As of late, there has been quite a bit of news about the St. Pete City Council District 4 race. Mark Puente of the Times reported last week that both Darden Rice and David McKalip have rented homes in the newly drawn up district but don't actually live there.
St. Pete's charter requires that candidates live in a district for a full year before an election. Uncertainty ensued this year after the Redistricting Commission changed district boundaries, leaving both candidates outside of the newly drawn District 4.
The third entrant into the race, Carolyn Fries, called on the pair to drop out after news broke, but said she won't pursue legal action.
Not surprisingly, neither candidate plans on exiting the contest. A day before Puente's story broke, I bumped into McKalip at the spanking new Birchwood Inn — at a fundraising event hosted by St Pete Pride — and got his views on the issues.
This article appears in May 30 – Jun 5, 2013.