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On the ballot also are three referendum questions and two other City Council seats.
By ED QUIOCO
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 13, 2001
OLDSMAR -- Voters face a full ballot today in the city's municipal election, which includes three City Council races, seven candidates and three referendum questions.
The races for City Council seats 2 and 4 have remained relatively quiet. But the race for mayor has been heated at times as former Mayor Jerry Beverland and council member Ed Manny debated Oldsmar's proposed charter school and other issues.
"This has been the busiest election by far for me due to the number of candidates," said City Clerk Lisa Lene, who has worked in Oldsmar since 1997.
The city had 6,539 registered voters in February, according to the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Office. Turnout for city elections has increased from 14.6 percent in 1998, to 15.6 percent in 1999, to 21.1 percent last year.
"I am expecting a larger crowd than our previous municipal elections because there are some important issues and there are other important issues coming down the road that the council will be facing," Lene said.
Both Beverland and Manny are well-known, longtime residents with core supporters. The central issue of this race has been Manny's proposal for a city-run charter middle school. Beverland said the proposal could end up costing the city millions. Manny has adamantly claimed that there are ways to finance the proposal using state funds without tapping into city coffers.
Beverland, 65, is a retired Winn-Dixie store manager and former owner of a roofing company and a landscaping company. He served as a council member in 1970 and 1990 to 1994. He also served two terms as mayor from 1995 to 1999.
Manny, 72, is a semiretired real estate broker and owns Land Ho of Tampa Bay Inc. He was elected to the council in 1997 and has served as the vice mayor the past two years.
For Seat 4, voters can chose between two local activists, Dale Renbjor and Don Bohr. Renbjor, 50, is a senior staff sales engineer for Intermedia Communications in Tampa and has been a member of the city's Planning Board. Bohr, 65, is a former traveling salesman and a retired Clearwater code enforcement officer and has been a member of the city's Planning Board and parks and recreation advisory committee.
The three-way race for Seat 2 offers voters a diverse field of political newcomers. Marcelo Caruso, 29, was born in Brazil and owns Caruso On Site Auto Care and Towing in Oldsmar. Deborah Chapman, 41, is a homemaker with six children and a vocal critic of the city. Jean Jorgenson, 77, is a former custom decorator who has volunteered for numerous organizations.
Voters also will have to decide whether to amend Oldsmar's charter, the city's governmental blueprint, in three referendums.
The first question seeks to change how often the council appoints a Charter Review Committee. Under the current requirements, the committee has to be appointed every three years.
The proposed amendment seeks to change the frequency of appointments to "at least once every 10 years," which would give the council more flexibility.
"If there is nothing that needs to be changed, why should the committee still meet every three years?" City Attorney Tom Trask asked.
City officials say the other two referendums are housecleaning items.
The second proposed amendment seeks to delete the charter's Article 9, titled Transition Schedule. This outdated section has five items that specifically deal with the process of adopting the city's current charter in 1984, Trask said.
The third referendum deals with changing a section of the charter to correct the reference to the length of council members' terms from two years to three years. Voters already have approved extending council terms from two to three years, but a section of the charter "had not been referenced or changed," Lene said.
The city's three polling locations are Precinct 629 at Forest Lakes Elementary School, 301 Pine Ave. N; Precinct 630 at City Council chambers, 100 State St. W; and Precinct 631 at Gull Aire Village, 3138 Curlew Road.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Staff writer Ed Quioco can be reached at (727) 445-4183 or at quioco@sptimes.com.