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Garvey admits occasional drink

But the ex-mayor running for the office again calls the subject a "nonissue."

By MIKE DONILA, Times Staff Writer
Published January 9, 2008

Rita Garvey, who spent 12 years as mayor of Clearwater, is hoping to win the office once again.
	[Jim Damaske | Times (2001)]

CLEARWATER - Mayoral candidate Rita Garvey, a recovering alcoholic who nine years ago was convicted of drunken driving, acknowledged she has allowed herself an occasional drink in recent months, a highly ill-advised practice, alcohol dependency experts say.

How much she drank and how often is not clear because over the course of four interviews Garvey gave differing accounts about when and where she last drank.

She also initially said she is a "social drinker," then in subsequent interviews said she isn't.

Garvey served 18 years as a city commissioner and mayor prior to her DUI arrest on Nov. 5, 1998. She struck a parked van at about 5 p.m. while trying to drive to a City Commission meeting. Her blood-alcohol level was .335 percent, more than four times the level at which Florida law presumes a driver to be impaired.

In December, the St. Petersburg Times asked Garvey, 62, the lone opponent to incumbent Mayor Frank Hibbard in the Jan. 29 election, to discuss her recovery efforts and what treatment she receives.

Garvey, who initially saw a counselor, a Catholic priest, after the accident, said she does not go to Alcoholics Anonymous and said she doesn't see a counselor now because "I have three children who counsel me."

Asked on Dec. 17 if she has stayed away from alcohol, Garvey said she had "some wine" during a recent library foundation event.

"I live by myself," Garvey, whose husband Tim died in 2002, also said that day,"and from my perspective, I'm a social drinker, but I only drink, occasionally, with my family. I don't go to parties or out to dinner to have cocktails."

She declined to provide further detail, calling questions about whether she drinks a "nonissue."

In a followup interview Dec. 19, Garvey revised the time and place of her last drink. She said it wasn't at the library event but at her son's wedding in November. She drank "a couple" of glasses of wine, she said.

Later in the same interview, she revised her recollection again. She had the two glasses of wine not at her son's wedding, but at her daughter's Thanksgiving party in Davie.

"They were having wine, and I said, 'Okay, I'll have one with you,'" Garvey said.

She reiterated her earlier remark that she only drinks with family.

Then, during an interview Friday morning, Garvey said she had one glass of wine - not two - at her daughter's Thanksgiving party, and that was "an aberration."

When a reporter noted that she had previously said she had two glasses of wine at Thanksgiving, Garvey said it was a small amount.

"We were cleaning up, and there was some wine left in a bottle, so I finished it," she said. "I went to bed and got up the next morning and didn't drink again. I'm not even sure why I did it."

In the same interview, the Times asked Garvey for more candor about her earlier characterization of herself as a social drinker. She said she is not a social drinker.

She added that "vodka was always my drink of choice, and I haven't had any vodka since 2001."

She also said she had a glass of nonalcoholic champagne - not wine - at her son's wedding because he doesn't drink alcohol.

On Friday afternoon, Garvey called a Times reporter to reiterate that she's not a social drinker.

"I don't go out to events and have alcohol," she said. "I am not a drinker."

Asked why she had two glasses of wine at Thanksgiving, Garvey noted that she was with her children and said, "it sort of seemed like the thing to do."

"It may have been one of those opportunities I shouldn't have taken," she said.

Thanksgiving, she said, was the only time she has had any alcohol since 2001, when she had a relapse.

Garvey said voters should consider her official record and as a community volunteer when deciding whether to elect her.

"People can look at my record, and I think the 18 years I had in office are positive, and from my perspective they should concentrate on that because I can do it again," she said on Dec. 19.

"If I'm drinking heavily, then I'm in deep trouble because people would notice it," she said. "As much time as I spend volunteering, I'd have a tough time drinking a lot."

But scholars and counselors who specialize in addiction and alcohol dependency say someone with Garvey's problem shouldn't drink at all. These experts concede there are exceptions to every rule, but abstinence is the best way to combat alcoholism.

"It's risky to try" to drink again, even in moderation, said Howard Shaffer, an associate professor at Cambridge Health Alliance, an affiliate of Harvard University's School of Medicine.

"It's unusual, but not impossible, that someone can control their drinking, but usually they fail," said Shaffer, the editor of the quarterly journalPsychology of Addictive Behaviors. "I wouldn't recommend it."

Others agree.

"There is this greatillusion for most problem drinkers that some day they can control and enjoy drinking," said Scott Teitelbaum, director of the Florida Recovery Center in Gainesville and an associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Florida. "Maybe they can have a period of control....But most of the stories are about those who lose that control and fall hard and ugly.

"It's quite the gamble and not a risk I'd recommend," Teitelbaum said.

"The most appropriate recovery is absolute abstinence from all alcohol and mood-altering drugs," said Johanna O'Flaherty, vice president of treatment services for the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif. "It's not possible to have a drink....You're always recovering. There's a treatment, but not a cure."

Martha Brown, director of the division of Addiction and Medicine and Professional Health Services at the University of South Florida, said "even a glass of wine or two can put people at risk of going back to old behavior."

"If you're alcohol dependent, then you should never drink again because it's too risky," Brown said. "But the problem is we can't predict with 100 percent certainty that someone couldn't drink again, but it's unwise at the very least just because of the risk."

Garvey served as a city commissioner for six years and as mayor for 12. As an elected official, she was credited with helping to pass a strict sign code and expanding the library system. She also was known for making inroads in the North Greenwood neighborhood, opposing the Church of Scientology and supporting the sister-city program with Nagano, Japan.

Since losing her bid for re-election in 1999 and narrowly losing a race for a commission seat in 2001, Garvey has continued to volunteer for a number of local and state groups, as well as the downtown library.

"All I can do is go on what I've accomplished in the last 10 years," Garvey said. "All I can say is 'Yes, I'm an alcoholic' and go on from there."

Her opponent, Hibbard, who is seeking his second 3-year term, said he isn't going to make an issue of her past drinking because, "I think people are already aware of it and I'm trying to run a positive campaign."

Mike Donila can be reached at mdonila@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4160.

[Last modified January 8, 2008, 21:30:55]