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Politics

Safety Harbor's four-hour recount reaches same end

By EILEEN SCHULTE, Times Staff Writer
Published February 3, 2008

ADVERTISEMENT Nina Bandoni will serve on the Safety Harbor City Commission.

And the winner is ... Nina Bandoni.

After a recount that lasted more than four hours Saturday, the developer and first-time candidate clinched the Safety Harbor Seat 4 City Commission race.

"I'm excited and relieved," said Bandoni, 48. "I'm looking forward to serving the community."

After Tuesday's election, Bandoni had a lead of just 18 votes over her rival, financial adviser Robin Fornino, triggering an automatic recount.

While the canvassing board reprocessed the machine cartridges and all 658 absentee and provisional votes, the hopefuls and their representatives passed the time in the viewing room talking about everything from I Love Lucy episodes to killer alligators.

At one point, Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark invited Bandoni and Fornino in to the office where the canvassing board was working.

"You aren't allowed to touch the ballots," she told them. "My staff will show them to you for as long as you want to see them."

"Do you have a hammer that will come out and (hit me) if I touch one?" Fornino asked.

"No, we have a Taser," said Clark.

After the recount, both candidates received one more vote, making it Bandoni 2,672 and Fornino 2,654 -- still 18 votes apart.

Fornino wasn't surprised, saying she "came prepared to stay in the negative."

She said she's not thinking about running again, at least not at the moment.

"If Nina does what she says she's going to do, I'm happy," Fornino said.

Eileen Schulte can be reached at schulte@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4153.

[Last modified February 2, 2008, 23:21:43]