Clearwater mayoral race: Voters head to polls on Tuesday

CLEARWATER, Fla. - One of the biggest issues in the Clearwater mayoral race has been the discussion of a new city hall and how much it will cost. Tuesday, voters will have a say, and head to the polls.

The topic is something candidate Bruce Rector has used in his campaign against his opponent, City Council Member Kathleen Beckman.

"It is something that's inflammatory that my opponent has put on fliers again and again, and it's essentially a lie," Beckman said. "I would say it reflects his character, what kind of a leader is he going to be," she said.

Kathleen Beckman and Bruce Rector are both running for mayor in Clearwater.

It’s the same issue former mayor Frank Hibbard resigned over last year. He said he disagreed with Beckman and other City Council members’ opinions that a new $90 million plus city hall was a priority.

"I want people to know that no one ever voted for a $91 million city hall. When Hibbard quit, the four of us said we wanted to look at different options, and one of them was a more expensive option. After the new mayor was seated, all five of us voted in favor, gave direction in favor of a $31.5 million city hall," Beckman said.

"It was only after the community reacted to it that the council members, like my opponent, backtracked off that and reduced the amount they're going to spend," Rector said.

There’s more to the election than a new city hall, though.

Beckman says it’s also about infrastructure, affordable housing, making sure parks aren’t privatized and transparency when it comes to spending.

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"We have work to do on our infrastructure needs as well as our long-delayed maintenance and upgrades. Housing is a big deal, and I'm on the forefront of advocating for more housing, workforce housing, as well as building a sense of civility in our city and our city council after this divisive partisan race. It's really important to bring back decorum and respect and say, who do we want to be as a city? We are not a hyper-partisan, divisive city. That's not how I operate. I don't think that's how my peers on the dais, want to operate and I hope to lead that, civility," Beckman said.

Rector said public safety, low taxes and road improvements are at the top of his list.

"We need the best fire and police forces that we can possibly have right now for many reasons. With so much going on in the world across the United States, we just need to make sure that our folks here, typically our families and our children, are protected," Rector said.

"Many folks are having a hard time paying their daily living expenses, living paycheck to paycheck. So, we need to be very sensitive to that and how we spend government money," he said.

Both candidates say revitalizing downtown Clearwater and the entire city is also important.

"Part of that is reaching out to all the owners of properties that are undeveloped or underutilized and having those important conversations and making agreements and then moving forward on small agreements incrementally. Have we made this agreement with this property owner? Have they fulfilled that agreement? And then we'll continue to build on that and really activate our downtown," Beckman said. "I think there's a perception problem, whether it's based in reality or not, but the bottom line is the church owns some properties, parishioners own some properties, other people own properties. We need to work with all the property owners," Beckman said about the Church of Scientology’s impact on downtown.

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"Clearwater has always played a pivotal role in the success of the entire Tampa Bay region economically. So, we need to partner with lots of different agencies and organizations and private companies throughout the region to help us revitalize our entire city," Rector said. "We need to address all this property that they've been purchasing and try to figure out a better balance between non-Scientology businesses and residents and Scientology's presence in our downtown," he said about Scientology’s impact on downtown. 

Beckman is a former English teacher and has been on city council for four years. Rector is a lawyer who has served on several local boards, including the Community Development Board and the Clearwater Regional Chamber. 

Beckman says her experience in public office gives her a leg up, while Rector says his experience in the private sector helps him.

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