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For Pinellas County Commission

Four seats on the seven-member Pinellas County Commission will be filled in the Nov. 2 general election. For three of those seats, the incumbent commissioner seeks re-election and is opposed by a relative unknown. In the fourth race, two men who have not served in elective office are vying to replace longtime Commissioner Barbara Sheen Todd, who chose not to run again.

The Times editorial board has studied the issues, the candidates and their backgrounds and makes these recommendations.

Ronnie Duncan of Tarpon Springs beat out three other candidates in the Aug. 31 Republican primary for the opportunity to run in the Nov. 2 general election for the Pinellas County Commission seat now held by Barbara Sheen Todd. Duncan is opposed by Democrat Norm Roche of Clearwater.

The District 1 commissioner is elected countywide, but must live in District 1, which stretches from northeast Pinellas south through portions of Clearwater, Pinellas Park, Seminole and St. Petersburg.

Both Duncan, 47, and Roche, 42, are running for the first time. Both are articulate, well-informed candidates. Duncan, an Atlanta native, holds a master's degree in real estate and urban planning from the University of Georgia. He founded and operates a commercial real estate brokerage and development firm with offices in several Florida cities and Atlanta. Roche graduated from Pinellas Park High School and has worked for an air freight company, a cable television company and, for the past 10 years, Pinellas County government. He recently resigned his job as a Utilities Department public relations specialist to run for office.

Roche is highly critical of county government. He talks about the "good ol' boys and gals" running county government, about "political arrogance," and about the need to better balance the County Commission between Democrats (the commission currently has two) and Republicans. Roche speaks against county decisions on water and development projects. He claims proposed county charter changes that will appear on the Nov. 2 ballot are a play for power by the county administrator. He is upset that he had to resign his job to run for the commission.

Fortunately, the other candidate in this race has a more balanced perspective on county government and also possesses an extensive record of leadership in community activities - something noticeably absent from Roche's resume.

Duncan serves on the governing board of the 16-county Southwest Florida Water Management District, where he has developed valuable knowledge on the district's thorny water issues. He also sits on the Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board, and he chaired the Health Care Services Task Force of the Pinellas Assembly and the county's Indigent Care Task Force. Duncan and his wife, Ann Wilkins Duncan, are involved workers and contributors to many community causes.

Duncan is neither a cheerleader for nor a critic of county government, but instead takes an analytical approach to sizing up the county. His primary concern is that the County Commission seems to lack a vision for the county's future and a plan for addressing some of its toughest problems. If elected, he said he will push for development of a strategic plan for the county's next 25 to 50 years. He says elected officials in both the county and Pinellas cities are obligated to the public to stop feuding and start cooperating on issues such as traffic signalization, annexation and mass transit, and if elected he would work to find common ground on those issues. He believes the county must come up with solutions to the indigent health care crisis, provide more affordable housing, and be more accountable for its financial decisions, including the hiring of outside consultants.

Pinellas County can benefit from Duncan's studied approach to problems, his business experience and his knowledge of issues affecting the entire Tampa Bay region.

We recommend a vote for Ronnie Duncan for Pinellas County Commission District 1.

When other members of the County Commission are carefully talking around a controversial issue, Bob Stewart is the commissioner who will say what the others won't.

Stewart, 66, a former St. Petersburg City Council member, has served three terms on the County Commission and is seeking a fourth. He is opposed by Democrat Maria Scruggs-Weston, 46, who never has held elective office, though she ran for mayor of St. Petersburg in 2001. District 3 includes most of St. Petersburg, but the commission is elected countywide.

Scruggs-Weston, a St. Petersburg native, works as a community partnership coordinator for St. Anthony's Healthcare. With a degree in criminology from Florida State University, she worked as an investigator or agent for several state law enforcement agencies. She has been involved in community groups and activities, including the Boys & Girls Club, the Coalition of African-American Leadership and the Florida Holocaust Museum board.

Stewart was born in Pennsylvania, moved to Pinellas in 1965, and graduated from Rollins College and the University of Florida. Before being elected to the County Commission 10 years ago, he held executive posts with the St. Petersburg Family YMCA, Eckerd College and Citizens & Southern National Bank. His list of involvements in community groups and activities fills three typed pages.

Stewart knows that one of the biggest challenges facing local governments today is how to raise enough money to continue the current level of services. To raise more money for transportation projects, he supports raising the transportation impact fee paid by builders. He also supports more consolidation of government services to save money for other needs. Stewart is deeply involved in efforts to bring more and better jobs to those who need them in Pinellas. He is a part of the County Commission's effort to tackle more social issues, such as indigent health care.

Scruggs-Weston says her goals as a commissioner would be to improve the quality of life for residents and improve the environment for small businesses in Pinellas, but she has few specific plans for accomplishing those goals. In her interview with the Times editorial board, she gave incorrect or vague answers to a number of questions about county affairs, coming across as poorly prepared for this race.

With oversight of a $1.5-billion budget, county commissioners have enormous responsibility. Stewart does his homework. We don't always agree with Stewart's decisions on the commission - he has a way of correctly analyzing a problem but then going along with fellow commissioners voting the other way - but he has the experience to do the job, and he knows the history of Pinellas and its governmental affairs.

The Times recommends a vote for Bob Stewart for District 3.

Voters in Pinellas County Commission District 5, which includes Largo and most of Clearwater, will notice that only incumbent Karen Seel's name appears on the ballot in that race. It is because Seel drew a write-in challenger, whose supporters would have to fill in the name by hand. Voters shouldn't bother, however, because a nearly invisible write-in campaign is no way to provide a real choice.

Besides, Seel is a conscientious, forward-thinking, likable commissioner with a special interest in transportation and recreation issues that are important to all county residents. The Times recommends Seel for another term on the County Commission.

Ken Welch, one of two Democrats on the commission, was elected in 2000 and has become one of the commission's most respected members. Hard-working and down to earth, Welch represents a single-member district encompassing St. Petersburg, but he provides leadership on countywide issues as well. Welch, 40, holds a bachelor's degree in accounting and a master's degree in finance.

His opponent in this race is Sharon Russ, 43, a student at St. Petersburg College who has bounced between the Democrat and Republican parties and briefly joined the Socialist Party in 2000. She has offered few specifics about what she would do if elected, and she did not show up for a scheduled interview with the Times editorial board.

Voters have an excellent alternative in Welch. Commission-watchers don't have to guess where Welch stands, because he invariably states his case clearly, votes accordingly and isn't afraid to tackle difficult tasks. It was Welch who took on the politically risky subject of illegal sale and use of fireworks in the county because he believed residents were being endangered by the widespread flouting of state law. Pinellas now has a fireworks ordinance that provides penalties for vendors caught selling illegal fireworks. Welch also filled the difficult role of vice chairman of the county's workforce development agency, Worknet Pinellas, and labored tirelessly to correct problems with the private contractor providing that program for Pinellas.

Welch considers himself a reformer, with a goal of finding ways to make the county more efficient, more business-like and more visionary. He also has shown an affinity for social issues such as indigent health care, homelessness and affordable housing.

We recommend a vote for Ken Welch for District 7.