Yankeetown victors rejoice, await Nov. 7
Three candidates for Town Council who ran against a development won big Tuesday.
By ELENA LESLEY
Published August 31, 2006
YANKEETOWN - Marcus West was just a few yards short of the polls Tuesday when his electric wheelchair stalled.
"The damn thing just quit on me," announced West, 86, stranded in the grass outside the Woman's Club.
Luckily, people came to his rescue, pushing West the remaining distance, just before the polls closed at 7 p.m.
"It would have been a shame if he hadn't made it," candidate Larry Feldhusen said. "Everyone needs a chance to vote."
That seemed to be a common sentiment in Yankeetown. Nearly 280 residents voted in the special election to replace three Town Council members.
Not a bad turnout in a place with only 469 registered voters.
Voters overwhelmingly picked candidates opposing a resort hotel on the Withlacoochee River and issued a strong mandate for incoming officials: open government, cautious development.
Those who have fought the resort hotel were elated.
"My nephew sent me an e-mail this morning asking if I'd saved the town yet," said resident Pat Schwab after results were announced. "Now I can write him back and say 'yes!' "
But neither side of the development debate is complacent.
Two of the three members elected will serve until November 2007. The third seat, as well as the two currently occupied council seats, will be up for grabs in just a few months.
"The antidevelopment people are going to try to do the same thing in November," said candidate Ralph Dixon, one of Tuesday's losers. "They're going to make a dictatorship in Yankeetown, with everything done their way."
Those fighting the development say they've suffered under a "dictatorship" for the past half-year, and they vow that now things are going to change.
"All of us ran on open government platforms," said Feldhusen, who campaigned in a bloc with other winners Dawn Clary and Douglas Dame. "We're going to stick to that."
Controversy has plagued the town since December, when word surfaced that developers had been discussing the resort hotel with town officials for months. Infighting provoked a political meltdown, culminating in Gov. Jeb Bush's declaration of a "state of emergency" in July.
With the Town Council paralyzed because of multiple resignations, Bush ordered Tuesday's election to get the government up and running.
Both those for and against the development saw it as a chance to seize control of town government. If three candidates with similar platforms won the seats, they would have a majority on the council.
The resort hotel was the only campaign issue.
All other discussions - availability of public records, transparency of town government, scope of the mayor's powers - stemmed from that underlying fight.
Clary, Feldhusen and Dame ran under the banner "citizens for responsible government," promising a more responsive council and opposing zoning changes for the resort hotel.
Dixon, June Proffit and Ray Phares said they were running independently, but all favored negotiating with the developers.
If the town agreed to zoning changes, the developers might help with much-needed infrastructure improvements, they said.
Residents who wanted to negotiate said those rabidly opposing the development were a vocal minority.
"We're a vocal majority," Peggy Page, an Inglis resident who has worked in Yankeetown for over 20 years, countered.
All looked to Tuesday as a turning point, a day that would validate their claims by proving what, actually, the majority of residents wanted.
They got their answer.
"It was decisive," said Feldhusen of the vote. "They voted nearly two to one in favor of open government and responsible development."
Clary, Feldhusen and Dame received 189, 182 and 174 votes, respectively. Dixon, Phares and Proffit came in at 101, 88 and 87.
Supporters of the winners rejoiced when they heard the news, surrounding their new council members with offers of congratulations and hugs.
"We prayed hard for this," Mary Vorisek, a resident of 33 years, told Clary. "I'm not against change, but this (resort hotel) is too much."
Dixon congratulated those who won, saying they had campaigned hard. But he added that the other three candidates might have done better if they'd had more resources.
"It would have helped if we had as much money as they did," he said.
Supporters of the winners gathered for a party after results were announced, relishing their triumph.
But they didn't just toast their success.
Discussion rolled from the format of town meetings to eliminating the mayor's veto power, to making public records more accessible to the public.
Not to mention there's an election coming up, which could swing the council the other way.
"People are already thinking about November," Feldhusen said. "We'll welcome a good battle if people want to wage it."
Elena Lesley can be reached at elesley@sptimes.com or 564-3627.