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An ex-mayor told him to bow out of the race for Council to save the city money. But he says he won't let his voters down.
By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 10, 2002
PINELLAS PARK -- Wednesday morning after the election, former Mayor Cecil Bradbury visited Ralph Marlow, the candidate facing Bradbury's daughter in a runoff for City Council.
Bradbury suggested that Marlow withdraw from the race as a way of saving taxpayers money. The former mayor told Marlow that funds earmarked for the runoff could be spent better on recreational or youth programs, which the candidate is known to support.
Marlow said he'd consult his supporters and Bradbury left. After thinking about it, Marlow declined to concede to Sandra Bradbury, who almost won Tuesday's election outright with 48 percent of the vote. Although the tax money could be better spent, Marlow said, withdrawing from the race would be unfair to his supporters who donated money they could ill afford to lose.
"I will not concede. I am not a quitter," said Marlow, who finished a distant second with 29 percent of the votes cast. "I've never quit anything. I'm just going to work harder."
The meeting between Bradbury and Marlow was one of several to punctuate the city's election season.
Before Tuesday, Marlow visited with the Bradburys. Marlow says he also visited with Alan Swartz, the third candidate in the race. Marlow said he wanted to get to know the candidates.
"I went to them because I wanted to run a clean campaign and let them know I'm not a dirty guy," Marlow said. "My whole thing was to be professional."
Swartz denied there was such a meeting, saying he saw Marlow only on the campaign trail.
"I don't even know if he knows where my office is," Swartz said.
But while at the Bradburys, the parties reached an agreement based on the supposition that Swartz was the frontrunner:
If the runoff was between Swartz and Sandra Bradbury, Marlow would swing his support to her.
If the runoff was between Swartz and Marlow, then Sandra Bradbury would support Marlow.
Neither side had to make good on the agreement. When the results came in Tuesday, Bradbury and Marlow finished first and second. Swartz came in third with about 23 percent.
As the results came in, Swartz and his supporters went to Joto's Pizza restaurant on Belcher Road where Marlow was holding his election night party.
Swartz agreed to support Marlow in the runoff.
"He's a good man, I think he brings some fresh views to City Council," Swartz said.
Marlow said he and Swartz disagree on some issues, but now he "has the utmost respect for Alan Swartz."
The next morning, Cecil Bradbury decided to broach the idea of having Marlow withdraw.
Bradbury tells the story this way:
He decided to first talk with Ralph Marlow's uncle, Harry Marlow, who helped his nephew with the race and has been a friend of Cecil Bradbury's for many years. The visit with Harry Marlow, said Bradbury, was a way to avoid the appearance that he was strongarming a candidate.
"If Harry says, flat out, 'No way,' I'm not going to mention anything to Ralph," Bradbury said.
Harry Marlow told Bradbury to talk with Ralph. And Bradbury said he felt comfortable with the conversation because Ralph Marlow had approached him before the election.
Bradbury said he asked Marlow to look at the figures: It would be a lot easier for his daughter, Sandra, to go from 48 percent to winning a race than it would for Marlow to go from 29 percent to a little more than 50 percent of the vote. While it could be done, it's unlikely Marlow would win. And that would be a waste of about $23,000. (The Pinellas Park City Clerk's office estimates the runoff will cost between $21,000 and $25,000.)
Bradbury said he told Marlow: "It would be good if you might go to City Council and say, 'Rather than spending $23,000 on an election, you spend $23,000 on a youth program.' "
Bradbury explained his reasoning: "There's a lot of good that could be done for the young people with the $23,000 that's going to be put into an election. . . . I thought he would want to go before Council and say, 'Why don't you spend this on a youth program?' "
He added, "I didn't want to intimidate him. I didn't want to do anything to make him mad. . . . I wasn't going to be demanding or anything like that."
Marlow had a different recollection of at least part of the conversation.
"He never mentioned to me for me to go before the Council," Marlow said.
Later, Marlow said, "Maybe he said he could ask or we could ask, I don't know."
But Marlow was firm on one point. He did not think Bradbury was offering him an inducement to withdraw from the runoff.
"Cecil's concern was the spending of the tax dollars. He said maybe the city could spend that money in a better direction," Marlow said. "His heart was with the taxpayers' dollars."