Perennial rivals vie for same job again

In a fire board race, the fourth match between Janet Hoppe and Bob McEwen, both candidates say they want to build harmony - but not necessarily with each other.

By ERIC STIRGUS

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 22, 2000

INDIAN SHORES -- Word travels fast in this small beach town. Friends told Janet Hoppe that he was gathering signatures to run for the town's seat on the Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue board. But an elections office worker told her no one had filed to challenge her.

This time she would win, unopposed.

Then the phone rang.

It was July 26, 5:55 p.m. The last day for politicians' to qualify.

I made a mistake, said the elections office worker who had talked to her earlier that day.

He -- Bob McEwen -- was in.

"To say the least, I was surprised," said Hoppe.

Political rematches are nothing new in Pinellas County. Next month, Democrat Margo Fischer and Republican Frank Farkas will battle a third time for the state House seat in District 52. Farkas, the incumbent, unseated Fischer for the seat in the 1998 election. Fischer beat him in 1996.

But seasoned observers can't recall anything like this.

"Goodness gracious," Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark said when she was told of the four-time matchup. She couldn't remember another time that has happened in her 22 years at the elections office. "I'm really surprised."

If you were looking for a single word to describe the relationship between Hoppe and McEwen, "strained" might enter your mind. They don't even speak to each other.

"It's been a long relationship and not a very comfortable one," said McEwen, who holds a 2-1 edge over Hoppe in their three separate races for mayor in this town.

McEwen says Hoppe has called him "slime" and a "jerk."

"Obviously, I wouldn't say anything bad about her," said McEwen, 71. McEwen did concede he thought about buying Hoppe a T-shirt that says, "I'm talking and I can't stop."

Hoppe does not want this campaign to be skewed as just another personal slugfest.

"None of that in the past has anything to do with this department," said Hoppe, 69.

Hoppe, chairman of the fire district's pension board, said she was asked to run by the district's firefighters and some board members. Her mission is to end the discord over Seminole's plans to build a fire station in the Pinellas Suncoast Fire & Rescue's district.

The district covers Indian Shores, Indian Rocks Beach, Belleair Beach, Belleair Shore and a portion of unincorporated land near Seminole. It has 36 firefighters and paramedics and a budget of about $2.7-million.

McEwen said he was asked to run by the board's current representative from Indian Shores, former Mayor Ed Murphree. Murphree said he didn't know Hoppe was interested in the seat and believed she was going to concentrate on her role with the pension board.

Like Hoppe, McEwen decided to run to find common ground on the fire station issue.

Both candidates admit they would have reconsidered running if they had known the other was going to campaign for the seat.

While they don't agree on much, they concur the bad blood between them began in 1988.

McEwen, who a year earlier had taken Hoppe's vacated seat on the town council, had higher ambitions and decided to run for mayor. Hoppe ran against him.

The main issue that year was a beach renourishment project. McEwen pushed for a project to renourish a 2.65-mile stretch of beach. Hoppe took a stand that a badly eroded strip of beach opposite Town Hall should be given priority.

Hoppe won the race by a scant 25 votes.

Two years later, McEwen wanted a rematch.

"He's still carrying a grudge against me because of what happened 11 years ago," said Hoppe, referring to the 1988 race.

McEwen disagrees. He said he was appalled by how Hoppe treated town employees. He claims she verbally abused them and demanded they bring town paperwork to her home. He also heard Hoppe was saying nasty things about him.

"Politics in a small town gets very personal," McEwen explained. "It would be superhuman to forget about it, especially when it happens time after time."

In a three-way race, McEwen beat Hoppe, who came in last, by 60 votes.

Two years later, Hoppe was elected to the council while McEwen was re-elected to a second term as mayor. The two coexisted without much peace from 1992 and 1998, often falling on the opposite side of issues such as charging for parking at Tiki Gardens, a town park, and cost-of-living adjustments for town employees.

Murphree believes the political disputes are natural between the two. Hoppe is a Republican. McEwen is a Democrat.

"I would just say it's a difference in philosophy and personality," he said.

During his years as mayor, McEwen would invite town council members to his home for a Christmas party. Hoppe, he said, would come, but the two kept their distance.

"There were enough people between us," he said.

In 1998, Hoppe ran for mayor against McEwen. The two seemed to mirror each other on the issues but said they differed on management style.

Hoppe portrayed McEwen as a micromanager out of touch with his constituents. McEwen countered that Hoppe has tried to manipulate city policy for a small group of friends.

McEwen won by 25 votes.

This go around, neither candidate has campaigned much. Murphree believes both candidates would do fine on the board.

"I think that either one of them would do a good job," he said.

But somebody has to win.

And that means someone will be on the short end of the stick.

As for the relationship between the two, McEwen doesn't lend much hope to them settling their differences.

"I don't worry about it," he said.

- Information from Times files was used in this report.

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