Citrus interests wage war on Barley

The environmental activist and Democratic agriculture candidate is labeled a threat to the "growers' survival.''

By CRAIG PITTMAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 30, 2002

Florida's citrus industry has declared war on environmental activist Mary Barley.

Barley is just one of three candidates running in the Democratic primary for commissioner of agriculture and consumer services Sept. 10, hoping to take on Republican incumbent Charles Bronson.

But her candidacy has galvanized the $1.3-billion industry. Two industry groups, who say they aren't working together, have launched a double-barrelled attack on her.

On Thursday, Florida Citrus Mutual notified its 11,500 members that Barley is such an "alarming political threat" that the grower organization's 21 directors had voted unanimously to tap into an emergency fund to fight her and help Bronson.

The letter sent out by the citrus cooperative says the funds "have been placed in reserve for dire emergencies when growers' survival is at risk. This, unfortunately, is such an instance. . . . We can assure you that this candidate is a credible threat to your livelihood and should be taken seriously."

Florida Citrus Mutual president Squire Smith would not say how much is in the emergency fund or what his organization would do to counteract Barley, who has promised to emphasize the consumer protection part of the job more than Bronson does.

So far the organization has conducted extensive public opinion polling on the race. While Smith would not specify the results, he said they showed enough statewide support for Barley's campaign that the growers felt the need to take swift action.

"Her political ideology is inconsistent with that of the needs of Florida citrus," Smith said. According to the letter, that includes concerns about Barley's stands on everything from the citrus canker eradication program to controlling polluted runoff from farms into the state's waterways.

Meanwhile, in what Smith said was an unrelated effort, a group formed by other supporters of the Republican incumbent in the citrus business is trying to persuade Democrats not to vote for Barley because she has given money to Republicans.

The group is sponsoring television advertisements and direct mail fliers that blast Barley, a lifelong Republican, for switching parties last month. The TV ad calls her "barely a Democrat. Really a Republican."

"Millionaire Republican Developer Mary Barley. She's not one of us. She's one of them," the flier says. It depicts pages of computer printouts showing that Barley contributed to the Republican Party and GOP candidates, including $1,000 given to the Bush presidential campaign in 1999.

The ad even flashes shots of former GOP icons Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole, although Barley never donated to them. The ad contends that "while Dole and Gingrich were cutting your Medicare, Mary Barley was bankrolling Republicans so they could give tax breaks to millionaires, like Mary Barley."

Neither the TV ad nor the direct mail flier mention that Barley had also donated to Democratic candidates, including gubernatorial candidate Buddy MacKay, and gave more than $35,000 to the state Democratic Party between 1996 and 1998.

Barley, who has said she changed parties because the GOP no longer represents her values, said she was not surprised at being attacked by agricultural interests.

"I think it just shows you how important this particular department is to them," said Barley, best known for her battles with sugar companies over the Everglades. "They want to own that department."

Stetson University political science professor T. Wayne Bailey said he thought the ads were "a hoot" and added, "Who's ever seen an attack ad on an agriculture commissioner candidate?"

He warned that the effort may boomerang by making voters more interested in learning why Barley is being attacked. The ads are the work of Florida's Working Families Inc., which was incorporated just last week. Two of the company's three directors are in the citrus business, and all three have donated money to Bronson's re-election campaign.

The company's registered agent is Richard E. Coates, who works for a company owned by former state GOP chairman Tom Slade. Coates did not return calls seeking comment.

The largest contributors to Florida's Working Families, according to forms it filed with the Internal Revenue Service, are a pair of companies run by millionaire citrus magnate Ben Hill Griffin III, who also donated $1,000 to the Bush presidential campaign in 1999. Griffin's companies donated a total of $50,000 to bankroll the anti-Barley effort.

The president of Florida's Working Families, Richard Graves, owns a citrus company that has been shipping Indian River fruit since 1915. Graves did not return calls seeking comment but issued a statement saying he is a lifelong Democrat who was concerned that Barley was attempting to hide "her partisan history."

Although citrus growers say they are alarmed by Barley's criticism of the state's citrus canker program, she is not the only Democrat to question the canker program. But the citrus-backed ads do not mention Winter Park veterinarian Andrew "Dr. Andy" Michaud, or the third candidate, Miami teacher David Nelson.

Michaud said he had not been contacted by the anti-Barley group. He said he wished the campaign could focus on issues, not personal attacks.

"It's frustrating," he said.

-- Times staff writer Adam C. Smith and staff researchers Caryn Baird and Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.

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