LARGO – City Commissioner Rodney Woods said he is a team player. Curtis Holmes said he is not.
Based on their answers to questions at the Largo Mid-Pinellas Chamber of Commerce forum Oct. 20, the two candidates for Seat 3 in the Nov. 3 election have sharp differences in philosophies and on the issues.
“In a race like ours, it is seldom ever you have two candidates who view city business so differently as we do,” said Holmes, an insurance agent.
Holmes was critical of city government on several topics while Woods, who owns a landscaping business, was supportive of the plans the city has developed “to position itself for growth when the economy turns around,”
Commenting on a newspaper editorial that said his opponent is a team player, Holmes asked why.
“The question you have to ask yourself, when you walk into that voting booth, are you voting for someone who plays for the team or do you vote for someone who works for you,” Holmes said.
Holmes, who has lost two previous city election attempts, said he is not a team player because he doesn’t agree with property tax increases and other city government action.
Woods said he believes “the vision I have is more closely related to the vision that the majority of you the Largo residents have.”
“Yes, I am a team player ... That means you build consensus ... You just don’t throw ideas up there and hope they stick,” Woods said.
He’s come to know his fellow commissioners, he said, and works with them, even when he is in the minority on a vote on an issue that he’s passionate about.
Asked by moderator Dan Flynn what issue deserves immediate attention, Holmes said, “money.”
The city is going to be hit hard financially next year.
“You can only do so much cutting,” he said.
Holmes thinks there are numerous things the city can do to improve efficiency. He questioned why the city went out to the contractor for $240,000 to demolish the clock tower and put in minor concrete work instead of using the public works employees to do the work.
Woods said the commission won’t make cuts in “a vacuum” without public input.
“Largo is in good financial shape right now,” he said.
He said when city officials talk with the public about where they want to make cuts “it will all work out.”
“I really feel we are building a community here,” he said.
Asked about other budgeting matters, such as city recommendation that furloughs be imposed to cut costs, Holmes said he thought it was an “idiotic idea.”
The top job in municipal government is public safety, Holmes said.
“Police, fire, sanitation,” Holmes said. “If you get something beyond that, that’s a luxury.”
Woods, who is completing his first three-year term, said he thinks all services are equally important, including public safety.
“But there are citizens out there who want parks and recreation and want all those other good things, and they are telling me they want some of their tax dollars to go to that also,” he said.
He said commissioners have to listen to residents to see what they are willing to cut.
The candidates also were asked about economic development and how to create jobs.
Woods said he believes that “things are going to get better.”
He said the citizens have contributed input to economic redevelopment plans and other plans “that will just take off when the time comes around.”
Woods said the city just passed tax incentives a couple of weeks ago to encourage businesses to come into Largo.
Holmes has reviewed the city’s strategic plan and doesn’t consider the city business friendly. He pointed out that a business that was open on West Bay Drive for only 48 hours and code enforcement “comes knocking on his door,” complaining about his sign.
He said the city has been “stumbling” with the West Bay Drive corridor for years. He said a lack of parking is causing businesses to starve. He suggested that the city create diagonal parking among other improvements.
The chamber event at the East Bay Country Club was the only face-to-face meeting between the two candidates.
