Ippolito upbraided on button

South Pasadena officials say there is no legal problem with the City Commission election despite two critics' ad.

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 7, 2000

SOUTH PASADENA -- Yes, there will be an election Tuesday: Lou Ippolito versus Wayne Barr for a seat on the City Commission.

Last week, confused residents called City Hall after a "public service announcement" in the Gulfport Gabber -- actually an advertisement paid for by two regular critics of South Pasadena government -- suggested otherwise.

The large headline claimed the special election to fill the term of late Commissioner Al Edmiston is in "Jeopardy From Non-Compliance with Several Florida Laws."

Al Friend and Ken Sandt went ahead with the $112 ad even though their attorney a week before ended their legal effort to stop the election.

"I just want the people of South Pasadena to know there will be an election Tuesday," Mayor Fred Held said Friday. "It is hard enough getting a good turnout for special elections. It would be a shame if this ad keeps even one person away from the polls."

When Edmiston died in February, there was not enough time, according to election laws, to put his seat on the March election ballot, hence Tuesday's special election.

Both Ippolito and Barr are upset about the advertisement. Ippolito said he has been calling his supporters, urging them to go to the polls.

Friend and Sandt have argued for months that the city charter prohibits special elections. They called on the commission to either appoint a replacement for Edmiston or change the charter to better address commission vacancies.

The advertisement says the election is in violation of city and state laws, as well as past court rulings. Friend and Sandt said their formal complaint, filed with the city in March, was ignored.

"The city of South Pasadena has been given the opportunity to rectify these legal defects prior to the election," the ad states. The men contend that the city's failure to act could mean the election results are "subject to invalidation by court order."

But an April 25 letter to the city from Joseph Lang, an attorney for Friend, Sandt and Dan Calabria, said the men "do not intend to pursue further formal objections to the process" and "believe it would be futile and costly to disrupt an election which should and inevitably will be held anyway."

Lang's letter ended with the assertion that "We therefore tend to close our file with regard to this matter."

Friend said Lang advised them to drop legal action and find some other way to resolve their disagreement with the City Commission. Friend and Sandt then decided to take the matter to "the court of public opinion." Calabria did not join this latest protest.

"We do have a case. We could have overturned this election," insists Friend, who refuses to say what he and Sandt plan to do after the election. "Our options are open. This is a big issue. How many times are they (the commission) going to ignore the charter?"

City officials deny there is any legal problem with the election. Held said Friday that the two men are "dissidents who are endangering the city's election process."

"The commissioners have had a lot of calls on this advertisement. We were shocked to see it, and people are really upset," said City Attorney Linda Hallas. She is researching whether Friend and Sandt violated election laws in placing the ad.

She and other city officials say it contains erroneous information and does not say it was a paid political advertisement. Its appearance so close to an election prevents the city from responding in the same media forum, she says.

Held stresses that residents should be assured that the election and its results will be valid. "People think there is not going to be an election. It will be a negative and very bad thing if we lose even one vote over this political advertisement," he said.

This election is Barr's first entry into town politics. He has lived in South Pasadena for nearly 10 years, permanently for the past several years. He is treasurer and a board member of the Harbourside Condominium Association.

Ippolito was first elected a commissioner in 1993 and served two terms before his re-election defeat last year and his failed attempt last month. Ippolito has lived in South Pasadena for 10 years, moving here from Long Island, N.Y., where he worked 22 years with the Suffolk County Police Department.

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