Barley swears oath authentic, ending lawsuit

Agriculture candidate Mary Barley says in a deposition she signed a qualifying oath.

By CRAIG PITTMAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 28, 2002

A Lake City firefighter who sued to have Mary Barley tossed out of the race for state agriculture commissioner said Tuesday he will drop the suit.

Manly Bolin said he will no longer challenge the environmental activist's right to be on the Democratic ballot Sept. 10 because Barley testified in a deposition that she did indeed sign all the documents qualifying her as a candidate.

"As far as I'm concerned, if she swore under oath she signed it, then that's good enough for me," said Bolin, an official of the professional firefighters union.

However, he would not comment on whether he believes Barley told the truth.

He denied the suit was instigated by the incumbent, Republican Charlie Bronson, even though his union has endorsed Bronson for re-election.

Bolin's attorney, Bill Bryant Jr., said he already has drawn up the motion to dismiss the suit against Barley and it will be heard by a judge Friday.

Barley, 56, was a lifelong Republican who switched parties and jumped into the race at the last minute last month. Best known for her advocacy of Everglades causes, which led Time magazine to declare her a "Hero for the Planet," the Islamorada resident has not run for office before.

Her longtime public relations consultant, Joe Garcia, delivered her qualifying papers to the state Division of Elections in Tallahassee on July 26. Among the papers was an oath that all candidates must sign swearing they are Florida citizens, qualified to run, and will support the U.S. and Florida constitutions.

The oath filed with Barley's qualification papers is signed "Mary L. Barley." Her notarized financial disclosure report is signed "M.L. Barley," as are documents she signed earlier. A handwriting expert hired by Bolin said the signatures were not made by the same person.

But in her deposition, taken in Miami, Barley said she did indeed sign the oath, although it carries Garcia's ZIP code, not hers.

"They asked me and I said yes, I did sign it," Barley said. She said she signed the documents in Florida City while leaning through Garcia's car window on July 25.

The lawsuit against Barley has generated lots of news coverage. She said she did not think it would hurt her bid for the commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, a post also being sought by Democratic candidates Andrew "Dr. Andy" Michaud and David Nelson.

"I would think that people would understand where this is all coming from," Barley said. "It may have even helped me."

Bryant said he is dropping the case at his client's request, despite the handwriting expert's opinion. He said they will not pursue any sort of perjury complaint.

"Perjury is a criminal matter," Bryant said. "That is for someone else to decide."

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