Clearwater Neighborhoods Coalition Hosts Candidate Forum

On January 24, 2022, the Clearwater Neighborhood Coalition hosted a Zoom forum for candidates running for city council.  Ed Davis, Executive Producer of WTAN, served as moderator.

The six candidates running for office in two seats were as follows:

Seat 4

David Allbritton

Maranda Douglas

Gerry Lee

Seat 5

Aaron Smith-Levin

Lina Teixeira

Jonathan Wade

The candidates were asked the following questions:

1. How important do you see promoting communication between and involvement from residents, Beach to Bay, in city issues, and how do you intend to achieve this?
2. What are the three most important issues facing this city?
3. There is a perception among residents that the city has exhibited a preference for granting “flexibility” to accommodate the plans of developers. Explain how you intend to level the playing field to allow neighborhoods more leverage in protecting their interests in these situations?
4. Last year Clearwater’s vehicle thefts were up 28% and sex offenses were up 13%, what will you do to reduce the incidence of crime in this city?
5. Clearwater recently adopted the Greenprint 2.0 Sustainability Plan. What are the three most important elements and what would you do to ensure these are achieved by March 2024?
6. Who are the top five non-governmental employers in Clearwater, what will you do to help those firms stay in Clearwater?
7. What plans can you help Clearwater put in place within the first 12 months of your term to offer housing to families earning less than the Average Median Income?
8. If the sheriff’s department told you it could provide the same level of service to Clearwater as the police but at a lower cost what would you do?
9. What do you think of zoning changes that would increase population density in Clearwater?
10. What ideas do you have to enhance neighborhoods that would be beneficial to younger families?
11. What councilmember are you looking forward to working with when you get elected?
12. What ideas do you have to plan and protect the city from rising sea water?

To learn more about the Clearwater city council candidates, watch the video of the forum and be sure to share it before the municipal election on March 15, 2022. There will be no early voting and mail ballots will begin to go out on February 10, 2022.

*Note: The deadline to register to vote is February 14, 2022. Visit www.votepinellas.com to register to vote, update your registration, check registration status, find a precinct or request a mail-in ballot. Poll hours on March 15, 2022 are 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Clearwater Neighborhoods Coalition

clearwaterneighborhoods.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ClearwaterNeighborhoodsCoalition

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