October 9, 2017
Dear Friends,

It’s been a tough couple weeks for all of us.  We’ve had the strain of Irma – most of us were without power for days; for some of us, our homes suffered substantial damage.  We’ve watched our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico suffer hugely from Maria, and for many of us it is personal, with friends and family living on the island.  We’ve suffered the heartbreak of watching hundreds of Americans killed and injured by a madman.  We can’t even watch Sunday Football without the division in this Country being on full display.

I deal with many of these issues on a daily basis in this office, and I can promise you this, of the hundreds of votes I take each session, not one of my constituents will agree with me on all of them – and I’m including my wife and parents on that list.

But one wonderful thing we work on in my office is helping folks from Brevard County navigate the government, cutting through red tape, getting answers to questions, and challenging the bureaucracy.

It is our job to help you, whether you are a Republican or Democrat. It’s our job even if you aren’t registered to vote.

And we’ve helped dozens, if not hundreds, of people since we took office 11 months ago.  But I’d like to share three stories that embody not only what we have done, but we have ability to do.

Several weeks ago, a woman reached out to my office.  She told us that her father was in prison, and had recently been diagnosed with end-stage cancer.  In fact, the prison had just called her to encourage her to visit to say her goodbyes.  But when she tried to schedule the visit, she was refused.  Why?  She had recently been arrested for shoplifting and anyone with a pending charge cannot visit a prison.  She fully admitted having committed the crime and was prepared to accept the consequences.  But no one should be refused a final visit to their father because of a shoplifting charge.  Our office intervened directly with the relevant state agencies, and several days later she was by his bedside.

Several days ago, in responding to a Facebook post I made on the Opioid crisis, a veteran told me that he had turned to alcohol to self-medicate after the VA medical system had failed him.  I’m being generous – his message to me actually said that politicians like me made him “sick.”   He had me at “veteran.”  I reached out to him personally to get the details, and encouraged him to use the constituent service resources in Congressman Bill Posey’s office to navigate that system.  I reached out to Congressman Posey’s office to let them know he would be coming and to ask them to give him the “veteran’s”-level service he deserved, and he was in their office the next day.  I know they are taking good care of him.

Right after the recent heavy rains, another constituent called.  She was gripped with fear watching young elementary school-aged children walk to school in the middle of the street, with cars whipping around them, due to sidewalk flooding.  This woman had called multiple city and county departments without avail and decided to call my office.  We got on it immediately, reaching out to the City Manager, and within hours, police crews were escorting children and debris cleanup in those areas had taken priority.

These three cases represent only a small sampling of what we do each day to help constituents, but the three cases show how we can help with state, federal, and local issues.  Helping you with these problems is our job, and it is our privilege to be able to do so.

So how can you get us involved if you need help?  The best way to get help is to call my office.  Every call is answered by one of my staff during regular business hours (and if it happens to go to voicemail, they call back quickly.).  Even better, don’t hesitate to just come in during regular business hours – someone will be there.   E-mail is slightly less effective – I receive hundreds each day.  And absolutely do not rely on social media – it is a great tool to communicate, but there’s no guarantee I will even see your comment, let alone be able to respond to it.

It is an honor to serve you.

If you want more frequent updates from my office, please “like” or “follow” me on my personal Facebook and Twitter profiles.  Please go to Facebook.com/VoteRandyFine or Twitter.com/VoteRandyFine to sign up to receive those updates as they are published.   We often update multiple times each day.

Thank you for trusting me to represent you in Tallahassee,
State Representative
Randy Fine
Randy Fine is the State Representative from District 53, which is comprised of the southern portion of Brevard County and includes the entirety of Palm Bay, Malabar, and Grant-Valkaria, and portions of Melbourne, West Melbourne, and unincorporated Brevard.

Representative Fine is a third-generation Floridian, is married to his wife Wendy, and together they have two boys, Jacob (9) and David (5).

A lifelong entrepreneur, Randy started his first business while in college and has started and built multiple businesses in retail, technology, and hospitality over his 20+ year career.
 
Randy is the Cubmaster of Cub Scout Pack 391 and is an active Junior Achievement volunteer instructor.

In the legislature, he is the Chairman of the Brevard County Delegation and the Vice Chairman of the Careers & Competition Subcommittee, and serves on the Commerce Committee, Tourism & Gaming Control Subcommittee, Transportation & Tourism Appropriations Subcommittee, Joint Legislative Auditing Committee and Natural Resources & Public Lands Subcommittee.

He received his undergraduate degree in government, magna cum laude, from Harvard College, and his MBA, with high distinction, from Harvard Business School, where he was the youngest graduate in decades and was named a Baker Scholar, the school's highest academic honor.  While at Harvard Business School, he also served as a Teaching Fellow in Economics.