FLORIDA
WEST COAST
Opinion by:
E. Eugene Webb PhD
Below, is a list of those people who have formally announced their endorsement for former county Commissioner Ken Welch for the office of Mayor of St. Petersburg Florida.
- Charlie Crist, U.S.
Congressman
- Jim Davis, Former
U.S. Congressman
- Arthenia Joyner, Former
State Senator
- Rene Flowers, Pinellas
County Commissioner
- Pat Gerard, Pinellas
County Commissioner
- Charlie Justice, Pinellas
County Commissioner
- Janet Long, Pinellas
County Commissioner
- Karen Seel, Pinellas
County Commissioner
- Les Miller, Former
Hillsborough Commission Chair and State Senator
- Bob Gualtieri, Pinellas
County Sheriff
- Jim Coats, Former
Pinellas County Sheriff
- Bob Stewart, Former
Pinellas County Commissioner and former City Councilmember
- Ken Burke, Pinellas
County Clerk
- Deborah Clark, Former
Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections
- Pam Dubov, Former
Pinellas County Property Appraiser
- Sandra Bradbury, Mayor
of Pinellas Park
- Julie Bujalski, Mayor
of Dunedin
- Sam Henderson, Mayor
of Gulfport
- Frank Hibbard, Mayor
of Clearwater
- Bob Buckhorn, Former
Mayor of Tampa
- Deborah Figgs-Sanders, St. Petersburg City Council
- Lisa Wheeler-Bowman, St.
Petersburg City Council
- Amy Foster, St.
Petersburg City Council
- Charlie Gerdes, Former
St. Petersburg City Council
- Connie Kone, Former
St. Petersburg City Council
- Richard Butler, Pinellas
Park City Council
- Michael Fridovich, City
of Gulfport City Council
- James Oliver, City
of Seminole City Council
- Ward Frizolowski, St. Petersburg Beach City Council
- Irene Sullivan, Judge
(Ret.) and Juvenile Justice Advocate
- Dave Aronberg, Palm
Beach County State Attorney
- Ben Crump, Civil
Rights Attorney
- Sean Shaw, Attorney
and Founder of People Over Profits
- Bob Dillinger, Pinellas
County/Pasco County Public Defender (Ret.)
- Leon Jackson, Civil
Rights Pioneer, Member of “The Courageous 12” and St. Petersburg Police Officer
(Ret.)
- Iman Abdul Ali, Tampa
Bay Area Muslim Association
- Pastor Louis Murphy, Mt.
Zion Progressive MBC
- Pastor J.C. Pritchett, IMA Chair, St Petersburg
- Pastor Robert Ward, Mt.
Moriah Baptist Church
- Pastor Clarence Williams, Greater Mt. Zion AME
- Pastor Andy Oliver, Allendale
United Methodist Church
- Rev. Dr. Manual Sykes, Manuel L. Sykes Ministries, Inc.
- Gwendolyn Reese, CEO,
African American Heritage Association
- LJ Murphy, Former
Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Head Football Coach at Gibbs High School
- Bob Devin Jones, Studio@620
Founder and Artistic Director
- Elihu & Carolyn Brayboy, Owners, Chief Creole Café and Community Developers
- Susan Churuti, Attorney
and St. Petersburg Business Owner
- Scott Wagman, St.
Petersburg Business Leader, Philanthropist and Community Activist
- Carla Bristol, Youth
Advocate and Community Activist, Urban Youth Farms
- Eric Lynn, Former
National Security Advisor
- Martha Lenderman, Mental
Health Services Advocate
- Vince and Robin Cocks, Community Leaders, St. Petersburg
- Ricardo Davis, Chair,
Education Advocate
- Stephanie Owens, Vice
Chair, St. Petersburg Housing Authority
There is no doubt, that Ken Welch is a
dedicated politician and public servant. He spent 20 years or so serving as a
member of the Pinellas County Board of County commissioners and has been active
in Pinellas County politics for every one of those 20-years.
In fact, the hardest problem in dealing with
Ken Welch has been to get him to honor Pinellas County's term limits, which
went into effect years ago, and he has continued to ignore like a number of his
Commission contemporaries.
So, it's tough to argue that Ken Welch is not
the consummate politician.
The question is, can Ken Welch shed the
professional politician role and turn into the leader/manager of a nearly 2500
employee public business.
Just because you can get votes, or
endorsements from political cronies does not mean that you have the consummate
skills to lead an organization that is as large, diverse, and complex as the
city of Saint Petersburg.
In addition, St. Pete has had a mayor for the
last eight years that struggles to look past 34th Street to the West and North
across 18th Avenue to see the rest of the City and its needs.
If you really look at Ken Welch’s political
rhetoric in this mayoral campaign, what you see is a careful pandering to the
needs of select and oftentimes very loud groups in Saint Petersburg, but with
no clear eye to serving those who sit quietly by year after year in northeast,
northwest and southwest Saint Petersburg paying their property taxes and waiting
for the city to recognize that they exist.
Saint Petersburg needs a Mayor, who can see
all the way across town, from Tampa Bay to the gulf beaches. I think Robert
Blackman is the right man for the job.
From the Blackmon Campaign Web site:” I’m Robert Blackmon, and I think St. Petersburg needs a fresh
start and a new face leading our city as mayor. I’m a small business owner, and
I’ve served as a City Council member. With experience both in the private
sector and as an elected official, I know we can make local government work to
better serve our community. I’m not a career politician, and I want to make St.
Pete a shining city on a hill.”
Oh, about all those political endorsements.
Generally speaking, elected politicians endorse formally elected politicians
who are currently running for their old office or a new office in a quid pro
quo to ensure that when they run for office or reelection, they get the
endorsement they need.
Before you start putting too much stock in
these political endorsements check some of these people out and see just how
well they're doing.
E-Mail
Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend
request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER @DOC ON THE
BAY.
See
Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.
Disclosures:
No comments:
Post a Comment