Now that we have the intrigue of the presidential primary out of the way, let's turn to something that has infinitely more impact on our day-to-day lives here in Tampa Bay: local offices.
I can hear the boos now. Who gives a crap about the County Commission? Who cares whether Pinellas Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clarke is re-elected? Does it really matter who follows Jim Smith as the Pinellas property appraiser?
Well, yes it does, actually.
Local offices are where the rubber meets the road. Local officials either screw up or improve your life every single day. Property taxes. New roads. Better bus routes. Library hours. That parks and rec program up the street where you drop your kids off each summer so you don't have to stay home and watch them destroy what's left of your sanity.
There are lots of important battles across the board — including several open seats on the Pinellas County Commission, the aforementioned race to replace Property Appraiser Jim Smith, the Democratic primary between Bob Hackworth, Samm Simpson and Max Linn for the right to run against Congressman C.W. Bill Young — but here are the five most interesting/most important campaigns to keep your eye on this year:
5. Amendment 2. This is such a bogus initiative, looking to enshrine a ban against same-sex marriages in Florida's Constitution even though marriage is already against the law here. Nothing like dumping, oh, upwards of $10 million into an unnecessary fight.
But the margin in this race is razor thin: 58 percent of Floridians in a recent poll said they support the constitutional ban. Supporters need 60 percent to win.
This is the civil-rights struggle of our day. Let's face it, marriage is a civil union, one sanctioned by the state without any regard to whether the man and woman getting married are religious at all. So if people support civil unions for same-sex couples (as polling shows they do), isn't "marriage" just a civil union? Oh, and then there's the unintended consequences for heterosexual couples, as demonstrated by a recent Michigan Supreme Court decision: The court ruled that the state's anti-gay marriage law also applied to non-married straights, thus depriving all state employees, gay and straight, of domestic partner benefits.
4. Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections. The incumbent, Republican Buddy Johnson, has been rocked by story after story in the St. Petersburg Times, which has revealed that he failed to pay property taxes on time, sought a questionable agricultural exemption, and generally seemed to be ignorant of how his office operates. Challenging him is Democrat Phyllis Busansky, who was a member of a progressive Hillsborough County Commission from 1989 to 1997. Expect this one to generate major fireworks, with more media revelations to come and both campaigns ready to go at it tooth and nail.
And yet, how many people will pay attention to this way-down ballot campaign for an office that is vitally important but that is really only used once every two years?
3. Pinellas County Commission District 3. This is an open seat on the Pinellas County Commission, one of a handful that represent the biggest chance for change on that board in a few decades. The Pinellas board is more progressive than its Hillsborough cousin, but still, given the Jim Smith land scandal last year, it clearly has room for improvement. On the Republican side, socially conservative School Board Member Nancy Bostock is the nominee. She has supported teaching Intelligent Design as a theory alongside evolution, fought against gay rights and opposed a tax increase to pay for teacher raises.
On the Democratic side, Sierra Club field director and environmental advocate Darden Rice and former St. Petersburg City Councilwoman Rene Flowers face off for the nomination. The primary vote is Aug. 26.
2. Hillsborough County Mayor Initiative. Can you run a complex county government for 1 million people by committee? Supporters of a strong-mayor form of government say no and are pitching it to voters, including those who are tired of the personalities on the County Commission and might be inclined to look for an alternative. Expect lots of money in opposition; some very good political operatives are already on board to stop the initiative.
1. Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair's re-election. Putting Blair out of office should be every progressive's priority in Tampa Bay, regardless of where you live. He's the commissioner who raised hell about the "Day of Silence" in our public schools. He's the one who led efforts to gut the county's wetlands rules and regulators. If there is a wrong side of an issue, activists believe, you can find Blair on it. Running against him on the Democratic side will be either serial candidate and free-speech advocate Joe Redner, smart-growth activist Denise Layne or financial advisor Kevin Beckner, all of whom are running for the nomination.
Full disclosure: As a political consultant in the 1990s, the author worked for Phyllis Busansky.
This article appears in Jul 2-8, 2008.