Posting on his Facebook account this evening, James Goetz made the following announcement:
For the health and well being of my family, friends and self, I pulled out of the race today. It deeply saddens me to have to do so. However tomorrow the sun will come up and a new day will begin. I thank you all for your support and confidence.
At this point, it has not been confirmed that Goetz filed the necessary paperwork to officially end his campaign for the commission seat.
More information will be posted here as it becomes available.
Update: (10/14 at 2:30 am): The Ledger has published that Goetz officially withdrew:
Goetz, as the city’s procedure requires, gave a signed note to City Clerk Kelly Koos to quit the race.
“At this time, I will be withdrawing from the 2009 District D city commissioner election,” the note said. District D covers the southeastern part of the city.
Bio: The short line? Father, husband, writer. My online presence is primarily through as the editor, writer, and occasional photographer for the news sites, Lakeland Local, a sampling of the news, concerns, and events for Lakeland, Florida, and Metro i4 News, which covers the Interstate 4 corridor in Central Florida. Both sites feature the work of myself and other contributors. As a hobby, I manage a forum and some web sites that feature a pulp fiction series written by Lester Dent -- Doc Savage Organized, Doc Savage Info, and Flearun.
Donkeyrock
3 months ago
Mmm hmm
(Apparently, just writing that little bit above was too short of a comment for the system. Really, it told me so. So here I am putting in filler hoping it’s enough to pass the filter test. *crossing fingers*….)
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Lorrie
3 months ago
I think this is an appropriate action, given all that has been revealed about Goetz. I have to say, I am really angry at Goetz’s comments on LL and in The Ledger, which constantly point blame elsewhere. I get very concerned when I see so much controversy surrounding someone and that person points fingers at everyone but himself. He blames The Ledger for messing up his chances at winning the election? Come on. Don’t be shady and decide to run for office, and then cry when the media tries to shed some light on your shadiness.