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Elections Supervisor Candidates Fire Volleys During NAACP Forum

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By GEOFF FOX | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 24, 2008

DADE CITY - If Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley and challenger Pat Carroll are actually friendly rivals for Corley's job, they disguised it well.
A combustible pair, Corley and Carroll were two of more than a dozen local candidates who answered questions from a crowd of about 40 Thursday night at St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church at Seventh Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The event was organized by the Pasco County NAACP.
Corley, a New Port Richey Republican appointed to the post by Gov. Charlie Crist last year, and Democrat Carroll, a Wesley Chapel resident with a law practice in New Tampa, often wrinkled their brows and shook their heads while the other spoke.
Fielding a question about who "oversees the voting process," Carroll said she is impartial and vowed "to do the right thing by the voters."
"Unfortunately, that in no way answers the question," Corley said. "The supervisor of elections is in charge of administering the elections. Poll watchers play a role. Citizens play a role by randomly testing voting equipment. There is media and governmental oversight.
"The transparency is what makes our country unique. Did you ever notice how Fidel Castro won those elections by getting 100 percent of the votes?"
Asked what departmental changes they would make, each said they would work to "cross train" the staff. However, Corley, expressed gratitude for the efforts of his staff while Carroll characterized the office as unknowledgeable.
"I've been running for a year, and from the very beginning I've run into [elections] staff who couldn't answer questions," she said. "I would increase poll worker training and I would like to personally do the poll worker training, which, I believe, is how [former elections supervisor] Kurt Browning did it.
"Plus, pre- and post-election auditing needs to be stepped up significantly. Without that, the reliability of results can be questioned."
Besides Carroll and Corley, the evening's testiest exchanges were between Sheriff Bob White, a Republican seeking his third term, and Democratic challenger Kim Bogart. The pair was joined by non-partisan candidate Bobby Kinzy.
The candidates were asked about the prevalence of gangs in the county.
"Gangs are everywhere," White said. "Hillsborough County has a significant issue and we get some of the bleed over. But gangs aren't taking our shores like the troops at Normandy. We're moving forward with the rest of the state" to address gang issues.
White then offered statistics showing that the county's violent crime rate is well below the state average and that gangs are responsible for 1 percent of the county's violent crime.
Bogart offered different statistics on violent crime and said robberies in the county had increased 98 percent over the last two years.
"We do have a gang problem in the county and the state, and it's big," he said. "The incumbent says there is no gang problem. The reality is that gangs are here and it hasn't been addressed. It should have been addressed early on."
KInzy said drugs are at the root of gang problems in the county, and he would work to eradicate the issue.
Asked about hiring and promoting minority deputies, Bogart, once a recruiter for the Tampa Police Department, said he would work with community leaders to identify minorities who may be interested in law enforcement, but he said promotions would be handled strictly on merit.
White said the sheriff's office current racial make-up mirrors the county's demographics, but added that the office has recruited statewide.
Bogart later characterized White's relationship with unionized deputies as poor.
"No sheriff in the history of Pasco County has treated deputies better than I have," White said.
Other politicians who fielded questions during the three-hour forum included:
Schools Superintendent Heather Fiorentino, a Republican, and her Democratic challenger Stephen Donaldson; District 3 county Commissioner Ann Hildebrand, a Republican, and Democratic challenger Teresa Conroy; District 5 county Commissioner Jack Mariano, a Republican, and Democratic challenger Ginny Miller.
Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite, a Republican, did not appear at the event, leaving her Democratic opponent, John Russell, to speak without rebuttal. Russell took advantage, saying that the incumbent "hides from you," meaning voters, and "runs away from her [party] affiliation."
"I quite forcefully represent change," he said.
The discourse between Paula O'Neil, a Republican pursuing the clerk of circuit court post being vacated by her boss, Jed Pittman, and Democrat Robert Altman, a New Port Richey attorney, would have made Emily Post smile.
Their biggest beef seemed to be over who loves their mother more. After their debate, they sat beside each other in the audience.

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 779-4613.

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