A fast campaign: Four candidates jumped in when Pat Frank said she was stepping down from one of three countywide commission seats.
By MICHAEL VAN SICKLER
Published August 24, 2004
When Commissioner Pat Frank announced in April that she was stepping down from her at-large seat, it didn't leave candidates to succeed her much time to campaign.
By late July, with the Republican primary only a month away, few signs bearing the names Bob Blair, Jim Davison, Deb Oxley or Mark Sharpe could be found amid the clutter from other political races.
"We're late," Blair said. "At this point, I think we're all an unknown quantity."
That's certainly true for Blair and Oxley, who are running for public office for the first time. But Davison and Sharpe have run for office before.
Davison, 49, came in third with 25 percent of the vote in the 2002 GOP primary for the north Hillsborough County Commission seat that Ken Hagan ultimately won.
He said his experience with the county gives him an edge over the other candidates.
During the past 10 years, Davison said, the total revenue the county collects has doubled to $1.4-billion, yet very little of that is spent on transportation. He said he'd make it a top priority to trim wasteful administrative costs to finance more roads. This will make raising impact fees or the sales tax unnecessary, Davison said.
Sharpe, 44, has lost races for the U.S. Congress in 1992, 1994 and 1996. He made much of his political reputation in the 1994 race when, inspired by Newt Gingrich's Contract with America, conservatives swept into Washington. Sharpe came within 5,000 votes of deposing the seemingly invincible Sam Gibbons.
Now running in a local race, Sharpe still has an eye on national issues. He was the only GOP candidate to mention security as one of his main concerns.
"People intend to wreak havoc on our lives," he said. "They're already here, and they're going to come at us hard."
Sharpe said he would seek greater coordination among various agencies to improve security.
That's also how Sharpe would try to cut down on spending. By combining city and county functions, such as the growth management departments, Sharpe said the county could save money while improving services.
Higher taxes aren't necessary if the county could increase its tax base by luring high-tech companies, he said.
Blair, 57, lists youth outreach as his top priority.
"From a social standpoint, youth is the biggest asset," he said.
He said he would try to give faith-based groups a chance to provide some of these services.
He calls himself antitax and says he would bring a "common sense" approach to the job, demanding better response times for fire rescue and better roads in New Tampa.
Oxley, 45, says she can lend an expert eye to the county's budget because of her accounting background.
She said the county for too long has overlooked transportation needs, and that more money needs to be devoted to road construction. She said higher taxes aren't the way to pay for more roads, just better money management and innovative ideas.
The winner of the Aug. 31 primary will face Democrat Denise Layne and Joe Redner, who has no party affiliation, in the Nov. 2 general election.
REPUBLICANS
BOB BLAIR, 57, was born in Little Falls, Minn., and moved to Florida with his parents when he was 9. He attended the University of South Florida in the late 1960s, but did not graduate. For 25 years he has been president of Professional Business Printing. He attends Idlewild Baptist Church. He is married and has five children. ASSETS: home. LIABILITIES: mortgage . INCOME: printing business . E-MAIL: bob.blair@verizon.net
JIM DAVISON, 49, was born in Harrisburg, Pa. He attended Notre Dame University and graduated from the University of Scranton and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He moved to Hunter's Green in New Tampa in 1993. He is an osteopathic physician and emergency room director at South Bay Hospital in Sun City Center. Davison is married and has four children. ASSETS: real estate, checking and savings accounts . LIABILITIES: student loans, car loans, mortgages. INCOME: salary. E-MAIL: davisonjdiaaj@aol.com WEB SITE: www.vote4drjimdavison.com
DEB OXLEY, 45, was born in Mount Pleasant, Mich. She graduated from Northwood University in Midland, Mich., with a bachelor's degree in business administration. She got an MBA from the University of Tampa in 1988. To run for office, Oxley has taken six weeks of unpaid leave from her job as director of international executive compensation for Danka Business Systems in St. Petersburg. She attends Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. Oxley lives in Harbour Island with her husband and 8-year-old daughter. ASSETS: home. LIABILITIES: mortgage. INCOME: salary. E-MAIL: doxley01@tampabay.rr.com WEB SITE: www.deboxley.com
MARK SHARPE, 44, was born at MacDill Air Force Base. Sharpe served as a naval intelligence officer between 1984 and 1991. He's now in the Naval Reserve, where he's an analyst on weapons of mass destruction. Sharpe graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor's degree in multinational business in 1983 and received a master's in strategic studies from the University of South Florida in 1991. He ran for Congress three times in the 1990s, losing twice to Sam Gibbons and once to Jim Davis. He's a development officer for the Cambridge School, a private K-12 school. He lives with his wife, Stephanie, in Gray Gables. He has three children. ASSETS: home, mutual funds, credit union account, retirement account . LIABILITIES: mortgage. INCOME: salary, consulting fees, reserve salary. E-MAIL: votesharpe04@tampabay.rr.com
THE JOB
Commissioners approve a $2.9-billion budget, run the Environmental Protection Commission, approve local ordinances and decide zoning issues. The District 7 seat is elected countywide; the winner will serve a two-year term. The commissioner job pays a projected $84,213.
