Commission candidates differ on funding transit

Republicans Sandy Murman and Trey Rustmann both support expanded mass transit for Hillsborough County, saying they think it's essential to attract new business and investment to boost the region's sluggish economy and create much-needed jobs.

What separates the two county commission candidates is how to pay for it.

Murman, a former state lawmaker and community activist, said she opposes a proposed sales tax increase, which goes to the voters in November, over other funding sources.

Rustmann, an Iraq war veteran and local businessman, said he thinks the sales tax increase, if approved, is the most viable option to pay for expanding mass transit.

In the Aug. 24 primary, Murman and Rustmann will go toe-to-toe in a bid to become the Republican candidate for the District 1 county commission seat, a sprawling district that stretches from Town 'N Country through South Tampa down to southern Hillsborough.

Murman, 59, said she has the experience and skills to "get Hillsborough County back on track" by cutting "wasteful government spending" and keeping property taxes down.

"This is the time to put the best players on the field," she said.

She argues that the proposed one-cent sales tax increase - which would pay for road improvements, expanded bus service and light rail in the county - is a mistake.

"It's poor timing and will hurt many middle- and low-income county residents," she said.

As an alternative, Murman suggests going after federal transportation money to pay for it.

Rustmann counters that most federal funding sources require local funding, such as a sales tax increase. "In order to get matching funds, you have contribute," he said.

In his first run for office, Rustmann, 40, is casting Murman as a career politician.

"The voters want leaders with fresh ideas," he said. "They don't want more of the same."

To reduce the county's budget, Murman said she wants to cut 5 percent a year from the county's operating costs, targeting middle-management and administrative positions rather than county services.

Rustmann agrees that the county's budget needs to be reduced, but argues that across-the-board reductions aren't the way to go. He favors a more surgical approach to cuts.

"We need to find out where most of the money is being spent and zero in on it," he said.

While Murman didn't join the race until mid-June, seven months after Rustmann, she already has outpaced him in fundraising. As of July 16, Murman had raised nearly $62,000 in contributions, compared with Rustmann's $43,000, according to the most recent campaign finance reports

But Murman's fundraising efforts are also the subject of a Florida Election Commission complaint filed last month by Rustmann, who claims she began soliciting campaign donations before she filed her paperwork to qualify to run for the commission seat.

State law requires candidates to file their candidacy paperwork before establishing campaign accounts or receiving or distributing funds on behalf of their candidacy.

In the complaint, Rustmann claims that moments after filling out her paperwork on June 17, Murman presented a $5,552 check to the elections office drawn from a campaign account as a qualifying fee.

But Murman denies that she solicited donations beforehand, and said that money that she used to pay the qualifying fee was drawn from her own personal bank account.

Murman served in the Florida House of Representatives for eight years, from 1996 to 2004. Since then, she was chairwoman of the Brandon Chamber of Commerce for one year and has volunteered for children's advocacy organizations. She also has worked to raise money to build the soon-to-open Glazer Children's Museum in downtown Tampa.

Rustmann is a manager for the staffing firm Kforce. Before that, he said, he was a U.S. Marine Corps officer, commanding a sniper platoon during the 2003 Iraq invasion.

The son of a CIA officer and a schoolteacher, he grew up in rural Oklahoma. He lives with his wife, Amanda, in South Tampa. The couple are expecting their first child.

The winner of the primary could face Democrat and former Tampa City Council member John Dingfelder, who is fighting a legal challenge from local Republicans over a missed election deadline. Republicans want a judge to take Dingfelder's name off the ballot.

The seat is currently held by a Republican, Rose Ferlita, who is running for Tampa mayor in March 2011.