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Politics

In Safety Harbor: Four want office, three will get it

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published January 20, 2007

SAFETY HARBOR - Nadine Nickeson, who lost her longtime City Commission seat last year to newcomer James McCormick Jr., is back.

Nickeson, 56, qualified last week for Seat 4, and because her only would-be opponent made an error on his petition forms and was rejected as a candidate, she will serve out the remaining year on the term.

"I'm thrilled, I'm excited and I can't wait to get back to work," Nickeson said. "What a difference a year makes."

Last March, Nickeson was involved in a dispute that she says tarnished her political reputation. Relatives of Nickeson's neighbor, the late Marie Mecca, were upset because Mecca had changed her will to exclude them and give 40 percent of her estate to Nickeson and her husband.

The estate later was settled without a legal challenge from the relatives. The Nickesons received $84,634.

Nickeson says she wants to put the past behind her and focus on city redevelopment, among other issues.

"We have to decide about our downtown," she said. "There has to be a compromise we can live with. You can't go forward without a shared vision. You have to know where you're going to start."

Mark Taylor wanted to run against Nickeson. He collected the necessary signatures, but when he turned them in to the city clerk, the clerk could not accept them because Taylor didn't specify which seat he was seeking.

Taylor did not return a call from the St. Petersburg Times on Friday.

The qualifying period for March's special election ended at noon Friday.

Joseph Ayoub, 30, will join Nickeson on the commission. Ayoub qualified for Seat 1, which has two years remaining on the term.

* * *

The only contested race this year will pit interim Mayor Andy Steingold against Robert Parker, a business consultant.

The election is March 13.

Parker is already making himself known around town.

He has been riding around neighborhoods in a bright yellow golf cart-sized replica of a Hummer, trying to get to know voters. Other than the color, it looks almost like his real stealth-gray Hummer, which his father left him.

Parker, 55, said it's a "neighborhood electric vehicle," and that it's street legal. He has a temporary tag for it, he said.

Parker said he had bought the replica for his father for Christmas, but that his father wanted to pay for it and told him, "You have to use this in your campaign."

His father, Clayton Parker, died this month of cancer.

Robert Parker is a business consultant who owns a limited liability company. He earned a bachelor's degree in behavioral sciences at the University of South Florida, and spent years working overseas.

His latest job was at a biotech company, Regenetech Inc. in Sugar Land, Texas, where he served as president for two years, he said.

Parker and his wife, Jennifer, moved to Safety Harbor six years ago, and started a small business consulting firm, Rob Parker LLC.

He said he hasn't been involved in politics, and hasn't voted in any election, since moving to Safety Harbor.

"I did not even do an absentee ballot, and shame on me," Parker said.

He said his philosophy has always been, "If you don't vote, you can't complain."

Parker said he is getting involved in municipal politics now because he has more time to devote to it.

"If I am elected mayor, I will be in that office every day," he said. "Residents only have to live with me for a year. It either works or it doesn't."

Parker said he follows the commission meetings on TV, and that he doesn't care for the group's tendency "to make a decision not to make a decision," especially when it comes to redevelopment.

He said commission members scare off developers.

"If I was a developer, I wouldn't want to go before a commission that can't make a decision," Parker said.

The mayor

Parker's opponent will be Steingold, 45, a personal injury attorney who became mayor after Pam Corbino resigned last summer.

Steingold, who was elected to the commission in 2005, said it has been a privilege to serve Safety Harbor.

"When I ran for the commission two years ago, I promised to keep the quaintness of the city, keep the citizens safe, address issues in the over 50 neighborhoods that make up Safety Harbor, be fiscally responsible and be an independent voice on the commission," Steingold said. "Last year, the voters overwhelmingly supported me because I kept all the promises I made."

He said he's proud of his accomplishments, which include paving the way for a traffic signal at Briar Creek Boulevard and McMullen-Booth Road (it is scheduled to be installed Feb. 1), prodding the city to complete a beautification project on Ninth Avenue and taking control of an abandoned pond in the Tangelo Grove Village neighborhood.

Steingold said he also got the city to hire additional staffers at the city's parks for safety reasons, is working with the city engineer to implement a traffic calming program and is involved with a "clean up the bay" project.

He is also leading the charge against a proposed school bus terminal at McMullen-Booth Road and State Road 580.

Steingold said that if he is elected, he wants the city to hire an economic officer and "maintain the balance between quaintness and redevelopment," while stimulating growth downtown.

The commissioner

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Ayoub has lived in Safety Harbor for 18 years and attended Palm Harbor Middle School and Countryside High School. He lives downtown in a house behind the post office.

He said he was a bit disappointed that he will stroll into office uncontested.

"I like a good challenge," Ayoub said.

Single with no children, he is a certified public accountant and finance manager at Linvatec Corp., a company in Largo that manufactures medical devices.

He also serves as vice chairman of the city's budget advisory committee.

One of the first things he wants to do is help the residents of Briar Creek and surrounding communities fight the proposed bus terminal. Traffic at that intersection is already bad enough, he said.

Like the other candidates, he plans to address redevelopment.

"I don't think we need to freeze time," Ayoub said. "Things change. We need a nice restaurant downtown. Anything that brings in more jobs is good."

Eileen Schulte can be reached at (727) 445-4153 or schulte@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 19, 2007, 23:21:18]