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Rick Baker, who holds a broad edge in campaign funds, became a target for some others wanting to be St. Petersburg's next mayor.
By BRYAN GILMER
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 31, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- Mayoral candidate Rick Baker found himself fending off attacks Tuesday because he raised more money than any of his eight opponents.
"This campaign is about experience, leadership and bringing people together," candidate Larry Williams said at the first forum of the campaign, held at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg.
"It will not be to see if this campaign can be bought," he said. "A lot of people expect this to be a coronation. This is going to be an election."
Williams, chairman of the City Council, had raised $26,000 -- about half as much as Baker -- by the January round of treasury reports.
He was just one of the candidates speaking before the audience of some 300 Tuesday night to suggest that Baker may be beholden to the special interests that fund his campaign.
"There is nothing I like to do less than raise money," said candidate Karl Nurse, who is second to Baker in fund-raising but himself gave 60 percent of the $30,000 in his treasury.
"I will not bring in the governor, of course," Nurse added, drawing chuckles with the swipe at Baker's controversial decision to have Republican Gov. Jeb Bush appear at a fundraiser. "But I will raise enough money to get the message across."
Council member Kathleen Ford, who had raised $13,000, chimed in by saying, "Let the people say the mayor's office is not for sale."
Baker tried to make a joke of it all, saying, "I wonder what they're all talking about."
Then he punched back, saying, "I don't think this campaign is going to be about money. I don't think it'll be determined by the fact that some candidates have the ability to use city money to put themselves on TV every week."
Williams and Ford are on the city television station during council meetings, and Nurse is on during Planning Commission meetings as a board member and former chairman.
Ironically, many of the same candidates agreed that City Council meetings need to be more civil discussions, and many said the city must lead economic development efforts to improve the city's poorest neighborhoods, where civil unrest erupted in 1996.
"As you can see, almost everybody here has more or less the same script," said candidate Omali Yeshitela, who wants to make all the neighborhoods of the city realize they are in interdependent, then spend city money to redevelop the poorest neighborhoods.
On some issues, the candidates sounded sharp differences. For instance, would they keep Goliath Davis III as the city's police chief? Davis was appointed after the disturbances.
Candidates Pat Bailey and Ford likely would replace Davis. Baker wouldn't, but he would be more involved in running the Police Department than Mayor David Fischer has been. Nurse, candidate Maria Scruggs-Weston, Williams and Yeshitela said they like Davis.
The candidates also had differing ideas on how to handle the water shortage.
Baker would work to increase the regional supply of water to avoid having to restrict development. Ford said that for months she has been pushing the City Council to push residents to conserve more water, which she sees as a short-term necessity.
Nurse and Scruggs-Weston would expand the use of reclaimed water, with Scruggs-Weston suggesting metering the use of the recycled water to encourage users to use less. Yeshitela said people do not realize how serious the crisis really is, and the city should make them aware so they use less water.
The discussion was the first of likely a dozen such conversations before the primary Feb. 27, when voters will narrow the field to two for the March 27 election.