Incumbent Richard Kriseman again faces Dennis Homol Sr. in City Council District 1.
By JON WILSON
Published October 31, 2003
ST. PETERSBURG - Richard Kriseman is a lawyer who often campaigns in coat and tie, delivering measured remarks that sometimes sound as if he is reading his speech.
His opponent, Dennis Homol Sr., is a shirt-sleeves guy who talks a mile a minute, words flying in all directions.
"My message is that I speak from here," Homol said in a recent interview, thumping his chest with a clenched fist.
Voters citywide will decide Tuesday which candidate becomes the City Council member from District 1, which is in far west St. Petersburg. The winner will serve a four-year term at an annual salary of $24,758.
The race has offered a sharp contrast in styles and background, presenting voters with a clear choice in that regard.
Kriseman, the incumbent, has been named to a list of 100 rising stars nationally in the Democratic Party. Homol, a maintenance worker at All Children's Hospital, is a founding member of Citizens United for Shared Prosperity, an organization that spun off the 2001 mayoral campaign of Uhuru leader Omali Yeshitela, whom Homol supported.
Homol's three sons help him on the campaign trail. Kriseman has a battle-tested campaign manager in Kevin King. Homol has raised about $650 for the campaign and doesn't ask for donations. Kriseman has raised about $13,000.
A quick glance might suggest that Homol, 40, is the populist candidate, while Kriseman, 41, is the buttoned-down establishment favorite.
But Kriseman has his own grass roots approach.
Playing off his nickname, the candidate has conducted what he calls "Rick Around the Clock," meeting mostly working folks in public places during the wee hours.
A local version of the late Lawton Chiles' walking tours and Sen. Bob Graham's workdays, Kriseman has taken his campaign to such spots as an all-night supermarket and a late-night cafe.
During a recent midnight session at the St. Pete Diner on 34th Street N, Kriseman fielded questions about code enforcement and chasing prostitutes off commercial strips.
"People are shocked to see me, let alone have an opportunity to ask questions," Kriseman said.
The purpose, he said, "is to meet people on the street, or (who are) working. I've worked (late) shifts, and you don't get to talk to a representative or a council person."
Like Homol, Kriseman said he would encourage businesses to pay their employees a living wage. Homol said he is pushing for living-wage law in St. Petersburg.
Kriseman's push to meet people who might not otherwise see him melds with one of his major campaign platforms: accessibility to government. He favors making council meetings available live on the Internet.
First elected in 2001 after being appointed to fill the term of a council member who ran for another office, Kriseman also favors economic development with public-private partnerships and safety enhancements for pedestrians and cyclists.
He considers "aggressive, but fair" code enforcement a quality of life issue, and would make multiple code offenders face criminal charges.
Homol, who works the midnight to 8 a.m. shift at All Children's, is a critic of the current City Council and of Mayor Rick Baker.
Sometimes he seems to be campaigning against Baker as much as he is Kriseman, saying he suspects the mayor of lurking in the background to encourage development on Albert Whitted Airport property.
Once in favor of keeping the airport open, Homol now says he'll vote against it in Tuesday's referendum.
"I'm voting as a citizen, not a council member. As a council member, I'll vote no (to) condos," regardless of what other uses are on the property, he said.
Kriseman said he has not made up his mind on the airport issue, but he is leaning toward voting to keep it open.
This election is the second time Kriseman and Homol have contested the District 1 seat. Kriseman won 75 percent of the vote in 2001.
