Former Orange County Mayor Theresa Jacobs

Posted on by Thor

Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse Nightclub Massacre on June 12, 2016. It contains sensitive and difficult to read content. Post written with narrator’s consent.  

Former Orange County Mayor Theresa Jacobs knew nothing of the Pulse Nightclub before June 12, 2016. She had driven past many times, but didn’t know it was a nightclub.

The events that unfolded in the 24 your after the mass shooting that took the lives of 49 Orlando citizens. The morning of the shooting her primary thought was, “This can not be happening.” Her husband woke her up. There was a sense of urgency. The next moment she was on the phone with a sheriff’s deputy.  It might have been abut 5AM. Her next thoughts were how quickly can I get out the door and what do we need to do. There is some comfort in being able to do something.

It was so unbelievable that something that horrible could happen. She remember when the numbers jumped from 20 to close to 50.

Parking was a nightmare as she and an officer looked for the command center. Walking down the street she saw a bloody tennis shoe. Her heart sank. The intellectual part of her shut down any feelings and she got to work. The Orange County safety director was on site. He is also an emergency room physician at Orlando Regional Medical Center. He wasn’t on duty the night of the shooting but he was with her on the ground.  Initially one of the concerns was, are there still people inside who might have a pulse and can still be rescued.  The building was not secure, there was talk of bombs. Her primary job was to inform the public. There was an unfolding trauma throughout the community and throughout the nation.

The next step in the process was to try and connect family members with survivors. They estimated it might take 5 to 7 days to go through the autopsies. Family members did not know for certain the status of their loved ones. One survivor was in the hospital in a coma. He did not have ID on him. Over the next two days they tried to determine who he was and how to contact his family.

She walked out to brief the media with Chief Mina. There were so many cameras. People were sitting on the street. When Mina announced the numbers people couldn’t believe it. Someone shouted out “15”. They had misheard him assuming it had to be 15 since the numbers prior had been 20. No one could comprehend the number.

onePULSE Foundation Town Hall Forum – Changing Hate…A Conversation

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The onePULSE Foundation Town Hall Forum – Changing Hate…A Conversation, was held at the Orlando Rep (1001 East Princeton Street Orlando FL). The set was for a production of Elf.

Hate crimes in our nation’s 10 largest cities increased by 12% in 2017 the highest level in more than a decade. This Town Hall Forum brought national key influencers to Orlando to discuss how they overcame a hateful belief system, are addressing hateful messages and reaching others to dispel the belief that hate is learned.

I sketched the Morgan Stanley banker who introduced the evening at the podium. Barbara Poma the Pulse night club owner and founder of the one Pulse Foundation also introduced the evening. The panel was moderated by

Sally Kohn, author of The Opposite Of Hate: A Field Guide to Repairing Our Humanity she is also a  CNN political commentator and columnist.

Panelist

Daryl Davis, author of Klan-destine Relationships: A Black Man’s Odyssey in the Ku Klux Klan spoke about his childhood growing up in Europe where white and black are not an issue. His family returned to America and he joined the boy scouts. His troupe was invited to walk in a parade. He gladly put on his uniform and joined his fellow scouts on the parade. However during the course of the parade several small boys and adults began to throw small rocks. He thought, “They must not like boy scouts.” It wasn’t until troupe leaders shielded him that he realized that the rocks were only meant for him. At home his parents had to patch his wounds and he asked why people had a problem with him. He had never heard of racism. He couldn’t understand how someone could hate him if they didn’t know him.

Thus began a life long mission to speak with members of the KKK who hated him. Many of these conversations resulted in friendships. Daryl collects KKK memorabilia from people he has talked to who gave up their life of hate. Over 200 Klansman have left the KKK after these conversations with Daryl.

Dylan Marron is a blogger and host of Conversations with People Who Hate Me. He experienced a rush of euphoria as his online persona took flight. However this success also resulted in hate directed towards him online. He become obsessed with finding out who these people were who hated him. He would look up their contact information on social media and call them. These recorded conversations are what he shares online now. He and Daryl bot agreed that giving someone the chance to express their opinions often resulted in them being willing to hear their opinion. Conversation is about acknowledging someones self worth. In the course of each conversation there is usually a moment when someone has a dog rush in the room, of they step on a Lego. The moment they laugh together gives him a glowing moment of hope. All the differences of opinion melt away.

Sally asked everyone in the audience to think of three issues that they hold dear, be it abortion, gun control etc. Then she asked us all how many of us had researched that issue with government reports, research, or read multiple books on the issue. No one raised a hand. This is how people who have an opposite opinion also came to their conclusions. They only read enough to justify how they feel.

At the end of the evening, Theresa Jacobs who is stepping down as Orange County’s Mayor took to the podium. With one day left in office she seemed to want to clear the slate. She spoke of her childhood fear of black people but in school she befriended a black girl who had given her a pencil. Because she sat at the lunch table with this girl, she was ostracized by white students. She mentioned a gay boy who she dated and then a black boy she performed a trapeze act with. She expressed her support for transvestites but I think she meant to say transgender. This was the wrong forum to make that slip.  It was a strange litany and I stopped believing her sincerity.

In office she is best known as the woman who did all she could to block gay marriage, saying. “marriage should be reserved for a man and a woman.” She confided that this is the issue that conflicted with her Catholic beliefs. At a wedding for her son, she realized how her family was so important to her and how the vows in any wedding mean so much for her families happiness. She broke down and cried and realized she had been wrong. Everyone should have the right to get married and share that happiness.

Though every panelist agreed that we are living in dark times and that hate speech is rampant, they choose to battle the ignorance and hate one conversation at a time. If you disagree with someone try and avoid expressing your disdain, instead stop and listen and share your thoughts. This Thanksgiving if you have a relative who supports today’s atmosphere of intolerance and hate, try talking to them and plant a seed of light in the darkness. Change doesn’t happen quickly. But some people can change.

Pulse 2 Year Memorial

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June 12, 2018 marked 2 years since the massacre of 49 people at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. Barbara Poma the owner of the club held a vigil at the nightclub to honor those lost. She founded Pulse for her brother who was gay and died from Aids. The name of the club was meant to keep his pulse alive. Now that Pulse is looking to keep 49 other peoples memories alive as well. An interim memorial was installed on the site featuring landscaping and design from Dix Hite Partners. A large photo mosaic mural was wrapped around the the building. The mural incorporates hundreds of photos pulled from the Orange County History Center‘s collection.

Pam Schwartz and I went to the memorial on June 12, 2018 just before sunset for the memorial and celebration of life. I decided to stop and sketch the iconic Pulse sign since I figured it might be difficult to get a view of the stage. Pam ended up sitting close to the stage since she is involved with the Pulse memorial task force. The base of the sign had been encased in a solid plastic case which lit up as it grew dark. People could sign the plastic with whiteboard markers that were supplied. These messages could be periodically erases so new messages could be added. A father stood his small daughter on his shoulders so she could sign high up.

Several of the Sisters of  Perpetual Indulgence stood on the far side of the sign. They wore black nun habits and one wore a rainbow veil held in place by Mickey Mouse ears. The angels were out in force although I doubt all 49 were there with their PVC and bed sheet fabric wings. Jen Vargas was an angel and she sat in her electric wheel chair wearing the large wings. She has been through surgery and seeing an angel in a wheel chair seemed appropriate for the occasion. A teenage daughter hugged her mom in front of me. Barbara Poma spoke, but her voice was so soft I couldn’t catch a word.

Politicians took to the stage. Each had a set script which was interpreted in Spanish on a teleprompter so Spanish speaking members of the audience could understand what was being conveyed. County Mayor Theresa Jacobs went off script and the planned interpretation had to stop. County Commissioner Patty Sheehan was in the crowd early on,  but she disappeared before all the political speeches. One man had sound muffling ear phones on and he shook and hugged his dog. I thought he might be crying, but I think he just isn’t used to being out in public.

Blue and her dancers performed on the stage which unfortunately I couldn’t see since the crowd was so thick. A chorus sang a bilingual Somewhere Over the Rainbow medley that incorporated songs from Wicked. The song Changed for the Better was included and it is a song I have found inspiring since the day I first saw the show. A rainbow formed across the club and cell phones rose in tribute to record the moment.