Deven Carty is a local real estate agent and an aspiring public servant. Although the primary for the District 56 state House seat isn't set until September 2004, Carty filed to run Oct. 21.
By ERNEST HOOPER
Published May 2, 2003
Over a garden burger and chicken asiago pasta at Bennigan's, we talked about the environment, the Dixie Chicks and Michael J. Fox's character on the sitcom Family Ties.
Pull up a chair and join us.
ERNEST: On the corner of Brandon Boulevard and Parsons, you have your real estate ad on a bench with your picture on it. How do you feel about the fact that more than 80,000 cars are seeing your face every day?
DEVEN: I'm fine with it, but I don't think they get to see it that much because there's usually somebody on (the bench). There's one guy who lives on it and when he's not there he keeps a box of stuff under it.
Why are so many real estate agents putting their pictures in ads?
In real estate, a lot of it is just making people feel comfortable with you and getting to know you.
How long have you been in real estate?
I've been in real estate for a year-and-a-half. Prior to that, I went to school to be a paralegal. I loved paralegal school and I liked the work, but toward the end I started seeing some deals and stuff going on. Forget it. I called my mom - you have to feel bad for my poor mom because she's thinking she's going to have a lawyer in the house - and I said, "You know what, I would rather sling hamburgers at McDonald's and respect myself than become like them." And I'm a vegetarian.
Why do you want to be a public servant?
I've been interested in politics since I was about 11, which is funny because I was Alex Keaton (from the television show Family Ties) growing up in my house. I really was. Oh my gosh. I'm this Florida kid and I have parents that are from Massachusetts. The shrine of Kennedy is in my living room, and I have pictures of Ronald Reagan, Nixon, Bush Sr. in my living room.
You're outgoing, well-spoken. Were you really a geek in high school?
Nowadays, at Brandon High School, ROTC kids are the coolest, smartest, most awesome wonderful kids. But when I was in school, they used to tease and say the only reason the ROTC has its own hall is because none of the other kids want to catch what they have. Incidentally, that's when I became a lifetime member of the NRA.
You really were Alex P. Keaton.
I've always been this conservative Republican. I started my first job when I was 14. By the time I was 15, I was assistant manager of a shoe store. I used to wear business suits to high school and carry a briefcase.
You're eating a garden burger. How did you end up being a vegan?
My girlfriend was totally opposite as you could get. She was this liberal, modern-day hippie type. The only time she wore shoes was to school because she had to. She was a big-time vegetarian, had been one for years and big into animal rights. I was over at her house one day and I was making this ham sandwich and I went to sit down on the couch and she says, "There's this film I want you to watch." So she puts in this film on how they get veal and I never ate that sandwich.
You're president of the state chapter of the Green Elephants Society, the largest Republican-based environmentalist group. I thought Republican environmentalist was an oxymoron.
I think that's a stereotype. We all care about the environment, we go about it in different ways. While somebody is sitting around hugging the tree, we're out there with trash bags cleaning up neighborhoods. We understand and respect the environment, but we also respect people who live within the environment. I think you can coincide. A great example of this is ducks. If you have a subdivision and they put in a pond or a lake, there's going to be ducks there. Where do they come from? I don't know, but you see people out there teaching their kids about nature feeding the ducks. I think that's the fundamental difference between a Republican environmentalist and a liberal environmentalist. One of us harps on the problem, the other one looks toward the solution.
Are you a shopaholic?
I'm too poor. I'm really low maintenance. My favorite store is Wal-Mart. Since I've filed, and maybe because of the bench, too, people are starting to recognize me. So now I have to do my hair and do my makeup everywhere I go. I live in Bloomingdale and there's a Wal-Mart right there on Bell Shoals. So I figure one day, Wal-Mart is my safe zone, I don't care. So I have the knot on top of my head, no makeup and I go running into Wal-Mart. And the manager of Wal-Mart happens to be one of my friends who knows me from the Republican Club. And he says, "Hey Deven, let me introduce you to some of my employees." I said, "You don't understand. Wal-Mart is my safe haven. This is the one place I don't have to do my makeup, my hair. Please do not take that from me. If you see me in Wal-Mart, just look away."
Do you think it's wrong to speak out against the war? Or should I say, are the Dixie Chicks getting their just reward for speaking out against the president?
My view on Susan Sarandon, the Dixie Chicks, is this: Thank God that many men and women die for their right to be able to be idiots. And thank God that many men and women have died for the right for us to say to them, "You're an idiot." I feel like you do not go to another country and bad mouth my president or my country.
I'm extremely proud of my president. I'm proud of my vice president. I want to be Condoleezza Rice when I grow up. I do.
You worked on Arlene Waldron's unsuccessful bid to unseat county Commissioner Ronda Storms. What did you learn from that experience?
Grass roots. I think that's the key. I'm not independently wealthy by any means and I don't think that's what wins the campaign. I don't think the person who has the most money wins. It's door knocking, it's being out there. I think people can tell if you're a politician or a public servant.
It's been said new legislators have to get in line with party leaders and aren't independent thinkers. Do you think you'll have a degree of independence if you get elected?
I'm running as a statesman, not a politician. I don't want to advance my political career, I want to advance Florida. I also think being a Christian and my relationship with God, my relationship with my husband, my family and friends, is going to keep me grounded.
How did you and your husband meet?
Through a mutual friend and it was so funny. She liked him, but she already had a boyfriend. At that time, I wasn't looking for a serious relationship. I was just worried about school and things like that, whereas before, that (a serious relationship) was all I concentrated on. With him, I didn't do any pretentiousness. "Hey, hope we can be friends." He was at that same point in his life so he didn't put on any airs. We weren't trying to impress each other and then we became impressed. The first thing I ever asked him was, "Are you a Democrat or a Republican?"
And he's a Republican?
Oh we're married, so yeah (laughs).
A postscript from Ernest
Carty, 30, says her platform will be three-pronged: juvenile crime, veterans rights and urban revitalization. She is searching for sponsors to help with a June 28 communitywide picnic at Paul Saunders Park in Brandon that will honor law enforcement, fire and rescue and active and retired military. One of her biggest accomplishments to date? Getting her parents to register as Republicans. Not even Alex Keaton could have done that.
- Ernest Hooper also writes a column for the Tampa & State section of the St. Petersburg Times. Lunch With Ernest is edited for brevity and clarity. To suggest lunch partners, call Ernest at 226-3406 or e-mail hooper@sptimes.com
