Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Columns

Political debate short, sweet and to the point

By C.T. BOWEN
Published April 4, 2007

Mr. Apathy meet Mr. Contradictory.

It's the way a pair of Zephyrhills City Council candidates described each other Monday evening near the conclusion of a hourlong debate sponsored by the Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce.

You don't vote.

You haven't accomplished anything except to be inconsistent.

The exchange was civil, succinct and completely accurate. The pointed assessments helped to differentiate the candidates in the April 10 election who share similar concerns about crime and growth and seem unsure how to confront those issues.

The debate drew nearly 40 people, a better-than-expected turnout, considering the race between incumbent council member Danny Burgess and challenger Richard Kaeberlein is the only race on the Zephyrhills ballot. Throw in the fact it was spring break, opening day of the baseball season and just hours before tipoff of the NCAA basketball championship game and organizers had to feel downright giddy about the interest.

The lack of interest in the electoral process motivated Kaeberlein's campaign. He entered the race just minutes before the candidate filing deadline in February after reading in the newspaper about three uncontested races on the council.

Burgess, however, magnified the disinterest, telling the audience Kaeberlein hasn't voted in a municipal election.

"I'm part of the problem," the challenger acknowledged.

It continued the campaign of mea culpas for Kaeberlein who has had to answer questions about his history of mental illness and series of domestic violence arrests.

Kaeberlein astutely dismissed a question from the audience that suggested a conspiratorial reason for his candidacy. Let's face it, who would open themselves to such scrutiny if they weren't sincere about offering voters a choice.

Burgess was put on the defensive, as well. He highlighted his voting record against growth then said impact fees from new developments can be used to cover government costs.

This is known as having it both ways. Kaeberlein called him on it.

"You've not accomplished anything, honestly, except to contradict yourself," he said.

Kaeberlein, just as easily, could have pointed out the error of Burgess' reasoning. Impact fees can be used for one-time capital expenses, but aren't available for salaries and other operating costs. In other words, higher public safety fees might help the city buy police cars, but won't pay to hire and train additional officers.

It's an imperative point, particularly since Burgess said the city's police force "needs help. They need a revenue increase."

Burgess danced around a question on whether the city should consider a building moratorium, but said he supported new revenue sources, rather than cutting services, if property tax reform in Tallahassee requires changes in Zephyrhills' spending.

Um, what sort of new revenue?

Burgess, already a politician at age 20, reiterated his call for higher impact fees, rather than a new assessment on existing residents.

"As a great man once said," Burgess told the crowd, "Read my lips, no new taxes."

Think Burgess remembers that former President George Bush served only one term in the White House because he had to break that promise?

[Last modified April 4, 2007, 07:31:23]