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A Times Editorial
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 24, 2002
Democrat Lee Cannon hinted at a run for the state Senate two years ago, the very evening he lost his Pasco sheriff's seat to an unknown Republican backed heavily by Rep. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey.
Cannon already is campaigning against Fasano, even though he faces a Sept. 10 Democratic primary for the newly drawn Senate 11 District, stretching from Dunedin in Pinellas County to the Citrus-Levy county line.
Cannon's opponent is Joseph "Steve" Mattingly, a retiree from Kentucky living in the northern tier of Pasco County. Mattingly is an active volunteer in the Spring Hill community. He advocates providing health care coverage and prescription drug benefits to the working poor who do not qualify for Medicaid by instituting a new 10-cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes. He also believes higher liquor taxes can finance new school construction.
Mattingly's campaign is sincere, but cloaked in naivete. His platform veers from legislative goals into his own pet peeves.
Cannon is the better candidate. His notable accomplishments as Pasco sheriff include pro-active attempts at fighting crime via an expanded presence of officers in public schools and community-oriented policing. He organized community leaders to turn the dormant Safety Town project into a thriving educational tool for children, but other consensus-building efforts weren't as successful. Still, banging heads with county commissioners annually over the size of his budget should leave him prepared for the often-ticklish legislative negotiations in Tallahassee.
His campaign is not without its problems. He offered erroneous criticism of Fasano's legislative salary and provided contradictory or vague answers on other issues. Cannon said he does not favor new taxes, but does support a review of the sales tax exemptions. That reverses his public stand as sheriff, when he sought higher taxes, including a new sales tax, for increased public safety.
His imprecise statements about growth management, advocating "in-depth research and analysis to ensure that contemporary needs of the community and the state are met," are ill-advised. Not until pressed does he acknowledge that the Department of Community Affairs' role should not be weakened and that he would consider sponsoring legislation mandating public safety as a required element for local land-use plans.
The Times recommends Lee Cannon in the Sept. 10 Democratic primary.
The Times offers candidates not recommended by its Editorial Board an opportunity to reply. Candidates should send in their replies no later than 5 p.m. Tuesday to: Philip Gailey, editor of editorials, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. By e-mail: letters@sptimes.com (no attachments, please). By fax: (727) 893-8675; Replies are limited to 250 words.