District 4 Council Candidates Square Off in Debate

Monday night’s District 4 city council forum at the Masonic Home of Florida focused on a variety of citywide issues as the differences between the candidates became clearer after weeks of campaigning.

The candidates for District 4 in St. Petersburg are Carolyn Fries, Richard Eldridge, Dr. David McKalip and Darden Rice.

Several topics garnered the most attention Monday including taxes, the budget, public safety and McKalip vs. Rice.

Police Use of Surveillance Cameras

• “I’m opposed to the government monitoring the people,” Eldridge said. “(I’m) opposed to red light cameras for the same reason.”
• “I do think that surveillance cameras can be used as a temporary tactic in hot spots where we know there is known crime and drug activity,” Rice said.
• “I am opposed to broad scale surveillance cameras,” McKalip said. “I think it’s reasonable if under a warrant for a specific crime … While some people will say it’s constitutional to have this power, I say I don’t give my consent to the government to (spy) on me in this fashion.”

What Taxes Should Be Cut?

• Since “fees might as well be taxes,” Rice said the city should end red light cameras and adjust utility fees.” She said the biggest “tax” issue for St. Pete is private companies, such as insurance agencies, who continue to increase costs. “These companies make tens of millions on the backs of the working class and that’s just wrong,” Rice said.
• McKalip said the city should cut property and various utility taxes by $10 million to draw down reserves and return the money to taxpayers. “We’ve been suffering in a bad economy and (the city has) spent more money.”
• Fries did not offer a specific tax cuts but said in order to lower public subsidies the city should seek to private/lease public buildings such as Sunken Garden and the Coliseum like it did with Albert Whitted Airport. The city needs to “put some energy into trying to make those areas requiring subsides to make them meet their needs,” Fries said.

Budget Priorities

• “I will prioritize the budget decisions by looking at public safety (first) and will also look for cost efficiencies,” Rice said.  Those efficiencies, however, should not come at the cost of safety, she said.
• “My priorities are to put money back into the pockets of taxpayers,” McKalip said. He said despite a decreasing population and a down economy the city’s budget to run St. Pete has continued to increase.

Homelessness

• “God helps those who help themselves,” McKalip said. He said there needs to be a neighborhood partnership program to help the homeless.
• “What we typically think of a homeless person is the person on the street that is asking us for a buck,” Fries said. “(But) we really need to focus on those families that do want to make a change in their lives.”

Rice vs. McKalip

McKalip, neurosurgeon, and Rice, former head of the League of Women Voters, traded jabs all night regarding the role of government itself and most of the above topics.

It took a while for the jabs to heat up by after the halfway point of the debate supporters from each camp began to applaud after each remark targeting the other.

Rice said McKalip would do anything for big corporations but not for citizens while McKalip charged Rice with having a “grand scheme” to expand government.

Following the forum, McKalip’s campaign Facebok page continued the jabs. “Tonight at the St. Pete City Council Debate, we learned the following: Carolyn Fries can not name ONE tax she would cut.....was confused that the concept even existed. Darden Rice could not seem to find one tax she would not raise,” the campaign wrote on Facebook.

Consensus

The only issues all night that gained consensus from the four candidates were ending the red light camera program and allowing food trucks throughout St. Petersburg. 

“I don’t think food trucks are any different from any other restaurant,” Fries said. “They really don’t have an interest in parking in one spot and taking business from a stationary restaurant.”

Eldridge said red light cameras are “putting a huge burden on a select few people and it’s unfair and it’s wrong.”