New law confusing to some candidates

What School Board candidates can reveal about their party affiliation is unclear now that the races are non-partisan.

By KELLY RYAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 6, 2000

Pinellas School Board candidate Mike Guju has made his loyalties clear.

"I am a conservative Republican," he announced at a recent candidates forum in Tarpon Springs sponsored by the Upper Pinellas Republican Club.

He shouldn't have said that, according to state officials.

This year, for the first time, School Board races are non-partisan, or at least they are supposed to be. Only two weeks into the campaign for three open seats in Pinellas, some candidates are finding it awfully hard to hide their allegiances -- or even understand what they are allowed to reveal.

"I've been somewhat cautious, because I don't know what you can say and what you can't say," said David Archie, a city commissioner in Tarpon Springs who is running for the District 3 seat. "I believe everybody is kind of feeling their way out."

In 1998, voters approved a change to the state Constitution that made school board races non-partisan. The new rules tell candidates how to behave, but don't state whether political parties can host forums, endorse candidates or support candidates in other ways.

In an April letter to the Florida School Boards Association, the assistant general counsel for the state Division of Elections spells out what non-partisan means.

Candidates can't disclose their party affiliation in written or media materials, though they can list their membership with political clubs or committees as a way of explaining their community involvement. Candidates can participate in partisan political activities -- but "during the speaking engagement they may not discuss their party affiliation."

"They can't say they are a member of a so-and-so party," said lawyer Kristi Bronson. "By definition, a non-partisan candidate can not campaign based on party affiliation."

Wayne Blanton, executive director of the school boards association, said that a candidate who violates the rules can face an ethics complaint and a fine up to $5,000. Blanton said the fine can't be paid out of a candidate's campaign treasury.

"The intent of all this was to take out as much politics as possible, not that you'll ever remove all of it," Blanton said. "Your party affiliation is not supposed to be part of the election."

Guju, who like Ronald Ogden and Arline Lopes is challenging Lee Benjamin for his District 1 seat, said he does not know the intricacies of the new rule.

Initially, he said he didn't think he had done anything wrong because he wasn't "discussing" his party affiliation because "there is no party called "conservative Republican."'

Later, he said he was not sure whether he violated the rule.

"I can't address whether I violated a rule or not because I honestly don't know," Guju said, adding that he wants to focus on issues rather than politics. "And if I did, it was certainly an innocent mistake."

Incumbent Jane Gallucci said she is comfortable with her party loyalty and is uncomfortable keeping quiet about it. At the Upper Pinellas Republican Club forum, she told the audience she felt at home there.

"I really feel sometimes muzzled," Gallucci said. "Why shouldn't somebody know my party affiliation? Why shouldn't it be like (telling voters about) being president of the Florida School Boards Association?"

Several candidates, in their literature or press releases, note membership in Republican clubs. Even though the letter of the law allows such disclosures, other candidates are not sure it is in the spirit of the non-partisan contests.

Teacher Carol Cook, facing Archie and businessman Peter Nehr in the District 3 race, is a longtime School Board observer. Cook, former president of the County Council of PTAs, said the organization supported the change to non-partisan elections.

She has not revealed her leanings because she doesn't think it's relevant.

"Now you're going to listen to the candidates and listen to what they have to say," she said. "Once things get to the board table, it's non-partisan anyway."

The incumbents -- Benjamin and Gallucci -- say it could take several election cycles for the races to become truly non-partisan. Their party affiliation is no secret among political insiders, who frequently note that the sitting School Board has six Republicans and one Democrat.

Benjamin and Gallucci, who won their seats in partisan races, say one immediate change with non-partisan elections is that campaigning is much more expensive. The Sept. 5 primary is open to Democrats and Republicans, so both say they are spending the cash needed to court double the people.

As of last month, Gallucci had raised about $11,000 to campaign against businessman Kenneth D. Fullerton and activist Dwight Chimurenga Waller. That's how much she spent through November in her last race.

Benjamin, who has raised more than $31,000, said he has sent fliers to double the number of absentee voters as he did the last race.

Though it's not likely, with three or four candidates in each race, the School Board races could be decided in the first primary. If one candidate garners 50 percent of the vote plus one, he or she wins outright. Otherwise, the top two vote-getters face each other Nov. 7.

Some candidates are worried that voters don't know the importance of the September vote and might stay away from the polls until November. They say they are working hard to spread the message that the vote counts in just one month.

"I think a lot of people are not as focused in on September as they are on November," Archie said. "So we're continuously trying to make people aware that they should vote in September."

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