Northpinellas: Hopefuls struggle for advantage

Hopefuls struggle for advantage

The four Dunedin commission candidates wrestle with the community's hot topics.

By LEON M. TUCKER, Times Staff Writer

DUNEDIN -- Water rates, the city's policy on commissioners accepting gifts, the city's financial situation and, of course, the Toronto Blue Jays.

All are hot topics in this town and have been heavily debated by the four candidates running for office in Tuesday's election. For some candidates, the leading issues have become padding for their campaign platforms.

But as heated as the campaigning has been, many residents say the election scene in Dunedin hasn't changed.

"This community is fortunate to have four candidates -- any one of whom would be a good commissioner," said Gus Cooper, a longtime Dunedin resident and host of the city's Spotlight Dunedin television program. "But I've been watching elections for a long time in Dunedin and (this year) it's the same old, same old.

"I think (candidates) are inclined to say things that will help them and perhaps they're not as well informed as they should be."

Still, incumbent commissioners Cecil Englebert and Deborah Kynes and challengers Bob Hackworth and Tom Osborne have tried to distinguish themselves from their competitors.

The top two vote-getters among the four candidates will be elected on Tuesday.

Englebert, 75, has the most political experience of the four candidates.

A retired Clearwater businessman, he first was elected commissioner in 1968 and served until 1978, when he won his first term as mayor. He served a second term as mayor, then left office in 1982. He was elected to the commission again in 1999.

"I'm a great guy and I am a progressive commissioner," he said. "I just hope the general public realizes that the knowledge and experience I have has been beneficial enough to have them put me back (in office.)"

Englebert said these are some of the issues he would like to see addressed in his next term: The installation of a sewer system in the Spanish Trails subdivision, the widening of Patricia Avenue and the revitalization of both the Sterling Recreation and the Dunedin Community centers.

"But not all at the same time," he said. "We have to be very careful in spending and that we don't overspend. If we have to cut back here and there then we are going to have to do that."

Kynes, who is seeking her second term, said her campaign strategy is anchored in support from residents with whom she has worked while on the commission.

"I have been so fortunate to have so many people call me this time and say, "You've worked for me on a projection, now I want to work for you," she said. "You look at all these different constituencies I've worked with and it has a very broad base."

During her campaign, Kynes, 51, and a lawyer, has called for quarterly budget reviews to replace the current twice-a-year system and referred both to her involvement over the past 10 years with various community organizations and to her devotion to environmental issues such as the revitalization of Curlew Creek.

"What's great about this job is you keep meeting people," she said. "I have met so many different people because of the things I am involved in and those people have really stepped forward for me."

The city's budgetary issues have been Osborne's key concerns.

An outspoken opponent of the city's relationship with the Toronto Blue Jays and how the city handled contract negotiations with the baseball team, the retired lawyer said he also favors the city getting voter approval in referendums for city projects costing more than $2-million.

"I represent, probably, the most conservative candidate with respect to fiscal responsibility for the future," said Osborne, 78, who spent five years on the commission before being defeated for re-election in 1999. "My opponents are more liberal with respect to expenditures without regard to priorities."

Osborne said there has been an "abdication of fiscal responsibility" on the current commission, and that is in need of repair.

"We're talking about sewers, eliminating septic tanks and (improving) storm water drainage," he said. "All of these have a great influence on the health of this community and should be given priority."

Hackworth, a newcomer to Dunedin politics, said he is aware his newness may have cast him as an underdog in many Dunedin circles. But he is optimistic.

"I know a lot of people may feel it's not my turn, and I always ask, "What makes them more qualified than myself?' " he said. "I have just knocked on 1,000 doors around town and that's what has helped me make up ground and make this a fairly competitive race for me."

Hackworth, 46, a Dunedin High graduate, left town after college in the '80s to pursue a career as a professional athlete (running and bicycling). That led to him starting a sports marketing business. He returned to Dunedin in 1995 to help his father run a Clearwater publishing company. He said his frustration with commission decisions prompted him to run in this year's commission race.

"We need to refocus and re-evaluate what the priorities are out in the community," he said. "We need to let the decisions made by the commission better reflect those (priorities) than they have in the past."