Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Some members of the party are calling for the chairman to step down in the wake of the May 15 incident.
By ALEX LEARY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 21, 2002
It began innocuously enough with the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence.
The treasurer then reported a healthy $4,898 in the bank and a ceramic donkey was presented to Wilma Anderson, the former supervisor of elections.
But as easily as it began, the local Democratic Executive Committee meeting turned into a shouting match that spilled into the parking lot of the Beverly Hills Community Center.
There, according to some accounts, chairman Joe Cino called former chairman Mike Gudis "Jew boy" and challenged him to fight.
No punches were thrown, but Cino is feeling the backlash this week. Some Democrats are calling for him to step down.
"We're the party of Kennedy and Johnson. We don't tolerate that sort of thing," said Ruth Anderson, president of the Sugarmill Woods Democratic Club.
"He should have called Gudis immediately and apologized. If he had done that, he might have saved himself."
Cino, who claims it was Gudis who started the near fight after the May 15 meeting by threatening to "cold-cock" him, does not intend to budge.
On Thursday, Cino said he could not recall using the offensive term. He conceded, however, that "in between the talking and the yelling, there could have been name calling. If I offended someone, I apologize."
Gudis said Cino did call him "Jew boy" during the heated exchange outside.
The minutes from the May 15 meeting state that Cino "repeatedly addressed Gudis as a p---- and once as a Jew boy" during the parking lot argument.
The minutes continue: "It was the observation of the many bystanders that if the vice chair, who is Jewish, was in earshot, the chair would be celibate for many moons."
That was a reference to Cino's wife, Cindy, the vice chairwoman of the committee. Secretary Mary "Scap" Gregory said the minutes were a spoof thought up in a Homosassa bar after the meeting.
The confrontation was triggered by questions posed to Alex Ilnyckyj, a candidate for the state House of Representatives District 43 seat.
A longtime Republican, Ilnyckyj announced earlier this year that he was switching parties to join the field of candidates, which includes former Sheriff Charles Dean, who is a Republican.
Gudis, who like Ilnyckyj is a former Crystal River City Council member, said he considered running for that same House seat, which is being vacated by Nancy Argenziano. He ultimately decided he would rather seek a place on the County Commission.
After a short stump speech, Ilnyckyj took questions from the audience, the meeting minutes showed. The first came from Pat Ortolano, a staffer in U.S. Rep. Karen Thurman's local office. She questioned why Ilnyckyj had become a Democrat.
Gudis then spoke up, questioning Ilnyckyj's stand on the environment, the minutes showed. He noted that as a City Council member, Ilnyckyj had opposed running sewer lines along U.S. 19. Ilnyckyj responded that he did so because he did not want taxpayers funding commercial enterprises.
Cino later said that, by that time in the meeting, he was getting annoyed with the line of questions. A former Republican himself, he said he can understand that some people may question Ilnyckyj's loyalty.
But, he said, Gudis had gone too far by rehashing city politics. "He's eager to make problems," Cino said during an interview Thursday.
Shortly thereafter, Cino adjourned the meeting, setting off the argument that ended in the parking lot.
Gudis said his questions of Ilnyckyj were not meant to be inflammatory, that he was only trying to understand Ilnyckyj better. But he added, "It's very interesting that he just switched parties so abruptly. It seems very opportunistic as far as I'm concerned."
-- Staff writer Alex Leary can be reached at (352) 564-3623 or leary@sptimes.com.