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Letter to the editor

Garvey steps into race vs. Hibbard

Two City Council incumbents are guaranteed wins as they run unopposed.

By RITA FARLOW, Times Staff Writer
Published November 17, 2007

CLEARWATER - Former Mayor Rita Garvey will challenge incumbent Frank Hibbard in the city's first mayoral race since 1999.

The two City Council incumbents up for re-election will have an easier path to another term: they are running unopposed in the Clearwater municipal elections scheduled for Jan. 29.

By 5 p.m. Friday, the deadline to qualify, no one had stepped forward to oppose council members John Doran and George Cretekos, said City Clerk Cyndie Goudeau.

Both Doran and Cretekos said they hoped the lack of opposition signaled support for the job they've done on the council.

"I'm very humbled by the fact I've run now, twice, without an opponent," said Cretekos, 60. "Half the fun of being a candidate, I think, is having an election. The other half is not having an election and knowing the people have that much confidence in you."

Doran, 61, said there were several issues he's committed to working on during the next term, including expanding green space and revitalizing the Coachman Park area.

"One other thing on my hot list is we need more hotel rooms and we need to be working on facilitating the environment for people to want to come in and build hotels," Doran said.

Garvey, who served four consecutive terms as mayor from 1987 to 1998, said she's pursuing the office because she hears from city residents who are frustrated with a lack of progress.

"I have been in the community for 30-some years," said Garvey, 62. "People know me. They know they can talk to me. Even though I'm not in office, I'm hearing from them."

Garvey said she'd like to see residents become more involved in city government.

"There is so much apathy out there. They don't think it matters," she said.

Garvey, who was arrested for drunken driving in 1998, has acknowledged that she is an alcoholic. "All I can do is go on what I've accomplished in the last 10 years," she said. "All I can say is 'Yes, I'm an alcoholic' and go on from there."

Garvey said she deals with the illness "one day at a time" and has what it takes to be mayor again.

"My perspective is you have to have basic intelligence, reasonable common sense, you're willing to listen to the people and willing to make hard decisions," Garvey said.

Hibbard, 40, said he's established credibility among residents of Clearwater and throughout the Tampa Bay area, through his leadership roles with regional groups like the Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Mayor's Council of Pinellas County.

"I'll take the campaign very seriously and it's an opportunity to get out into the community and dialogue with the citizens," he said.

In 2004, Hibbard won because he was the only candidate to qualify for the seat.

Hibbard said he's pleased with the council's achievements over the past few years, but acknowledged there's more work to be done.

"I'm just proud of a lot of the things we've accomplished," he said. "There are still many tasks I want to complete. I've kind of started down this path and I hope the citizens give me the privilege of serving them for one more term."

Rita Farlow can be reached at farlow@sptimes.comor 727 445-4162.

[Last modified November 16, 2007, 22:08:13]