Indian Rocks Beach Candidates Forum AnnouncedBy Renee BurrellThe public is invited to a question and answer session with candidates seeking election for city council on Monday, March 3, at 7 p.m. Incumbents Cookie Kennedy, Bill Okunzzi and R.B. Johnson will join non-incumbents Daniel Torres and Donald House at the Homeowners' Association of Indian Rocks Beach meeting at the Indian Rocks Beach Civic Auditorium, 1507 Bay Palm Boulevard. Several of the candidates share their experience and viewpoints concerning IRB below.
Don House What experience have you had that qualifies you for municipal leadership? I have a BA in Finance and experience with the U.S. Treasury. My wife and I have been married 35 years and have two children and twin grandchildren. I moved to Florida in 1967 and fell in love with IRB the first time I came here in 1971. The little house on the beach that I live in has been in the family since the 60s. What are the most important issues facing IRB residents and why should they vote for you? For the past two years, I have been on the Planning and Zoning Committee and am currently its vice-chairman. The most pressing problem facing the city is the shortfall in revenues. With the passage of Amendment 1 and the decline in construction resulting in a loss of fees, the city must begin to take immediate steps to avoid greater problems at the year end. The new commission will be forced to make tough and possibly unpopular decisions. Of the three commission candidates, I am the most qualified for this task. More information about me and my views can be found on my website www.houseirb.com.
R.B. Johnson What experience have you had that qualifies you for municipal leadership? My family has owned property and cottages in Indian Rocks Beach since the 1930s. I moved to IRB permanently in 1989. I have been a city commissioner since 2000, and I am currently the vice-mayor. I am also the chairman of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) board of directors, a board which I joined in 2002. Before I was elected to the city commission, I served as chairman of Indian Rocks' Beautification Board. I have been on the IRB Historical Society board of directors since 2003, and I have been a member of IRB's Executive Committee since 1998. I am also a member of Action 2000, the IRB Homeowners Association, Friends of the Library, and the Beach Art Center. In 2000 I received an appreciation award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency for my volunteer work planting and preserving dune vegetation. I regularly volunteer at a number of city-wide community events. What are the most important issues facing IRB residents and why should they vote for you? While campaigning all around IRB the last couple of weeks, the one issue that has been brought up by residents again and again is the dysfunctional behavior of the city commission. Citizens tell me they are tired of the endless squabbling, inability to make decisions without beating things to death, and conduct of political guerilla warfare via e-mail. They're sick of it all! I hear a desire for more collegial behavior among the commissioners, and a turning away of the spotlight from the micro-personal agendas of commissioners to the essential policy deci-sions that we were elected to deal with. I believe I have consistently exhibited a consensus-building style of leadership both on the IRB commission and on the PSTA board of directors (one reason I was elected by my peers to be chair of that board). I always endeavor to be calm, fair, thoughtful and dignified, and I am running for mayor-commissioner in order to restore an air of decorum to our decision-making.
Bill Ockunzzi What experience have you had that qualifies you for municipal leadership? My experience includes service on the City Commission since 2003, the last three as Mayor. I have also served on the City's Planning and Zoning Board, about five years, and am a member of several civic organizations. My professional career includes four years as Executive Director of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and another 10 years in various managerial positions with that organization. I've also spent, all told, about six years on two corporate boards of directors (engineering, planning, architecture and environmental services firms) and had my own private planning and development firm since about 1994. My clients included large projects ranging from residential and commercial developments to liquid fuel and natural gas pipelines, etc. Since scaling back on consulting I have focused on managing our residential rentals and starting the Laughing Lizard Bed and Breakfast with my wife, Jan. It is great fun listening to our guests marvel at how IRB has been able to retain much of its small town charm. We tell them it has not been easy, but it is what the residents want. I believe IRB is a terrific family oriented beach community. It is low density, environ- mentally friendly with a good sense of community. The residents, rich and not so rich, owners, renters, long timers and short timers all share a desire for good neighborhoods and strong sense of community. That is why our civic events and festivals are so popular and volunteerism is so strong. As IRBers, we like our town, a lot. I sponsored the Charter Amend-ment that requires a super majority vote to increase density or building height. This is still our principal defense against over development. It is what keeps IRB a small town. What are the most important issues facing IRB residents why should they vote for you? The challenge and most important issues are keeping IRB affordable and small scale. The current economy's challenges and compliance with Amendment 1's revenue impacts (decreases) is job 1. I have voted to reduce the tax rate five consecutive years because I believe government should live within its means and pay as you go with regard to adding new services and facilities. Give money back to the people whenever possible. Our businesses, landlords and many of our residents cannot afford tax and sewer and solid waste rate increases. In light of the expected revenue reductions from Amendment 1 and general slow down in sales tax collections, the City needs to reduce spending. The city needs to focus on providing for law enforcement services that keep our citizens and visitors safe and allows them to feel safe; maintaining our existing infrastructure to avoid service disruptions and more costly future repairs. Because of our volunteerism IRB can maintain existing events, festivals and organizations which constitute the "fabric of our community." The magnitude of the challenge is largely unknown, but, just the doubling of the homestead exemption, $25,000 tangible tax exemption and 3 percent reduction in taxable values will reduce ad valorem revenue by about $100,000. Does anyone believe the reduction in taxable values will be limited to just 3 percent? The City Treasurer has also identified other revenue sources that are down year to date: State Revenue Sharing down 2.5 percent; Sales tax shortfall of $25,000; building permit revenue shortfall of $15-20,000. These shortfalls will cut into reserves and reduce the City's spending power at the current tax rate next year. The City Manager should be holding the line on spending, now, in anticipation of a lean year next year. I am an optimist. We can use this opportunity to "think outside the box" and find ways to deliver the same service at a reduced cost by out sourcing; combining departments to reduce managerial costs; joining forces with other communities for some services; etc. We can trim expenses by tightening our belts (the City Treasurer identified $87,000 in possible non labor related cutbacks and $180,000 in labor dollars that could be saved) and eliminating frivolous projects. It is time to focus on priority needs: law enforcement at existing levels of coverage, maintain existing infrastructure, and a clean environment. We need to return more tax dollars to taxpayers so they can have the funds to improve and maintain their property, which is the best investment for IRB. In spite of the economic dip, this is a good time for IRB because we can measure up to the challenge of keeping IRB affordable and small scale.
Daniel Torres What experience have you had that qualifies you for municipal leadership? My wife Valerie and I moved to Indian Rocks in 1999 and live in the same home we purchased at that time. My experience in IRB started in 2000 when I was appointed to the Beautification Board. Around that same time I also became a board member of the IRB Homeowners Association. I presently serve on both boards as Vice Chairman of the Beautification Board and as Vice President of the Homeowners Association. I have regularly volunteered whenever possible to civic activities and believe that this is one of the best ways we can all help our community. My wife believes the same and is presently the Indian Rocks Beach Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Board. We serve on these boards simply because we believe in them and it is an honor to be a part of our community. We are dedicated to IRB because it is our home and we love it here. We honestly believe we live in one of the best small towns in America. If there is any way that we can help our community, we try to lend ourselves to the best of our abilities. What are the most important issues facing IRB residents why should they vote for you? Over Development - I believe a large part of our development issues stem from strong design criteria or lack there of. We must improve in this area if we are going to see visible change for future development. County Funding - As many of us understand our beaches are a major reason the Bay Area thrives with tourism and we must continue working on getting funding back to our community from our county. Efforts are being made, but we must continue to push for a better balance. Local Taxes and City Budget - We all love the beauty, service and amenities that we are all so privileged to have as residents of IRB. We must find a way to come to a fair balance to maintain the lifestyle we all enjoy. To do this the budget must continually be kept in check by the City Commission, IRB Finance Board and IRB City Staff. I believe one of the most important issues facing our city is stability. Over the past several years there has been quite a bit of turnover of lead positions in the city. This is due to several factors and the leadership on the commission must work towards changing this recent trend. I believe many of the residents are quite tired of all the negativity and big city politics going on here in Indian Rocks. If elected to the commission, I will look forward to working with my fellow commissioners on working on the agenda and turning away from all the personal politics. I promise to bring what I bring to everything that I am a part of, passion and a positive attitude. I will bring my caring for the city and desire for the city to return to a stronger sense of community that many of us were accustomed to prior to the past several years.
Cookie Kennedy Ms. Kenney was unavailable to answer our questions but sent us the following informtion. I think we need to further examine property taxes and property insurance working with businesses and residents in a positive and professional manner to develop a plan that preserves our quality of life in Indian Rocks Beach and keeps it attractive for small business and single family residents. Indian Rocks Beach is a special community. We need to protect our environmentally sensitive town by not succumbing to "condo canyons" and traffic jams along the beach. We need to ensure a good quality of life that doesn't overly tax and yet has the services we need. I offer our city my dedication, my loyalty, my experience, my problem-solving ability and my willingness to put citizens' goals above my own self-interests. I've lived and worked in Indian Rocks Beach for 23 years, served as a commissioner and vice mayor of Indian Rocks Beach. I have chosen to raise my son, Luke, here; we love Indian Rocks Beach; this is our home. I bring to the city a positive and fresh approach.
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