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This time, one of their own will do the luring

By WILL VAN SANT
Published July 19, 2006

SEND A REPUBLICAN: In 2002, when the national Republican Party's site selection committee had its eye on Tampa for the 2004 GOP convention, Pinellas leaders met with the group at the Don CeSar Beach Resort and Spa in St. Pete Beach.

Democratic County Commissioner Ken Welch was the county's representative. The selection committee was a partisan bunch, Welch said, and the experience proved a little uncomfortable.

So when the committee returns in August as it considers Tampa for the 2008 convention, Welch, now the commission chairman, has tapped his vice chair, Ronnie Duncan, a Republican, to do the honors.

Welch wishes his fellow board member better luck than he had.

"It's not about red or blue," he said. "It's about green. Having the GOP convention here would be a big boost to our tourism economy."

JEB AS DONOR: Gov. Jeb Bush may think he should be appointing people to those 55 newly created judgeships, rather then allowing voters to pick their favorites.

But he's still willing to play in judicial races.

In June, he sent $25 to the campaign of Pinellas County judge candidate Susan Bedinghaus, an assistant attorney general, a former Bush appointment to the local judicial nominating committee and wife of ex-Pinellas GOP chairman Paul Bedinghaus.

No, it's not a hefty check. But then, after two terms, the governor's net worth isn't what it used to be.

DERRY OUT: First-time candidate Michael Derry, one of three Democrats in the House District 53 race, is dropping out. Derry, an adjunct economics professor at several Florida universities and community colleges, said he was unable to devote enough time early in the year to developing a strong campaign foundation.

Derry, 42, is in the process of filing paperwork to drop out, he said, and has already told his supporters.

"I really wasn't going to have the time to do a good job anyway," Derry said.

BAD TIMING: Brian Flaherty, a Republican seeking the state House District 48 seat and chairman of the Pinellas County Housing Authority, is a defendant in a lawsuit being handled by lawyer Darryl Rouson, former president of the St. Petersburg NAACP.

The other defendant is Thomas Pavilglianti, who rents property on Cleveland Street in Clearwater that Flaherty owns.

Two other Flaherty renters, Robert Hedgeman and Rolanda Lawrence, claim their neighbor Pavilglianti spat in Lawrence's face, hurled racial slurs at the couple and threatened to kill them and their guests. They are seeking $15,000 in damages.

Flaherty employs Pavilglianti as a maintenance man, and the lawsuit contends that he knew or should have known about his tenant's hostile and threatening actions.

"Brian needs to compensate these people for all of the trauma that they have experienced," Rouson said.

What does Flaherty have to say about all of this? Not much. Flaherty didn't return numerous phone calls from the Times but did fax a statement saying he knew nothing of the alleged harassment and would not tolerate such behavior by a tenant.

"As soon as I knew of the alleged offensive conduct, I took immediate legal action to evict the offending tenant. I am proud of my accomplished history of serving the needy, regardless of their race, in our community," he wrote.

TEACHERS LOVE EVERYBODY: When it comes to the U.S. House race in District 9, the national teachers union is two-timing.

Back in May, when Republican Gus Bilirakis' campaign staked claim to the teachers' endorsement, Phyllis Busansky's staff said the Democrat had also been promised official backing - causing a flurry of confusion.

The NEA Fund for Children and Schools, the national teachers union, had taken the unusual step of backing both candidates, with dual endorsements and matching $2,500 contributions.

Jade Moore, executive director of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, said after a weeklong candidate review, the local advised its folks in Washington to back Bilirakis and Busansky, given that both candidates faced primary challenges at the time. (Busansky's Democratic opponents have since dropped out of the race.)

It's rare for the NEA to support opposing candidates.

A review of the group's Federal Election Commission filings turned up only one other House race - Nebraska District 3 - in which $2,500 was given to two candidates. (There were a handful of contributions to competing Senate candidates.)

Had two-timing not been an option, Moore said, the Pinellas committee would have urged Washington to side with Bilirakis, whose "courageous and principled stand" against Gov. Bush's voucher program earned him awards from education advocates.

Though "a great candidate," Moore said, Busansky has a thinner record on education issues.

SKANDERA OUT: Richard Skandera, the University of Central Florida student who threw his hat in the ring as a Democratic challenger for Susan Latvala's District 4 County Commission seat, has withdrawn from the race.

"I just don't have any money," said Skandera, 19, who plans to return to school. "And it's hard to run a campaign without money."

But Skandera's political dreams are not dead. He said he plans to run for state Sen. Mike Fasano's seat in 2008.

POLL WORKERS PLEASE: Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark needs about 4,000 poll workers for the upcoming elections.

Two years ago, more than 200 county employees stepped up to help meet the quota, but this year, only half of that number has come forward.

So make a call and help run the machinery of democracy, said Clark, who also pointed out that poll workers are paid.

To get more information, call (727) 464-6110 or visit www.votepinellas.com.

Times staff writers Adam C. Smith, Tamara El-Khoury, Robin Stein, Shadi Rahimi and Will Van Sant contributed to this week's Junkie. For more political buzz, go to www.sptimes.com/blogs/buzz. The staff can be contacted at political junkie@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 19, 2006, 17:06:15]