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'May the only man win' is not a good election motto

By DIANE STEINLE Editor of Editorials
Published January 28, 2007

As the comedians say, it is probably more efficient to ask who isn't running for president in 2008 than to ask who is.

However, that urge to run for elective office doesn't seem to be percolating down to the local level - at least not this year, in this place.

City elections are scheduled for March 13 in North Pinellas, and this year's ballot is looking mighty slim.

Entire elections have been canceled, and people who have zero experience as elected officials are walking into office unchallenged. They don't even have to mount a campaign. They just file, wait and get sworn in.

Six of the 21 Pinellas cities that had municipal elections scheduled for March 13 have canceled them entirely. In a number of other cities, most scheduled races will not appear on the ballot because only one person sought the office.

Take Clearwater, for example.

Seats 3, 4 and 5 on the five-member City Council are up for election this year, but only one, Seat 5, will be decided by voters. No one filed to oppose one-term council member Carlen Petersen, so she's in again. And George Cretekos, who has not held elective office or been visible on Clearwater issues, walked into open Seat 3 without having to stand for election.

I remember a time when 10 or 15 people would have been on the ballot for a three-seat election in Clearwater.

Safety Harbor offers another example. The office of mayor and Seats 1 and 4 on the City Commission were scheduled to be on the March 13 ballot. But Safety Harbor voters will get to make a decision only in the mayor's race. Newcomer Joe Ayoub got Seat 1 without opposition. And former City Commissioner Nadine Nickeson, defeated in her bid for re-election only a year ago, gets back on the commission in Seat 4 because no one qualified to oppose her.

In Oldsmar, three City Council seats and the mayor's post were scheduled for the ballot, but only one race with two candidates will appear. Jim Ronecker will replace retiring Mayor Jerry Beverland without the voters' assistance. Eric Seidel, who was defeated as a first-time candidate in the last city election, gets a free pass onto the City Council this time. Incumbent council member Suzanne Vale didn't draw a challenger.

In Tarpon Springs, there is already a new face on the City Commission. Chris Alahouzos, a newcomer to elective office, was the only person to file for the open seat left when Commissioner Peter Nehr got elected to the state Legislature. An open seat, no incumbent to fight, and only one person in all of Tarpon Springs was interested in having it.

So many people are dissatisfied with government at all levels, so why are so few people running for office this year?

Clearwater lawyer Ed Armstrong, a behind-the-scenes player in recruiting qualified candidates for local offices, said the task is getting harder every year. Potential candidates are put off primarily by the process - the time required to run and the need to bug people for campaign contributions - and by fear of media scrutiny, he said.

Running for office requires a lot of time and energy. Candidates have to get petition cards signed, design fliers and signs, find sign locations on private property, develop a campaign strategy, and campaign door to door.

Money is a huge issue, Armstrong said. A Clearwater council race could be financed for $10,000 a few years ago, he said, but now requires at least $25,000.

What Armstrong called "the arms escalation" in election campaigns has had impact on potential candidates, too. Campaigns are increasingly nasty, and that is hard not only on the candidate but also on the candidate's family and potentially on the candidate's business. It is enough to scare some people away.

It is not just the political brawling but also the media scrutiny of candidates' backgrounds that drives away candidates, said Tony DiMatteo, chairman of the Pinellas County Republican Party.

"Is it relevant to being a good city council member if years ago you had an extra beer on your way home and got picked up for it?" he said. "It isn't relevant. I think a lot of people don't want to commit to being under a microscope ... In general, people just want to be left alone."

Combine those concerns with the apathy that keeps people contentedly at home in front of their TV sets, and it is no wonder that few people are interested in running for office.

Yet I worry that one day our local governing bodies will be dominated by people who were not elected but were appointed to fill an empty chair. Whose interests will those people feel compelled to serve?

Diane Steinle can be reached at 727 445-4184 or steinle@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 28, 2007, 07:49:56]