Highlighting their differences on tax plans, job creation and voting records, Orange County mayoral hopefuls Bill Segal and Teresa Jacobs squared off last week at a Central Florida Urban League forum called “Conversations with the Candidates.”
In partnership with WESH-Channel 2, it was the first in a series of forums that are a central part of the Urban League’s I Have a Voice program. I Have a Voice was initiated to encourage more people to register to vote and to believe that they have a stake in the political system – and, most importantly, to go to the polls this November.
The mayoral “conversation” was the first time the two candidates had faced each other in a televised debate since the August primary in which they were the top vote-getters in the four-person race. The event was broadcast live from the WESH-Channel 2 studios in Winter Park on October 5. The Urban League plans additional “Conversations” next week for the District 3 and District 8 Congressional seats.
Voting is particularly important for minority communities, Urban League President and CEO Allie Braswell said in his opening remarks.
“Voting is central to our democracy. Our forefathers sacrificed to achieve it. Our soldiers put their lives on the line to protect it,” he said. “Yet last August, barely one out of five Florida voters bothered to go to the polls.”
Civil rights activists struggled for the chance to exercise the right to vote in the 1960s, Braswell noted later, and “for voters, especially those in minority neighborhoods, to fail to participate in this cornerstone of our democracy is unconscionable.”
The candidates for Orange County mayor found themselves on the same side of several issues: both support SunRail, with Segal saying he believed it would help create jobs, and both oppose Amendment 4. Proponents claim the “Hometown Democracy” amendment, which would put land-use issues on the ballot, gives residents more control over property development. Critics cite job losses and expensive court battles.
“It’s a job killer,” Segal noted.
The pair also favored business incentives, if offered sparingly, and favored a partial rollback of the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority’s recent 25-cent toll increase.
That’s where the similarities ended. The laid-back Segal touted his business experience and track record of job creation.
“We need to create great jobs, have great, safe neighborhoods and lower taxes. I am a proven job creator,” said Segal, citing 36 years of experience in the private sector. “The next mayor needs business experience.”
He also pledged to cut property taxes and add more deputy sheriffs.
Jacobs maintained that “we need a county mayor who understands economics. We need a mayor who has the backbone to stand up to special interests.”
She was aggressive in her challenge to Segal’s proposal to save $10 million in the budget to fund a property-tax cut. She also pointed out her opposition to a budget increase and a $250 million borrowing plan, both in 2006, which Segal supported.
Toward the end of the event, Segal took Jacobs to task for missing more than 600 votes during her tenure as a commissioner. She countered that, in addition to facing an illness, she had traveled extensively to advocate of Orange County issues in her role as president of the Florida Association of Counties.
Two additional Conversations with the Candidates are scheduled for next week. The forum for the Congressional District 8 candidates is set for Tuesday, October 12 at 7 p.m. at the Citrus Bowl. District 3 Congressional candidates will meet the voters at 7 p.m., Thursday, October 14 at Crooms Academy of Information Technology in Sanford.
All Conversations with the Candidates are non-partisan and all qualified candidates have been invited. Both events are free and the public is encouraged to attend.
Partners of the I Have a Voice campaign include the African-American Chamber of Commerce, the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the NAACP – Seminole County and the NAACP- Volusia County. The Asian American Chamber of Commerce also has expressed support for the initiative. In addition, the Caribbean American Passport magazine, the Florida Sun, the Orlando Advocate, the Orlando Times, the West Orlando News, WESH-TV and WOKB Radio have joined the effort as media partners.
