Whitmore and Wonder face off for Manatee County Commission District 6

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Carol Whitmore, left, and Terri Wonder are running for Manatee County Commission District 6.

Carol Whitmore, left, and Terri Wonder are running for Manatee County Commission District 6.

MANATEE COUNTY — The politician who claims the District 6 seat on the Manatee County Commission for the next four years will have to appeal across party lines.

Carol Whitmore, the two-term Republican incumbent, faces challenger Terri Wonder, a Democratic first-time candidate, in a countywide race in which all of the more than 204,000 voters registered so far can cast ballots. That includes 87,176 Republicans, 64,829 Democrats and 52,463 with no or other party affiliations.

VOTER GUIDE: Read candidate bios and Q&As on the issues

Several divisive issues are defining this race. Here is an overview of the two candidates’ platforms:

Carol R. Whitmore

Whitmore, a former mayor of Holmes Beach and Manatee resident since 1969, stayed in her nursing career even after becoming a politician 23 years ago. She continues to work one day each week as a home health nurse “to keep my license.”

At a time when unemployment is declining and the economy mending, she thinks voters have no compelling reason to have the commission change course.

“I’ve never raised the millage,” Whitmore said. “Especially now, with property values going up, we should be able to live within our means.”

Still, she acknowledges the county trust fund for subsidizing health care for the uninsured and underinsured is nearing depletion. With voters rejecting a sales tax last year, Whitmore admits a solution for restoring the fund is not yet at hand.

Although her opponent says she opposed the sales tax, Whitmore said, she did not bother to cast a ballot in that referendum. That and her not registering to vote locally until 2012 indicates Wonder’s lack of interest in many local issues, Whitmore said.

Whatever mechanism is found to restore the health care fund, it requires “community support” and she will work to find it, Whitmore said.

As an interim step toward improving indigent care, Whitmore intends to lobby state legislators to accept federal dollars and expand Medicaid.

Whitmore says her commitment to being “a voice for the voiceless” prompted her to lead the crusade to ensure no healthy dog or cat is euthanized because of overcrowding at the county shelter.

She acknowledges that Animal Services has been under attack by rescue advocates who claim it still euthanizes unnecessarily.

A raid at a private shelter, whose owners were arrested on abuse charges, showed that Animal Services had not followed through in investigating complaints.

Whitmore said she became “totally upset” as she learned about problems with the agency that include “broken relationships” with animal advocates and “distrust by the public.”

As a county commissioner whose role is to set policy, however, she says she cannot micromanage a department.

County Administrator Ed Hunzeker replaced the Animal Services administrator and consultants are about to recommend a possible reorganization.

“My commitment is still to save more animals,” Whitmore said.

The dominant topic Wonder raises on the campaign trail concerns how Whitmore voted on the Long Bar Pointe project.

Environmentalists and residents of the nearby Cortez fishing village regarded the proposed development on Sarasota Bay as too massive and harming shoreline fisheries.

Whitmore says she joined in a unanimous vote rejecting the channel and marina. “I don’t support breaking into the shoreline there and never have.”

She also voted against a text amendment to the county’s comprehensive land use plan that described the project.

Yet she joined in the 4-3 vote to tentatively approve a map amendment that could change the zoning from nine homes per acre to “mixed use” so commercial development could be included. Whitmore contends a residential development that large needs a retail component.

Developers Carlos Beruff and Larry Lieberman withdrew the map amendment before it could be considered in a required second public hearing.

She disagrees with any perception that Cortez residents are overwhelmingly upset with her because of that vote. She points out that her supporters include such prominent Cortez residents as Judy Mora, Karen Bell, John Banyas and the Blue Fulford family.

With more than $71,000 in her campaign coffers so far, Whitmore can handily outspend Wonder. Yet she believes her contributions show her “broad range of support.”

“I don’t tailor to one segment. My opponent seems to be tailoring just to environmentalists.”

Her contributors include County Commissioners Larry Bustle, John Chappie and Betsy Benac, former commissioners Pat Glass and Ron Getman, Holmes Beach City Commissioners Jean Peelen and David Zaccagnino, School Board member Julie Aranibar, former State Rep. Peggy Simone, developers Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, Pat and John Neal and Randall Benderson and several hospital administrators and medical professionals.

She believes she appeals across party lines, noting that her Democratic supporters include Gov. Lawton Chiles’ widow, Rhea, and restaurateur son Ed.

Wonder lacks her extensive history of community involvement, said Whitmore, whose résumé lists memberships in causes to fight elder abuse, animal abuse, AIDS . . .

“When you run for this office you need to know what this community is about and not just show up because of one issue.”

Terri Kay Wonder

Although she grew up in Sarasota, Wonder says she is descended from North Florida sharecroppers and identifies with those who want to preserve Old Florida culture.

She first lived in Bradenton while attending college at the University of South Florida. She later taught at Manatee Community College and the PACE Center for Girls in Bradenton. In 2000, she and her husband bought a home in Bayshore Gardens.

To get her doctorate at USF, she wrote her thesis about some Islamic movements’ effects on higher education.

“I’ve always had a fascination with ancient Egypt and the Middle East,” said Wonder, who studied at the American University in Cairo.

In 2008, she accepted a civilian position with the U.S. Army in Iraq. “They were embedding social scientists with combat troops.”

From 2008 to 2010, she interviewed tribal leaders, teachers and others and conducted focus groups to assist the military in understanding local cultures and customs.

Wonder took on a local activist role after learning about the proposed Long Bar Pointe development. She hiked the property and explored its mangroves and seagrass flats in a rubber dinghy.

She shared others’ perceptions that the project, which could include a hotel and convention center, was too dense, unsuitable for a “coastal high hazard zone” and would cause adverse traffic impacts on surrounding areas.

“I was on the shoe leather express all summer long” helping get 6,700 signatures on a petition against it.

Wonder decided to run for the commission after it voted 4-3 to tentatively approve a change to the county’s land use map that could be the first step toward a final approval for the mixed-use development.

Although she lives in Commissioner Robin DiSabatino’s district, she liked DiSabatino’s overall voting record — especially her vote against the map amendment. Wonder chose to run against Whitmore.

Wonder believes the developers withdrew the map amendment so a required second public hearing would not happen before the election. She wants to be on the commission if the map amendment is filed again so she can vote against it.

Wonder contends that special interests with “deep pockets,” especially developers, influence commission decisions.

She wants the county to do more to restore the “urban core” rather than handle growth through more suburban sprawl.

She calls for “a full forensic audit” of the health care trust fund for an accounting of how money was spent and why it has become nearly “bankrupt.” To restore the fund, she favors imposing an extra property tax on for-profit medical institutions that receive those subsidies.

Rather than lump sum payments to health care providers, she would rather low-income patients qualify for debit-type cards from the county to pay for their care so they can have “individual responsibility.”

She expresses anger that “it took an election year” for the county to pay attention to complaints about Animal Services. “That’s just not good governance.”

She agrees with animal rights advocates who claim the agency has been “fudging the numbers” of dogs and cats reportedly saved from being euthanized.

Although Republicans outnumber Democrats in Manatee, Wonder thinks many voters will look past party lines. “Republican conservationists are backing me.”

Wonder counts among her supporters Sierra Club members Mary Sheppard and Gerry Swormstedt, Cortez activist Linda Molto, environmentalist Arlene Flisik, former legislative candidate Arlene Sweeting, Holmes Beach City Commissioner Marvin Grossman, Ernest Marshall of the Federation of Manatee County Community Associations and former Bradenton Beach mayor Katie Pierola.

With slightly more than $16,000 in donations reported so far, Wonder realizes she can be outspent by Whitmore.

“I can be outspent,” Wonder said, “but I cannot be outworked.”

THE CANDIDATES

Carol R. Whitmore

AGE: 59

POLITICAL PARTY: Republican

OCCUPATION: County commissioner, registered nurse

EDUCATION: State College of Florida, associate degree, certified registered nurse

FAMILY: Married to Andre Renard, child Janae Rudacille, three stepchildren, eight grandchildren

EMAIL/WEBSITE: Andreart@aol.com, carolwhitmore. com

QUOTE: “I believe that my role as county commissioner is to represent the citizens and be a vote for the voiceless.”

Terri Kay Wonder

AGE: 47

POLITICAL PARTY: Democrat

OCCUPATION: Consultant for an anti-human trafficking organization, social scientist, educator

EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree in English and doctorate in interdisciplinary education, University of South Florida; master’s degree in English, University of West Florida; studied curriculum research and design, Nova-Southeastern University; study-abroad student, American University at Cairo

FAMILY: Married to Raymond E. Wonder, retired community college professor and guardian ad litem child advocate

EMAIL/WEBSITE: terriwonder2014@gmail.com, terriwonderforcommissioner.com, facebook.com/TerriWonderforCommissioner, terriwonder2014.blogspot.com

QUOTE: “I’m not against growth but we need to grow in a way that’s compatible with our cultural ethic.”

Last modified: October 2, 2014
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