Both tout populist roots

By MICHAEL SANDLER

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 23, 2000

TAMPA -- Most afternoons, Bob Henriquez can be found preaching pass protection to high school football players not quite old enough to vote. Instead of pumping hands on door steps, the state representative pops shoulders before empty bleachers at Jefferson High School.

The volunteer position at Jefferson High School is hardly a publicity stop for Henriquez. He has spent 14 years coaching football.

"This is something I've been doing for a long time," says Henriquez, 36. "And I intend to keep doing it long after I leave (office)."

A few miles away, the man seeking to take Henriquez's District 58 seat in the state House, a talkative hairstylist, dispenses his political views while coloring a customer's hair. With 400 steady clients, Eddy Calcines always has an audience.

"For 23 years, I've been dealing in public service," says Calcines, 45, as he works in his salon on Waters Avenue. The shop also serves as his campaign office.

The Democratic coach and the Republican hairdresser might seem to have little in common. Yet at a time when most candidates carry law degrees and professional resumes to Tallahassee, each candidate proudly touts himself as an everyman with tangible ties to his community.

Of course, Henriquez cannot support himself as a volunteer football coach. He works for a company that builds cellular phone towers. He earns approximately $40,000 a year.

For years, barber shops and athletic fields have been the unofficial dens of political banter. But in a country where an actor can be elected president and a professional wrestler, governor, football coaches and hairstylists now may be taking their place in the main arena.

"They probably come in contact with a lot more constituents than the average legislator who is a lawyer and know more common people, certainly," says Susan MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida. "I think it helps them read the concerns of more middle-class individuals, the average-Joe-type of voter."

Speaking the same language is vital, and in District 58, representatives had better understand Spanish. West Tampa makes up a huge portion of this voting district. Signs along Armenia Avenue advertise pasteles and cafe con leche.

Eddy Calcines came to the United States from Cuba at age 14. By the time he turned 20, he was cutting hair for a living in Tampa.

For eight years, Calcines rented a booth from owners of hair salons with names such as Night Owls and Main Scene. Eventually, he earned enough money to open his own salon.

While toiling with scissors and a blow dryer, Calcines also honed his oratorical skills.

"After spending five minutes with him, you know his opinions and beliefs," says Marcee Kasak, a longtime customer. "He's very passionate."

Calcines is making his first run for state office. Following an unsuccessful bid for the Hillsborough School Board in 1996, Calcines spent two years working on the Billy Graham Crusade. He also served on the Hillsborough County Citizens Advisory Committee and has been a member of the school board at Bayshore Christian School, where his wife teaches and his son is a student.

He speaks of making education a priority and offers his small-business sense as his primary asset. He also has expressed a strong commitment to the Christian Coalition and mails results of their surveys to voters.

Some candidates may have more impressive resumes, he acknowledged. But Calcines said two decades of running a business and listening to customers are strong qualifications that should not be overlooked.

"There are so many elements that come into keeping these doors open," said Calcines about his business. "Every single day, I feel I need to be accountable to my clients."

With less than $20,000 in contributions, Calcines has kept the campaign simple by knocking on doors four days a week. He has set a goal of 500 homes a week for 10 weeks with hopes of reaching 5,000 of the nearly 40,000 homes in the district by the Nov. 7 election.

The effort has forced him to cut back his salon hours to three days a week. That does not include the endless stream of phone calls he juggles during appointments.

"His time is becoming more precious to him," said Kasak, who waited patiently for Calcines to finish several calls during her session.

Calcines turned and smiled. "This is about as grass-roots as you are going to get," he said.

His opponent, Henriquez, made an impressive debut in the House after he defeated Deborah Tamargo in 1998 to claim the District 58 seat. He has earned praise as a centrist who works with both parties to pass several non-controversial bills.

The son of a house painter and the grandson of cigar rollers in Ybor City, Henriquez excelled as a student at Tampa Catholic. He earned an academic scholarship to Princeton in 1982, where he studied political science and played offensive line.

When he returned to Tampa in 1986, he took a job coaching football at his alma mater and became head coach in 1991. He has also worked as a Hillsborough County planner for 11 years and was the government affairs coordinator for the Builders Association of Greater Tampa.

In January of this year, Henriquez stepped down from his coaching post at Tampa Catholic after a disagreement with the school's administrators over the football program.

He accepted the voluntary position at Jefferson, and in May took a full-time job as an urban planner with SBA Inc, a private consulting firm that builds cellular telephone towers. As the zoning manager for the company's territory in West-Central Florida, he reviews sites and helps work through the bureaucratic process of getting building permits.

Henriquez said his education and professional experience demonstrate an intellectual curiosity. But coaching high school football has offered an opportunity to mentor students and learn about issues teenagers face.

"Being a football coach is more than Xs and Os," said Henriquez. "You deal with parents and the difficulties of raising children. It sort of keeps me grounded. It's a way for me to contribute (to the community) and keep my ear to the ground."

But he strives to keep politics and football coaching separate.

"A couple (of) players have come to me and asked for registration forms," said Henriquez. "I don't come out and tell them what I do. They find out."

Indeed, they do.

"It is not something people talk about, but we are aware," said 16-year-old junior Jerry Williams, who transferred from Tampa Catholic to Jefferson so he could continue playing for Henriquez. "I've read about him in the papers and have seen him out campaigning. I feel a deep sense of pride. That's my coach."

- Michael Sandler can be reached at (813) 226-3472 or sandler@sptimes.com.

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