Bellying up to the bar at A Neighborhood Bistro, John Mandujano smiles as a waitress places a plate of fish and chips in front of him. Though he's a vegetarian — one who sits on the board of the Tampa Bay Vegetarians, no less — he digs into the fried cod with abandon.
Mandujano, deep into his campaign for a Largo City Commission seat, can't be easily labeled.
Take his political leanings. The Chicago native is a Democrat who has volunteered for numerous underdog Republican campaigns. And despite his liberal leanings on social issues, he doesn't mince words when suggesting cuts to city services in favor of lower property taxes.
"It does surprise some Democrats how conservative I am fiscally," Mandujano, 52, admits between bites. "I think that's just going to bat for families."
In his race against incumbent Vice Mayor Harriet Crozier, Mandujano has called for privatizing city services and reining in code enforcement. But what marks his campaign most is not his fiscal policy. It's his refusal to let go of a months-old controversy: the firing of Susan Stanton.
While the other three candidates vying for two commission seats decline to talk about the former city manager — arguably the biggest controversy to dog Largo in years — Mandujano won't let go of the subject. He ties all of Largo's issues — lowering property taxes, reducing spending and attracting businesses — to that Feb. 27 meeting when commissioners fired Stanton.
"It is the biggest example of inefficiency in Largo government in years," he says. "The more you dig into the politics of Largo, the more you find out about financial impropriety."
He rails about Stanton's raise just five months before his firing and the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on his severance pay. Not to mention, he says, the message sent to the rest of Pinellas County and the country.
But Mandujano's main hurdle may be getting his own message to voters.
Neighborhood Bistro owner Dave Schumacher offers the candidate some advice as he eats his lunch.
"It's a dead issue," Schumacher says about Stanton. "I don't think that's going to help you get elected."
But Mandujano doesn't back down. "As long as we let this black eye stay, people are going to view Largo as backward and not the city of progress," he says, wagging his finger and raising his voice passionately. "The commissioners who voted to fire Steve Stanton have to pay, and they will pay in November."
(Mandujano notes that he would not work to hire Stanton back if elected.)
Crozier, Mandujano's opponent, says the city has "moved on" from the Stanton controversy. The more important issues are redevelopment efforts downtown and workforce housing, she says. Largo residents, she says, want a "knowledgeable" candidate — a swipe at Mandujano's lack of government service.
But Mandujano — a systems analyst who boasts on his campaign website of "more than 25 years of successful private sector experience!" — notes that a limited background in government is better than bad judgment.
"When I was gaining signatures, I would hear this all the time — the Largo Commission needs a lot of work," he says. "The city government doesn't accurately reflect the residents. [Residents] question their objectivity and ability to look at issues with fresh eyes.
"I just don't think they can do it anymore."
This article appears in Oct 10-16, 2007.