2006 Know Your Candidates

Environmental activist takes on incumbent

State House of Representatives: District 45

By JOSE CARDENAS
Published October 25, 2006

The race in state House District 45 pits a Democratic environmentalist on a mission to give citizens more power against a Republican incumbent who would work on lowering hurricane insurance and property taxes.

Chris Hrabovsky has led the fight against Wal-Mart stores in St. Petersburg and Tarpon Springs. He said he decided to seek public office after commissioners in Tarpon Springs voted in favor of a store over the protests of residents who opposed it.

"Three people on that commission got to rule over the will of 300 that day," said Hrabovsky, who lives in Tarpon Springs. "And after that, I decided to get involved directly in politics, not just be an activist."

Hrabovsky said he would work at the state level on "big box store" legislation that, among other things, would call for independent studies on proposed projects instead of allowing corporations to produce them. Residents, rather than city commissioners, would vote on whether a store would be built.

His other work, Hrabovsky said, would include making hydrogen fuel a common source of energy; requiring paper ballots for elections; and instituting systems with both Republican and Democratic supervisors of elections so elections are properly monitored.

Whether he is elected or not, Hrabovsky said he is already involved in a plan to form a panel of regular people to investigate the shortcomings of Citizens, the state-owned hurricane insurer of last resort.

He added that Republicans have been in charge of state government for several years and they are to blame for letting hurricane insurance become too expensive and unreliable.

"That is the one thing that underlies every question when you walk door to door," said Hrabovsky. "Sure, they say insurance is too high. But if you talk to them for a few minutes, they say they don't trust the government."

Reforming hurricane insurance would be a priority for him, said Tom Anderson, who lives in Dunedin. But he added that the insurance crisis has been caused in large part by an unprecedented number of hurricanes recently.

"What we have done for the last 20, 30, 40 years in terms of insurance sort of went out the window I would say the last two years or a year ago," said Anderson. "We have to come up with new ideas."

Some solutions legislators are discussing for a special legislative session later this year, Anderson said, are a federally aided catastrophe fund and requiring companies that sell other forms of insurance in Florida to also sell hurricane coverage. There's also the idea of allowing higher deductibles that would lower homeowners' premiums but increase their liability.

Among other things, Anderson said he would sponsor a hurricane mitigation bill that would provide assistance to people with substantial increases in their insurance rates and help for others to strengthen their homes.

To lower property taxes, Anderson said he would work on changing the guidelines for assessing the taxable value of commercial property - particularly apartments - with the aim of maintaining affordable housing.

"It's getting to the point where between insurance and taxes people are having difficulty buying homes and staying in their homes," he said.

THE CANDIDATES

Democrat

Chris Hrabovsky, 36, was born in St. Louis, where he graduated from Bayless Senior High School. He moved to Florida, initially to Clearwater Beach, 14 years ago. After working 10 years in marketing for Atlanta-based Mobile Media Enterprises, he is now self-employed in relaxation therapy. He is involved in environmental issues and certified in hypnosis. He lives in Tarpon Springs and is engaged to Dr. Darlene Williams. Assets: None. Liabilities: Car loan. Source of income: Work as therapist and in construction. Web site: electchrisin06.com.

Republican

Tom Anderson, 74, is a New York native who has lived in Dunedin for 25 years. He holds an undergraduate business administration degree from City University of New York and an MBA from George Washington University. He is retired from his own management consulting business. He served as mayor of Dunedin from 1996 until 2002 when he was elected as the representative in state House District 45. He is married to Alice C. Anderson. Assets: Home, stocks, bonds, mortgages. Liabilities: None. Source of income: Investments, retirement pensions, state salary. Web site: None.

THE JOB

State representative, District 45

District 45 covers Dunedin, Ozona, Crystal Beach and the western edges of Palm Harbor and Tarpon Springs in Pinellas County, and Holiday, Elfers, Beacon Square and southeastern New Port Richey in Pasco County. State representatives serve two-year terms and are paid $30,996 per year.

[Last modified November 3, 2006, 14:38:09]