Bradenton City Council challengers unleash on incumbents at first debate

At Thursday’s Tiger Bay Club, “Meet the Candidates,” luncheon at Pier 22, there was no announcer preparing the audience with the “Let’s get ready to rumble” mantra as two of the four candidates came out swinging.

Ward 4 challenger Bill Sanders, who moved to Bradenton a few months ago, skipped the typical feel-you-out jabs of a debate and came out throwing roundhouses against incumbent Bemis Smith, seeking his fifth term.

After claiming Smith has done nothing for Ward 4 in his 16 years on the council, Sanders slammed Smith for voting against a proposed substance abuse recovery center earlier this month, citing the opioid epidemic as one of three primary responsibilities a public official should be confronting.

Sanders said Smith “has no moral compass or empathy for people and turned a two-hour meeting into a five-hour circus.”

Smith did vote against the recovery center because of its proposed location near LECOM Park. Smith appeared a little stunned at the first round salvo thrown his way, but took the podium in response.

“Let me take a deep breath and try to address this on a less vitriol note,” Smith said. “I don’t know a lot about my opponent and I’m not disputing some of the facts but I have a problem with his interpretation of the facts. Maybe he’s a good guy, but I’m starting to wonder about that and maybe that’s why I’m the better choice.”

The candidates eventually discussed issues like traffic, the proposed flyover bridge, infrastructure and economic recovery from the recession and the strides the city has made since it ended.

At the other end of the table sat Ward 3 incumbent Councilman Patrick Roff and his challenger, political newcomer Cornelia Winn. The two were more cordial and less accusatory, though Winn criticized the city for what she described as its poor website and social media presence.

Nerves were apparent in her first political debate.

“Prior to starting in this election, I didn’t run in political circles, so I’m new to hearing about (the Tiger Bay Club),” Winn opened. “Tiger Bay is on the list of everybody involved in the community, so it’s exciting and incredibly intimidating to be here.”

Winn went on to say that she has the technology skills and background to bring the city to the next level.

Winn also criticized the city council as being “homogenous” and not having enough background diversity to the point where there are no new ideas coming from “like-minded” councilmen.

Roff suggested that if Winn should ever attend an actual city council meeting, she may get a different impression.

“I’m not sure she’s seen a city council meeting recently, or even in the past few years,” Roff said. “In fact, the last few meetings have been pretty close to a fistfight.”

After a lengthy opening sparring session, only two questions were asked of the candidates, asking them to address the city’s infrastructure needs and the proposed flyover bridge to replace the Desoto Bridge.

“We’re not perfect,” Smith said when it comes to traffic, “But the problem is that it doesn’t begin or end in the city, but affects the city nonetheless.”

Which is why Smith said he is keeping an open mind about the proposed flyover. Of the choices being provided as of now, he said it still appears to be the one that makes the most sense.

“I’m not wedded to the flyover, but it appeared at the time it was the only economical and plausible opportunity,” Smith said.

Sanders criticized Smith, saying the incumbent just didn’t want to put a bridge “in his backyard. If my backyard was the best location for a new bridge, I’d vote for it. There is a problem and we are going to fix it.”

Roff has opposed the flyover and has been critical of the process and the Florida Department of Transportation consultants who performed the Central Manatee Network Alternatives Analysis study.

“If we are going to pay for a study, I want a study and not a predetermined outcome,” Roff said. “No matter what we decide, it will affect someone negatively and that’s just a fact, so whatever we build, it better be right because that’s what we’ll be stuck with.”

Winn said the city doesn’t have to accept any of the options and can think outside of the box.

“We can stand up here and talk about which of these three options suck the most,” Winn said, noting the city should consider working with other municipalities in the Tampa Bay region to construct a light rail system.

The incumbents touted the city’s ongoing efforts to replace decades old infrastructure, noting almost $6 million a year over the past few years have been invested in those projects. Winn was vague, noting she didn’t have a plan to present, but supported the city’s current efforts.

Sanders was critical because his neighborhood suffers from flooding issues and said it was a broken streetlight that got him looking into running for office in the first place. Sanders said when he received no response from the city about the problem, he began to wonder just how many more serious things were wrong.

Smith countered the statement with an exact date, time and length of phone call — 43 minutes — he had with Sanders, explaining that it was a Florida Power & Light streetlight that the city could not touch. Smith also noted that it was four months after Hurricane Irma and that maybe FP&L had reason to be a little slow fixing one light.

“For my opponent to indicate he’s being ignored, is disingenuous,” Smith said, asking that voters simply look at his track record with the city to form their own opinions come November.

Roff described himself as a “change artist” and cited several big projects like the Ware’s Creek flood mitigation project and the revitalization of the Historical Ware’s Creek neighborhood as just a few examples he has been able to push forward when no one else could.

Winn said “change” is exactly what the city needs and she’ll bring the diversity the city council needs to make that change.

Sanders said he’s a “fixer,” pointing to a personal tragedy where his first wife was killed by a drunk boat driver in the 1990s. Sanders successfully lobbied for the creation of laws against boating while drinking and noted he brings four decades of financial expertise to the table.

This story was originally published September 20, 2018 at 3:22 PM.