Northpinellas: City candidates vie to stand out

Facing off in a conference room at the Main Library on Tuesday night, the candidates tried to highlight their individual attributes, although they agreed with each other on many issues.

Three new commissioners will be picked by voters in Clearwater's March 13 election.

The contenders all told the Friends of the Clearwater Library, which put on the forum with the League of Women Voters, that they cherished the plans to build a 90,000-square-foot library downtown overlooking Clearwater Harbor.

Most candidates also spoke about the need to redevelop the beach -- but "manage" the redevelopment wisely, without going overboard with projects.

Most all suggested that the city should try to give its downtown the small-town flair of Dunedin's.

"I think everyone can agree that this city is in need of some redevelopment," said candidate Hoyt Hamilton, who is running for the one-year Seat 3. "But it has to be sensible, it has to be manageable and it has to be well-controlled."

Whitney Gray, a candidate for Seat 4, bemoaned that people have gone to extremes on city issues in the past year.

Many of the candidates made the pitch that they would best help the city's residents find some common ground on issues -- although some people did take a few jabs at their opponents' qualifications.

In speaking about her bid for Seat 3, former Mayor Rita Garvey emphasized that her experience would be useful to the city -- an obvious shot at her opponents, who have never held elected office.

To underscore the point, Garvey casually tossed around details from the city's budget forecast for next year: She noted Clearwater is already facing a $500,000 shortfall in the 2002 budget -- and that could get worse when the city staffs several new facilities.

Paul Marino, an attorney who represents three Tampa Bay area cities, also touted his experience in government, although he has never held elected office.

Marino was the candidate most critical of the current state of the city, saying he thinks people are "fed up with the way the city government is being run, with secret meetings, with wasting the taxpayers' funds, with uncoordinated construction projects."

Hamilton, whose family runs two beach restaurant businesses, tried to emphasize that he is qualified for the job, having lived in Clearwater longer than either Garvey or Marino, he said.

The candidates for Seat 4 attempted to differentiate what they represented in their platform speeches.

Gray, a mother and community volunteer, spoke of how five generations of her family have lived here, dating to some of the area's pioneers -- and she said she wants "to be a bridge from the past to the future" by respecting the city's environment while trying to spark economic redevelopment.

Her opponent, former City Commissioner and retired engineer Lee Regulski, claimed the city was better run in the days when he was a city commissioner: "We were fiscally sound, well-managed and took good care of the taxpayers money, and we provided those things as goals that folks wanted to make this a good city to live in."

Regulski said the city should limit any incentives provided to private developers.

The four candidates in the crowded Seat 5 race may have faced the toughest task of trying to set themselves apart.

Jeralne Burt, a North Greenwood rental property owner and the only African-American running, told people she wants to make sure the black community's voice is heard. She kept her answers to questions quite brief.

Lucile Casey, a former Pinellas County School Board member, held up a placard with her telephone number on it and promised to be accessible if elected. She said she would be the city's "education commissioner." And she touted her experience on the School Board, which she said honed her management skills.

Bill Jonson, a retired accountant who has a mild-mannered personality, used humor several times for laughs, joking that he spells his name unusually because he had "gotten the h knocked out of me." The neighborhood activist promised to put community concerns and basic city services first.

Frank Hibbard, an investment officer with a local bank, repeatedly noted his financial experience and MBA when he talked about his qualifications for office. He talked of using economic development to fuel the city's tax base -- but said that he had heard loud and clear that some neighborhoods feel their particular concerns are being overlooked.

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