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Safety Harbor Commission Candidates Square Off

Mark S. Schantz/SUNCOAST NEWS

Nina Bandoni, left, and Robin Fornino, both newcomers to the Safety Harbor political scene, are vying for the same seat in the Jan. 29 municipal election.

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By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: January 18, 2008

SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. - SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. - Residents' vision of Safety Harbor's future became a hot topic when candidates for two City Commission seats debated the issues Tuesday night at City Hall.

The forum was sponsored by the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce and League of Woman Voters.

The election takes place during the Tuesday, Jan. 29, presidential primary. Early voting in the city election began Jan. 14.

In the race, for Seat Four, two newcomers on the city's political scene, Nina Bandoni and Robin Fornino, debated the issues before a packed audience.

Tuesday night, another political newcomer, Mark Taylor, challenged Commissioner Nadine Nickeson, the Seat Three incumbent, on how the city has been doing business.

Bandoni, the president of Turnstone Properties, which helps nonprofit groups with program and building development, said during Tuesday night's forum that preserving the city's quaintness is important, as is promoting public safety and protecting the environment.

She said she wants to use her expertise to create public-private partnerships that would foster neighborhood and downtown improvements and economic development.

The former head of the Clearwater Housing Department, Bandoni is also interested in providing more affordable housing in city.

Bandoni said she is proud to have helped locate financing and worked on the design of the Safety Harbor Family Center. She is a member of the center's board of directors.

As a commissioner, Bandoni said, she would listen and respond to residents' questions and concerns.

Bandoni said she wants the city to encourage an appropriate mix of downtown businesses and would work on design guidelines to protect the city's character.

Fornino, a financial consultant, said she would like to protect the city's old Florida charm and quaint character. When it comes to development there is a disconnect between the city and residents vision of how the city is developed, she said.

Fornino favors more consensus building and compromise so the concerns residents voice are addressed.

Many more of the city's trees should be protected and development should be in character with resident's vision of how the city should look, Fornino said.

She said she would investigate how other cities revitalized their downtown, so the city can change its approach to get better results.

In the other municipal race, Mark Taylor, a pharmacist, said he wants to be the independent voice of residents on the City Commission.

Taylor said the commission does not listen to residents or address concerns in a timely manner. While not much is happening now, he would promote downtown redevelopment to fill the empty shops.

Taylor said, unlike Nickeson, he would have not voted to sell a strip of city-owned property next to the Safety Harbor Museum of Regional History to an abutting property owner.

Nickeson won Seat 4 last year, after former Commissioner James McCormick Jr. resigned. Taylor attempted to oppose Nickeson in the 2007 election but did not make the ballot because of a candidacy filing error.

Nickeson said Tuesday re-electing her would assure stability on the commission. Everyone has the same vision for the city, but we can't agree on how to get there, she said.

Nickeson said she wants to continue working on the city's downtown development plan to attract more good business.

Addressing Taylor's assertion the City Commission does not listen to residents, Nickeson said the city solicits public comments and addresses resident's concerns. Sometimes, however, it takes time to get all the information needed to respond to a question or concern, she said.

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