Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Politics

Mayor vote offers contrast

Incumbent Frank Hibbard and his challenger, ex-Mayor Rita Garvey, tout divergent views.

By MIKE DONILA, Times Staff Writer
Published January 27, 2008

Mayor Frank Hibbard and mayoral candidate Rita Garvey take questions from the audience Wednesday at the Belleair Country Club during the final mayoral forum before the elections on Jan. 29.
	[Atoyia Deans | Times]

CLEARWATER - Voters have a clear choice between the two candidates for mayor Tuesday.

One is a popular incumbent and investment officer who supporters say is leading the city into the 21st century.

The other is a former mayor attempting a political comeback who is known for championing slow growth and who has criticized recent city spending.

There doesn't appear to be much middle ground.

But Mayor Frank Hibbard and challenger Rita Garvey agree that Clearwater will have to do more with less in the upcoming years.

Both say they expect the state to continue to curtail the amount of property tax revenue local cities and counties can collect. And both say they're ready to go through each city department looking for cuts and then turning to the public for suggestions.

"It's not hard to make the cuts, but what we cut may not be what the public wants, so we're going to seek help from the citizens to find out what's important to them," says Garvey, who served as mayor from 1987 to early 1999.

"We have to make certain (every community) is sacrificing something and no one is sacrificing everything," says Hibbard, who is seeking his second three-year term.

* * *

An investment officer for Morgan Stanley, Hibbard, 40, touts his ability to work on a regional level. Since taking office in December 2004, he has created monthly breakfast meetings with residents to encourage dialogue, established Veteran's Appreciation Day and worked with area elementary students to engage in healthy living.

Garvey, 62, who works as a volunteer at the library gift store, says her 18 years in office were spent expanding the city's library system by building the East and Countryside branches, establishing a community-oriented policing program that got officers into the neighborhoods and pushing for a recycling program.

With the election set for Tuesday, the two spent last week participating in candidate forums, meeting with residents and touting their platforms. They've worked crowds, shaken more than a few hands and continued to hammer their messages.

The two had to work quickly, though.

The City Council in September moved the city elections from March to the end of January to coincide with the presidential primary and lure voters who are more likely to cast a ballot for a presidential candidate than for a City Council member.

Factoring in the holiday season, candidates had very little time to stump.

And after nearly nine years away from the city's political scene, Garvey got off to a rusty start.

She was uncertain at times during community forums and didn't always know the answers to some questions. She blamed the City Council for not fighting the county Property Appraiser's Office about the way Pinellas officials re-evaluate land values each year - an issue the city doesn't control.

Hibbard appeared more confident and answered almost every question asked. While the campaign has been mostly cordial, he's taken a poke or two at his challenger.

Almost as if he was chastising a student for not doing her homework, the mayor noted during a candidate forum just how far the city's community redevelopment area - a downtown designation that earns the area extra tax money - stretches. Garvey had gotten it wrong in a previous forum. Hibbard made sure she knew it.

Garvey, though, has taken a few shots herself.

When the mayor bragged about establishing monthly breakfast meetings, Garvey said she "didn't have to manufacture breakfast meetings to get people to meet with me."

But Hibbard appears to have built some momentum. He has secured endorsements from two local newspapers, a chamber of commerce and a Realtors organization.

Further, Hibbard's most recent financial filing shows he has collected $26,000, and he said he's nearly doubled that amount since then. Garvey has brought in $6,140.

Hibbard's campaign treasurer's report lists donations from lawyers, Realtors, architects, consultants, developers and CEOs. He also contributed $500 of his own money.

Garvey, who has almost always successfully campaigned on a grass roots effort, has chipped in at least $1,000 of her own money. But she's also grabbed contributions from a number of retirees, Save the Bayfront officials and a few former local leaders.

Tuesday will mark the first time since 1999 that Clearwater voters will go to the ballot box to determine a mayor. The other elections were pre-empted when no challengers emerged.

* * *

Also on the ballot:

Clearwater voters will be asked to make decisions on six questions geared at changing the city's charter, Clearwater's guidelines for governing and operating.

Here's a synopsis of them:

- To let the city donate up to a half acre of city-owned property if it's used for affordable housing. This change would not affect land designated for open space and recreation.

- To let the city grant easements to utility companies to connect underground lines like water, sewer and power in Coachman Park. Any other physical improvements to the park would still need voter approval.

- To change the term of office for City Council members and the mayor from three years to four years. The existing two-term limit would remain in place.

- To require the charter review committee to meet every eight years instead of every five years. The City Council will still have the authority to call for a charter review at any time if necessary.

- To require that the canvassing board, which makes rulings on absentee and provisional ballots for stand-alone city elections, not be composed of City Council members whose names appear on the ballot. Currently, the board is made up of the City Council. This question also asks to reduce the board from five members to three. If there are not enough council members to serve on the board, then the council would appoint a resident to serve.

- To remove the requirement that revenue bonds for all projects that cost more than $1-million require voter approval. Currently, the council can sign off on revenue bond projects that cost more than $1-million if they are for public health, safety or industrial development. If approved, this means the city wouldn't need voter approval to build a library or a new City Hall with revenue bonds, city officials say.

Rita Garvey

Age: 62

Occupation: Community volunteer, former Clearwater mayor

Family: Two daughters, Lisa and Catherine; son Mike

Education: Bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Minnesota

Community involvement: Community Pride board member (president); Friends of the Clearwater Library (president); American Association of University Women (president); Friends Book & Gift Store at the Main Library (volunteer)

Memberships: NAACP, Clearwater Sister Cities Inc., Marine Science Center, Clearwater Historical Society

Hobbies: reading

Web site: www.garveyformayor.org

Quote: "When I was mayor and on the commission, I had to make some tough decisions, but my basic philosophy is that the decision has to be something I have to sleep with. I've had a lot of people say I didn't agree with it, but I understand and I don't hate you for it."

Frank Hibbard

Age: 40

Occupation: Financial adviser and vice president of Morgan Stanley; incumbent mayor

Family: Wife Teresa; son Spencer; daughter Whitney

Education: Bachelor's degrees in business and economics and a master's degree in business administration from Florida State University

Community involvement: United Way; Pinellas County Mayors Council (president); Metropolitan Planning Organization (chairman); Jim Moran Board for Entrepreneurial Study Florida State University Business School; advisory board member for Clothes for Kids; member of the board of directors for the Florida League of Mayors; Tampa Bay Regional Transit Authority (board member)

Hobbies: Golf, tennis, keeping up with college football

Web site: None

Quote: "There's an expression that says: 'After all is said and done, more is said than done.' I'd prefer to run counter to that. I'd like to get more done than just talk about it."

[Last modified January 26, 2008, 21:38:01]