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Gentlemen do battle in quiet commission race
By ALISA ULFERTS © St. Petersburg Times, published October 29, 2000 Both candidates in the County Commission District 5 race have waged a true gentleman's campaign in their quest to fill that seat. They emerged from primaries that turned harsh to compete in a general election that so far has remained free of attack. In fact, Democrat Peter Altman and Republican Jack Armstrong have even traded a public compliment or two. "I told Jack I appreciated that he hasn't gone negative," Altman said earlier this month. And Armstrong, when recently asked to comment on a story about Altman's late property taxes, said he preferred to stick to the positive issues of his own campaign. "I don't want to be mudslinging. I want to run a clean campaign," Armstrong said at the time. Armstrong has been a sheriff's deputy for 12 years, currently as a sergeant on patrol. Altman is an accountant, and has spent 12 years with the New Port Richey City Council, eight of them as mayor. The two candidates, both tall and slim with a shock of white hair in front, will face off Nov. 7 to replace outgoing Commissioner David "Hap" Clark. Altman is a polished speaker, and recently wowed the audience at the Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club. When asked what he would do about an eyesore of a construction debris mine that has irked residents there for some time, Altman began asking what it was about the mine that bothered residents. "Is it the aesthetics? Is it the trucks," Altman asked. Heads nodded and "yeahs" were murmured. Those trucks stir up dust. "Well, the first thing I'd do is require them to pave any road they were using," Altman declared. The audience roared and clapped. Altman drew his hand across his brow, wiping off mock perspiration. "I got that one right," he declared, and was rewarded with laughter. As a newcomer to politics, Armstrong's platform at times may not appear as polished as his opponent's. But his campaign projects the all-American boy image his name suggests (he was named in part after his father and in part after the radio personality). While sitting down recently with a Times reporter for a breakfast interview at a Bayonet Point Denny's, he even ordered that diner's All American Slam -- scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon and hash browns. His literature features pictures of himself in high school with baseball bat in had, his wedding photo, a picture of himself as a child with U.S. Rep. Bill Young and a current photo with Gov. Jeb Bush. Both men say they have made sacrifices for their families -- Armstrong recently missed the debate at the Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club because he went to Indiana to visit his uncle, who has terminal cancer. And Altman's financial disclosure forms include several personal loans Altman said he needed to help his children several years ago. AltmanDuring Altman's time on the New Port Richey council, he was widely credited with redeveloping that city's downtown and with finding state money to set aside the 80-acre James E. Grey Preserve. In his literature, Altman notes he was a signer of the accord that gave the city of New Port Richey a vote on the board of Tampa Bay Water, the agency charged with developing new water sources for the region. He vows to work to ensure the two deadlines to bring new water supplies on line, 2002 and 2007, are met. But Altman takes it a step further. He has promised voters that he will require that new growth matches the available water sources. Altman said he isn't advocating a building moratorium; he simply wants government to stop accommodating growth by putting water and sewer lines into undeveloped areas. "Government has been working hard to accommodate growth. And we shouldn't be working as a government to lay all those pipes," Altman said. He also wants the county to require homes to hook up to existing sewer lines so the county can increase its supply of reclaimed water, which is used for irrigation. Altman also wants to be the County Commission's liaison to the Economic Development Council. He says his goal is to bring high-end, clean industrial jobs to the county. That would include using state and federal funds for job training and business recruitment. Altman adds he wants to put more street lighting on major corridors (the county just signed off on a plan to light the intersections of State Road 54 at Old County Road 54 and Little Road at State Road 54) and smarter street signals (county officials have worked out a plan with the state to synchronize lights on U.S. 19). ArmstrongArmstrong's priority as the District 5 county commissioner would be to push the adoption of the county's adult entertainment ordinance, which has languished for months as the county sorts through the ramifications of a U.S. Supreme Court decision. But the sheriff's sergeant said the real power to shut down the adult businesses that seem to proliferate along U.S. 19 in Hudson lies in the hands of the people. "They should picket, pretend to take pictures," Armstrong said. The key to Armstrong's economic development platform is attracting a large, regional mall to the Wesley Chapel area. That idea was proposed two years ago by the Mills Corp. of Arlington Va., but later dropped. Armstrong acknowledges some may question his proposal because retail jobs tend to be low paying. But he defended his idea Friday, saying he's read that a large mall could garner as much as $100-million in local, state and federal taxes. "Those people (potential customers) have to spend their money somewhere," Armstrong said. He added that he attended an economic development seminar in which the retail and health care industries were praised for their profitability. Armstrong also wants to do something with health care. Specifically, he wants to help low income seniors pay for their medications. Though he says this idea needs some fine-tuning, Armstrong said he'd like to work with the state legislature to establish a foundation to help pay for prescriptions. Its structure and funding, however, are yet to be determined, and a similar measure was already passed by the legislature this year. Party troublesFor much of his campaign, Armstrong has gone at it with just his own crew of volunteers. A single $100 check he wrote in 1998 to support Democrat Sheriff Lee Cannon's effort to establish a special taxing district for law enforcement cost him the support of the conservative wing of the Pasco Republican Party. But they have warmed up to him now, Armstrong said. Altman has endured some criticism from his own party. He has long been considered a rising star among Democrats, along with his opponent in the Democratic primary, former Port Richey Mayor Eileen Ferdinand. But Altman's decision to run surprised local Democrat power brokers, who had already chosen Ferdinand to be that party's candidate in the District 5 race. He won the primary, but not before Ferdinand mailed out a flier recounting Altman's personal financial delinquencies, including his failure this year to pay his property taxes on time. The reason: Altman said he had a temporary cash-flow problem created when he and his wife purchased their riverfront dream home before they had a chance to sell their old home. Altman said it was cheaper for him to pay the interest accruing on his delinquent tax account than it would be for him to get a commercial loan to pay the bill. And it's an option he'd encourage other taxpayers to consider. "Sure I would, because that's what goes on all the time," Altman said at the time. Just one month later, Altman was late with another payment: his Sept. 29 campaign finance report. He was fined $1,047 for the infraction, which he said was caused when his campaign treasurer became ill and couldn't file the report. So far, Altman has raised $34,098 and spent $33,730.87, while Armstrong has raised $44,759.60 and spent $32,903.42.
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