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Carr

Democrat Jimmy Carr taps an all-American background as he meets voters and seeks to "balance growth with nature."

InvernessNVERNESS - Jimmy Carr said he has gotten better at speaking to groups. His sentences still don't always come out as clearly and to the point as he hopes, he said. But one-on-one, a polished campaigner emerges - and the Democrat and County Commission candidate thinks he's reaching enough people to win the District 1 seat.

As the election nears, he's hitting door after door looking for voters he can persuade to pick him over his opponent, Republican Dennis Damato.

Carr, who is 60, bravely strolls into storefronts and respectfully stands quietly until someone addresses him. He says "Yes sir or ma'am," to open and gets right to the point by saying: "I'm a politician."

As he later says, "Might as well tell the truth. ... All they can do is push you out."

Sometimes a business person reminds him of the "No Soliciting" sign. Sometimes an owner says she doesn't live in Citrus. Sometimes - especially the lawyers - want more than just a handshake and a Jimmy Carr baseball card, which Carr says can be "traded for Mickey Mantle."

"In 25 words or less," a downtown Inverness attorney told him recently, "tell me why I should vote for you."

"Because I balance growth with nature," Carr responds. "And I love Citrus County."

Carr took 44 percent of the vote in the Aug. 31 Democratic primary, the best of the three candidates. His Republican opponent, Dennis Damato, won 33 percent of the vote in a five-candidate race that included the Seat 1 incumbent, Roger Batchelor.

Carr is a self-described Boy Scout, both because of his love of the environment and because he was a good Southern Baptist boy growing up, one who never started smoking because his father told him not to, he said. And he tries to pass on that image to the voters with his All-American baseball cards and handshakes:

He is someone who will clean up the lakes and rivers. He is someone who values environment over growth. He is someone free of ties from the development community. His opponent, however, he reminds people over and over, is a builder who will not give up his job once elected.

Carr grew up in the Tampa Bay area. His father was an electrical engineer. His mother was a stay-at-home mom after a nursing career. Along with a sister, Carr lived in an upper middle class family that had "air conditioning in 1959."

"I wasn't a bad kid," he said. "I minded."

He started working for his father and uncle's business, selling food to independent grocers in 1948. Later, the company would sell to restaurants.

First a salesman, he took over the business at age 29 and moved it to Plant City from St. Petersburg to plant roots in the center of the state and take advantage of the growing Orlando area. At the height of his business, sales grew to $20-million in the mid 1980s and he had about 100 employees. Sysco Corp. wanted to buy Carr out, and he was young, just in his 40s.

Then the economy sank, Carr began losing customers, money became tight and banks called loans in. The business began losing money.

"My father was of the old school," Carr said. "Fall on your sword."

So Carr filed for bankruptcy, sold off his assets in 1992 and was forced to retire from the food business for five years under a court-ordered agreement.

He moved to Crystal River full time. He played golf. He worked as a Cox Lumber Co. salesman, even selling supplies to Damato. He sold advertisements for the Citrus County Chronicle.

A married father of four grown children, Carr became interested in politics after he met former state representative and Crystal River City Council member Helen Spivey. He gave her a donation when she ran for the House of Representatives - Carr's first ever - and saw how close he could get to government.

In 2002, he ran for the State House District 43 seat. He won the Democratic primary and was shocked by his success - success that he still holds dear, even though Republican Charles Dean beat him convincingly in the general election.

Carr had planned to take on Dean again this year when he pulled out of the race, saying it was polluted with too much campaign money. Instead he entered a crowded District 1 County Commission field and beat two Democrats to secure the party nomination.

"This last time, I wasn't as surprised, but being the third guy in had me feeling iffy," Carr said. "Now, I think I have a chance. It appears I'm going against money again."

Damato has raised more campaign money than Carr, but Carr cherishes the underdog role. He said he loves going against a builder. He is third-generation Floridian who grew up camping, fishing and hunting. As a teen, he went through the Order of the Arrow induction in the Boy Scouts, spending two days in the Florida woods in isolation.

Being the good Scout that he is, he said he knows how to treat people with respect and lead by rapport. He said he never loses his cool and knows never to rebuke someone in front of peers.

He learned discipline and resolve from his father, a trait that pushed him to run again despite such a resounding defeat in 2002. His father made him play nine holes of golf every day after school, though he did not want to.

"I tell you what it did," Carr said. "It taught me how to play golf."

- Justin George can be reached at 352 860-7309 or jgeorge@sptimes.com

* Extension of the Suncoast Parkway through Citrus County: Against.

*Increasing impact fees to pay for services caused by growth: For.

* Mandatory garbage collection: For.

* Crystal River's annexation of more than 500 acres along U.S. 19 for development: Against.