but lived overseas most of my life (4 years in Austria, 5 years in Hungary). My parents still live in Europe and I travel back and forth to see them during my breaks. I worked as a fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee in the summer of 2006 and was the Lead Field Manager for the Philadelphia office and a top averaging door-to-door fund-raiser in the country at the time.
I bring a fresh perspective to the table. (click Read More)
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