Tortoise editorial

While what former House Rep. Mark Foley – a Republican from Florida, of course, where the politics just keep getting stranger and stranger – did or wanted to do with his former pages has pushed the national election scene into a free-for-all, here in the Big Bend area a good part of the focus for November is on three local races: a city commission seat is up for grabs, and two county commission seats will be filled.

In the race between Debbie Lightsey and Anthony “Dr. V” Viegbesie – for Lightsey’s seat that she has held since 1989 – the central issue has become the city’s Integrated Resource Plan, which has been reduced mostly to “coal plant” or “no coal plant.” Lightsey’s initial high regard for coal as a future energy choice caused longtime supporters to jump ship, and she has in recent weeks tried to soften her stance, although the approach doesn’t seem to be working.

Lightsey backers say that her longevity on the commission gives her the institutional knowledge necessary to navigate City Hall. Viegbesie, who took 47 percent of the vote in a race against Lightsey three years ago, is back with more experience, however, and a galvanized environmental community seems to be behind him this time. Viegbesie is strongly opposed to the building of a coal plant in Taylor County.

Brian Armstrong, who ran against both candidates in the September primary, recently announced his support for Viegbesie in the general election.

On the county commission side, one of the two races is between another longtime and easily-recognized representative, Bob Rackleff, and newcomer Frank Mayernick. Some observers say that Rackleff’s inability to finish off Mayernick in the primary is a sign of vulnerability, but with three other candidates in the race, Rackleff himself admitted that winning without a runoff would have been difficult to pull off. Rackleff did take 45 percent of the vote, while Mayernick tallied 27 percent.

The incumbent has received some criticism for not being able to build coalitions on the commission, but Commissioner Tony Grippa, one of Rackleff’s adversaries, recently resigned from his seat, two years before his term ends.

Grippa’s chair will be filled by either Will Messer or Bryan Desloge, two Republican business owners. Desloge initially filed to run against Cliff Thaell, but when Grippa stepped down, Desloge switched races, a move that didn’t sit well with his party. Only about two percentage points separated the two candidates in September, and it is likely that some of those votes for Desloge came from Democrats who were asked by their local party to support Desloge. Grippa has endorsed Messer, who is known as an anti-tax, pro-business candidate. The Capital Outlook, the Tallahassee Firefighters, and the Big Bend chapter of the AFL-CIO have endorsed Desloge.

The Tortoise can’t make endorsements due to our non-profit, tax status, but we can urge you to better educate yourself on all of the issues and candidates you will find on the November ballot. And vote.