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Hernando Today

Candidates Try To Show Their Green Side

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By TONY MARRERO Hernando Today

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 17, 2008

ARIPEKA - It was time for candidates to break out the green feathers in their caps.

The Gulf Coast Conservancy grilled five of the six county commission candidates on topics ranging from black bear habitat to comprehensive plan amendments at a forum focusing on environmental issues Wednesday evening at the Aripeka Community Club.

The conservancy is a nonprofit environmental group that advocates on a range of issues but especially on the preservation and expansion of public lands.

A crowd of about three dozen came to see how incumbents and challengers for the Pasco and Hernando commissions would stand up to the grilling.

Here are some of the questions that came up and the Hernando candidates' responses:

• Chris Kingsley, the Democratic incumbent seeking to keep his District 5 seat, made sure to mention he's been a member of the conservancy since 2000. He said he stood against a proposed Wal-Mart on U.S. 19, though the big box store was eventually built.

When asked about pollutants in local rivers - especially nitrates from lawn fertilizers - Kingsley said he would be open to following the lead of places like Sarasota County that have crafted fertilizer ordinances.

• Diane Rowden, another Democratic incumbent who holds the District 3 seat, got to address one of her cherished issues when asked if she was in favor of changing the comprehensive land use plan. Just a few minutes earlier, she'd touted her vote against Hickory Hill, the 1,750-home golf community planned for Spring Lake.

"I truly believe our comp plan should be like our Bible," she said. "You can't just go in there and change the words to the Bible."

Rowden said the county should work to increase funding for the county's Environmentally Sensitive Lands fund to ensure more property can be preserved for posterity.

• John Druzbick, the Republican vying for Rowden's seat, pointed out the land on which Hickory Hill is to be built was zoned for larger lots that would have had septic tanks. In the end, he said, having sewer infrastructure is better for the environment.

Druzbick, a businessowner and former school board member, criticized the county's handling of the Hernando Beach channel dredge project. He said officials failed to consider all the potential pitfalls of the controversial spoil disposal site on Eagle Nest Drive, "issues that should have been considered from the very beginning," he said.

•Jeff Stabins, the Republican who hopes to keep his District 1 seat, said he might support some limitations on construction in evacuation zone A, west of U.S. 19, but not a "moratorium."

During his introduction, he pointed out that he voted to purchase Peck Sink, a system of sinkholes between Wiscon Road and State Road 50.

• Ramon Gutierrez is a Democrat hoping to unseat Stabins. He said he would be willing to limit residential growth west of U.S.19 within the rules allowed by the county and would take "a conservative approach" when approving any development.

Gutierrez, a former New Yorker, got one of the big laughs of the evening when he said his exposure to nature was once limited to "scrawny pigeons that were malnourished."

James Adkins, the candidate seeking Kingsley's seat, had said he would attend but had to travel out of state, Neumann said.

Some questions were easy to answer because they didn't ask specifics about cost or how a goal could be achieved.

For example, Gutierrez said he would support putting public funds toward bicycling and walking trails but didn't have to say where the money would come from.

Stabins was asked if he supported "preserving sufficient habitat to maintain a viable population of Florida black bears within the borders of Pasco and Hernando counties."

"Yes," Stabins replied, and fell silent, prompting laughs from the crowd.

"Dare you to say no," one crowd member said.

Gulf Coast Conservancy member Mac Davis said he liked what he heard from the candidates but admitted he took it all with a healthy dose of skepticism.

"I think we made a mistake not having this recorded to make sure the excellent environmental sentiments are followed through on after the vote," Davis said.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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