3 contend for District 3 seat

The race for Hillsborough County Commission District 3 will test whether a year's worth of unflattering media coverage has damaged Commissioner Kevin White in the eyes of his constituents.

Despite the fallout from losing a sexual harassment case last year, White has a big funding advantage over his Democratic primary opponents, former state Sen. Les Miller and Valerie Goddard, a businesswoman and chairwoman of the county Children's Board. There are no Republicans in the race.

White has raised $118,750 in campaign contributions compared with Miller's $56,279 and Goddard's $21,190. After expenditures, White has $43,374; Miller, $26,620; and Goddard, $1,790.

And White probably has better name recognition, having been the subject of numerous front-page newspaper articles and television news spots over the past two years. The problem is much of the news coverage shown a harsh light on events surrounding a sexual harassment filed against White by a former aide.

White lost that civil lawsuit in a jury trial last August, but that didn't end his troubles. Later, he became the first commissioner to be sued by his board colleagues. Commissioners hope through the lawsuit to recoup some of the $425,000 in legal fees the county amassed as a co-defendant in the sexual harassment case. White reciprocated by suing the county to recover his legal fees in the case.

The lawsuit and White's continued presence on the commission has angered hundreds of residents who bombarded the media and county commission offices with calls for his firing.

Yet, it's unclear whether the outrage at White's missteps extends to his constituents in District 3.

White, who declined to be interviewed for this article, maintains he did not harass his aide, but fired her for poor performance. At a Feb. 17 fund-raiser, the incumbent commissioner touted his work for constituents, including acquiring funding a $6.6 million recreation center in Progress Village.

District 3 encompasses North and East Tampa and areas south and east of the city, including Progress Village and Palm River. A majority of the residents there are either black or Hispanic living in some of the county's poorest neighborhoods.

So far, White's opponents have declined to make the sexual harassment lawsuit a campaign issue.

"I don't need to really drag that back up," Miller said.

Miller is campaigning on his experience as Democratic leader in both the state House and Senate. While in the Legislature, Miller said, his priority was constituent service, an area in which he says White comes up short.

"Voters are saying they don't see anything happening in District 3," Miller said. "No one was serving them; no one had their concerns. They want someone with experience, with a proven record."

Miller said the economic misery is so widespread in the district that extraordinary measures are needed, such as expanding enterprise zones where targeted tax breaks and fast-tracked permits can be used to spur new or expanded business.

However, Miller said he thinks he would oppose a proposal commissioners are considering to exempt new or expanding businesses from property taxes for 10 years. The county needs the revenue from those property taxes for police protection and schools, Miller said. Both improve quality of life and make the area more desirable to businesses, he said.

All three candidates support a 1-cent sales tax increase for transportation projects that will be on the Nov. 2 ballot. They say the combination of light rail, road improvements and expanded bus routes financed by the tax will spur economic growth and give working-class residents in the district more options.

Goddard, who worked most of her adult life administering programs to help families, is campaigning as the outsider against two long-term politicians.

Goddard was deputy director of child development for the U.S. Department of Defense before returning to her Tampa birthplace to become executive director of Helping Hand Day Nursery, a United Way organization, for 13 years. She now has her own consulting firm and serves on the county Children's Board.

"My leadership style is very collaborative in nature. Regardless of party affiliation, it's really looking at outcomes and how do we begin to have dialogue toward common solutions for those problems," she said.

Better cooperation between Tampa and Hillsborough County is a goal Miller and Goddard said they will pursue to eliminate duplication of government services and to forge a united effort to boost the economy.

"The city got stimulus dollars; the county got stimulus dollars," Goddard said. "It seems absolutely ludicrous to me that they would not come together and plan how best to effectively spend those dollars in our community in a very focused and structured way."

The primary winner will face Dwight Anthony Bolden, a write-in candidate.