Dunedin's Mayor Announces Run for U.S. CongressBy Cassie BouldinDUNEDIN - The Mayor of Dunedin, Bob Hackworth, is joining the race for U.S. Congress. On Earth Day, April 22nd, Hackworth formally announced that he is a candidate for the Congressional seat currently held by 19-term incumbent U.S. Rep C.W. "Bill" Young. Hackworth looks forward to representing Florida's 10th District, which covers most of Pinellas County. "Dunedin is the poster child of a well-governed city," says Bob Hackworth (D-FL). "I couldn't run for Congress as the mayor of a better community. Dunedin is acclaimed for having a sense of community. Its safe neighborhoods are enriched with arts, culture, libraries, parks and recreation. It is also one of the first cities in the state to go "green". Under Hackworth's leadership, Dunedin began cutting its tax rate long before state-mandated property tax relief efforts hit last year. As a result, Dunedin weathered the budget-reduction storm better than most cities. "We didn't have to cut services like many cities did," says Hackworth. "Instead, we made government more efficient in order to provide the same level of service for fewer dollars. That's what our citizens wanted and that's what people deserve from every branch of government." For 38 years Republican, C.W. "Bill" Young represented Florida's 10th District in Congress. The 77-year old representative was first elected in 1970 and spends most of his time in Washington, D.C. "People want a change in the type of leader who goes to Washington to represent them," Hackworth says. "Voters want leaders with children who attend local schools and play Little League baseball with their children. They want leaders who buy the family groceries at Publix or Sweet Bay and who stay in-touch with the local community." National Debt continues to grow by $1 million every minute with almost every new dollar borrowed from Asia and China and Hackworth hopes to help fix that problem. "It's time to deal with the over 9 trillion dollar national debt,"says Hackworth. "Do we really need a 39th and 40th year of Congressman Young's earmarks and pork barrel spending increasing the burden on our children and grandchildren?" In addition to being mayor of Dunedin, Hackworth currently runs an educational publishing company and is the Chairman of the Pinellas County Planning Council. He's been happily married for 27 years and he is the proud father of two children: 7-year old Bobby and 10 year-old Maddie. Both children attend neighborhood schools. "I'm running for Congress because I feel strongly that we must address the important issues facing our nation: a struggling economy including thousands of homeowners losing their homes to foreclosure, escalating health care costs - over 47 million Americans without health insurance, a dubious and costly war in Iraq, and bailouts for Wall Street but none for Main Street."
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