 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Unsigned fliers besmirch mayor's rival
By AMY WIMMER, Times Staff Writer ST. PETE BEACH -- Steve Gordon, who is trying to oust Ward Friszolowski in the race for mayor, was sued more than two dozen times in the 1980s in disputes related to his work as a developer in Pinellas and Pasco counties. Gordon still owes money to some plaintiffs he was ordered to pay 10 years ago. That news comes as no surprise to Friszolowski's campaign supporters, who during the past couple of weeks have been circulating selected pages from those lawsuits to St. Pete Beach voters. "Enclosed is a long list of civil court records indicating that this individual cannot be trusted to handle finances and other money matters," states an unsigned flier. "Who would want such an individual entrusted to handle the St. Pete Beach . . . budget?" Gordon contends that the lawsuits, which range from subcontractors suing for payment to loan defaults, came with the business of building homes. He worked with four development companies in the 1980s and built 450 homes, amounting to $33-million in new residential construction. "Any time you do that much business, you are going to have some claims that come up," Gordon said. He still owes more than $100,000 to plaintiffs from past judgments. Gordon said he resisted filing bankruptcy because he wants to pay the debt. He has property on the market right now and will use part of that money to pay the judgment, Gordon said. In another matter, the Anchor Savings Bank foreclosed on one of Gordon's projects, a 40-house subdivision in the Lakewood section of St. Petersburg, and the project was completed by Paul Skipper, the St. Pete Beach developer and Friszolowski supporter who is building the new City Hall. "It was a big mess to straighten it out," Skipper said of the subdivision. Skipper's father-in-law was chairman of the board and president of the Anchor bank. Gordon has been among the toughest critics of Skipper's construction of City Hall. Word of Gordon's past legal troubles was mailed anonymously to several community leaders. Several of Friszolowski's supporters have spread the word and even stretched the truth, saying Gordon was accused of "criminal fraud." A Times review of St. Pete Beach candidates' backgrounds found that Gordon has never been accused of a crime. Friszolowski has not mentioned Gordon's background in his campaign literature or public appearances and says he is trying to stay away from the issue, but Gordon said the mayor is letting people close to him make the accusations for him. Gordon says he plans to ask his attorney to draft a letter to some of Friszolowski's supporters, directing them to stop accusing Gordon of a criminal past he doesn't have. Skipper was among the community leaders who received word of Gordon's past troubles in the mail. "Somebody mailed all that stuff out, and I got a set of them," Skipper said. "I know a lot of people that got them. If he was just an ordinary candidate and responsible person, we wouldn't have anything to say about him whatsoever and would just let the voters make their decisions." All the information -- and misinformation -- being circulated around the city is frustrating some voters who are not sure whom to support. Cleo Robertson, a Vina del Mar resident, called the Times Tuesday morning asking whether the rumors of Gordon's criminal record were true. "I don't know who to vote for, so I'm trying to get to the bottom of it," she said.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times South Pinellas desks |
