ST. PETERSBURG - A nuanced, polite campaign rather than a sword's-point clash of issues has characterized the District 8 City Council race.
The classic match pits a City Hall veteran against a newcomer yet to be fully blooded in civic wars.
Jeff Danner, 45, touts a resume featuring service on several city boards and neighborhood organizations. Jamie Mayo, 43, emphasizes her work for charity and her service on the civilian police review committee.
"I would argue that while Jeff may have experience on the development side, there are other things I bring to the table, like critical skills, people skills, communications skills, the ability to get things done. He has an important knowledge base, but that doesn't make the whole pie," said Mayo, a single mother of four who runs a bookkeeping business and an errand-running service.
"I'm as grass roots as they come," she said.
Danner can point to his own grass roots familiarity.
At age 17, he took a job as a construction laborer and stayed in the business. He has been a framer, a carpenter, a builder of custom homes and a leader in the revamping both of Historic Kenwood and the adjacent Grand Central Business District.
Both originally from heartland Ohio, Mayo and Danner seek to represent heartland St. Petersburg, a central city swath that includes Disston Heights, North Kenwood, Historic Kenwood and Ponce de Leon.
The Nov. 8 election winner will replace Jay Lasita, an eight-year council member who cannot run for re-election because of term limits.
What voters prefer in background and approach, rather than a specific issue, likely will determine the race.
"Danner has more experience. Mayo has enthusiasm and a fresh outlook about things that could be changed. She is very likable, a good personality. You weigh that against the experience," said Phil Whysong, president of the North Kenwood Neighborhood Association.
During the campaign, the candidates have agreed that community policing and affordable housing are among the high-profile issues.
Other than taxes - of which the City Council controls but a fraction - residents have raised those subjects most frequently, particularly the policing issue. Residents usually cheer the neighborhood-based, cop-on-the-beat approach to law enforcement, and some contend it lately has been on the wane.
Accordingly, Danner and Mayo say that if elected, they will give the topic priority attention.
"Just to say we need more community policing isn't the answer. We need to look at the whole department and find out why there's not more support for it" within the department, Danner said.
Said Mayo: "Whether I believe the (community policing) philosophy or not, that's what our neighborhoods want. The city is about the people.
"I've only heard that (community officers) do a good job. When they're there, the citizens feel more connected to the police department," she said.
Danner, a project manager for Florida Property Consultants who has served on the city planning commission, is closely tuned to development. Like Mayo, he wants to see the energy that has remade downtown spread west through the city.
Affordable housing, and not just for low-income or homeless people, has become a legitimate concern for many middle-income residents, the candidates believe.
Mayo calls it "a crisis" she would be proactive in exploring. Danner suggests a combination of cures, including affordable set-asides in development.
Danner has won the campaign cash battle, raising nearly $11,000 while Mayo has picked up about $1,100. Among Danner's contributors are developers Mel Sembler and Craig Sher; the Sembler company developed BayWalk downtown and was a major player in the SweetBay supermarket in Midtown.
