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BILL COATSIt's that time of year again: the race for Lutz guv'na, when candidates make all sorts of promises they can't keep to help their community.
LUTZ - We are at the threshold, once again, of Lutz's silly season.
Sunday afternoon will bring the kickoff fundraising event for guv'na of Lutz, a lighthearted competition to select the community's mock chief of state.
In later weeks, candidate Allan Himes is planning a "pig-nik" involving a roasted pig. A rival, Sondra Guffey, promises "wild, goofy prizes for goofy games." Joni Cagle, the third candidate, already held a bake sale at the softball fields.
"They're all very, very good candidates," said Eleanor Cecil, vice president of the Lutz Civic Association and chairwoman of the guv'na campaign. "They're fun-loving, and I think they're going to be a very coherent group."
Cagle, 43, a teacher at Hunter's Green Elementary School, is supported by the Lutz Leagueretts softball league, where her two daughters have played, and by Hot Rod's BBQ & Grill, where the daughters have worked.
Guffey, 40, a television and marketing consultant, is a newcomer to Lutz who entered the race for fun and to get to know her new community.
Himes, 43, president of A&H Electrical Services, is supported by the Lutz-Land O'Lakes Woman's Club. Himes also has the support of Boy Scout Troop 12, where he is Scoutmaster.
There's a serious side to guv'na, but the Civic Association is trying to keep it from becoming too serious.
Guv'na was launched 13 years ago to help pay for portable toilets at Lutz's Independence Day parade. The first competition raised $548. But a hot campaign in 1997 ramped that year's total up to $9,100. Over the last four years, it has averaged almost $17,000.
Such money has helped pay for pavilions at the Lutz Nature Park, a new firetruck at the Lutz Volunteer Fire Department, insurance at the Old Lutz School and playgrounds at Lutz's elementary schools.
But it apparently has made the prospect of running for guv'na daunting. Last year and this year, the field dropped to three candidates, the fewest since 1996.
Cecil blames the big-money precedents.
"I think it's one of the reasons we're having some difficulty getting some candidates this year," she said. "It's just been going up and up, and the competition's getting more fierce.
"This year, we really want to focus more on having a good time, and not having the candidates focused so much on how much they raise," Cecil said.
There are plenty of precedents for a good time, too.
At least four recent candidates competed in costume, including a professional Elvis impersonator in 1999 and the reigning guv'na, "Style Kitten" Brett Montegny, owner of Classy Consignments.
Various guv'na candidates have promoted their campaigns via belly dancers, bare-chested limboing, a professional wrestler and "inner beauty" pageants.
They have promised everything and consistently reneged.
In 1997, Earl Smith became guv'na shortly after promising to build an air-conditioned dome over Lutz. Two years ago, Helen Kinyon, owner of a janitorial supply service, promised to clean every house in Lutz. She backed out moments after winning. In 1998, Charlie Reese promised to spike Lutz's water supply with Viagra; Reese broke all fundraising records, yet finished second to Sandy Ruberg, who broke them more so.
Cagle has joined the tradition. If elected guv'na, she pledges to bring the next Super Bowl to the Lutz Chiefs home field, with the Bucs playing.
"I can lie with the best of 'em," she said.
- Bill Coats can be reached at (813) 269-5309 or coats@sptimes.com
A joint fundraiser for Lutz's three guv'na candidates will be 4-7 p.m. at Hot Rod's BBQ& Grill, at 18430 Livingston Ave. The $10 admission includes a barbecue chicken dinner. For information, call (813) 727-7549.