Mayoral Candidates Talk Human Rights Ordinance, Abandoned Homes, Mooring Field

Audience members asked Mayoral Candidates Sam Henderson and Bob Worthington several questions during the city-sponsored "Meet the Candidates" forum Tuesday night at Gulfport City Hall. Below are just a couple of questions pulled from the evening with excerpts from both candidates’ answers.

Human Rights Ordinance

Q: Do you believe that our local Boy Scout troop must abide by our human rights ordinance?  

Sam Henderson:

“Absolutely, I very much disagree with the National Boy Scouts of America’s national policy on allowing gay people to participate in the scouting program.

What I feel we have right now is an excellent opportunity. We have in our pack 300. We have a pack that’s going to be a model pack. And they’re going to say we’re going to support the human rights ordinance and they’re not going to discriminate.

I don’t think we move them out into an environment where they may be more encouraged to discriminate.

We get our Scout Master who’s already said that he’s willing to sign a lease agreement that states that he’ll abide by the human rights ordinance

He’s also said to me on the phone that he will sign a statement saying that the has not discriminated, will not discriminate and will abide by the human rights ordinance.”

I say we keep Pack 300 and let them be a model for the national Boy Scouts of America who have yet to make the right decision on this.

Bob Worthington:

“I believe that we’ve got to wait until May to see what the National Boy Scouts does.” But the city of Gulfport needs to do the right thing when the time comes.

If the National Boy Scouts does not agree with the Human Rights Ordinance. . then we need to take action.

I was a Boy Scout leader for 15 years and during that time, we never asked anyone what their religion was, what they’re politics was or whether they were gay or lesbian.

The group that I worked with was young men and women ages 14 to 20 and we just had a good time, nobody bothered them. With the scouting group that I worked with . . no one ever asked those questions.”

Mooring Field

Q: Would you vote yes or no for a mooring field? And please explain why?

Bob Worthington:

“I would vote yes. I worked to help create the first mooring field and the mooring field that I wanted to create was a 100 boat mooring field and one of the reasons for that was. It covered a large footprint of the bay that we would have control over. It didn’t mean that you would have to put out 100 moorings.

It would give us control over that large section of bay, to where people that didn’t use it had to stay further away."

Sam Henderson:

“I’ve been very clear about being against the mooring field from the time I got on council. The biggest reasons that I was against it were economic. That seems like a luxury item to me. Particularly when was dealing with times when people’s property values are falling and spending city money like that to me felt reckless.

Now that we’re talking about a reduced footprint, possibly 25 boats. . then I think it’s a more reasonable approach. What I’d like to see fund that, is some of the money that we recently applied for from BP as well.”

Abandoned Homes

Q: How many abandoned or long vacant properties are there in Gulfport? Are these a concern for the city and it’s mayor?

Bob Worthington:

“I couldn’t tell you exactly how many there are. But, It is a concern. I’ve had several residents voice that concern to me. They’ve shown me the properties around their neighborhoods. They are foreclosed on properties. Or properties that have been foreclosed on and still have people living in them and they aren’t doing anything with the properties.

I think the city needs to find out who the foreclosure is and make them responsible for the upkeep of those properties.

We’ve got too many properties around town with blue tarps on them. On the roofs that are all tore up and ripped up. You know the blue tarps aren’t doing any good anymore.

People are talking about snakes and other animals that are around those properties, that are crawling out of the houses, raccoons and possums, and they’re really concerned so, I think we need to do something.”

Sam Henderson:

“Agreed, I don’t know the exact number of those properties in the city of Gulfport, those number fluctuates.

We need to follow up and do our enforcement with whoever the property owners are. Whether that be a bank, whether that’s someone who’s a delinquent property owner, an out-of -state property owner. And just like a property where you have a resident, we have the means to follow up.

Additionally, one thing we did in recent years to address that is, we changed our solicitation policy so that people can no longer come and leave materials hanging on the door because that’s a sure way to attract crime. When somebody sees the phone books and the pamphlets hanging on the door and they’re clearly built up for days. That’s one of the things that we did to prevent people from breaking into these homes.”

I would really like to see some of these homes be moved and sold and become homes again.”

For More Information:

The municipal elections are on Tuesday, March 12, 2013. The mayor serves a three-year term. The voter registration deadline was Monday, February 11, 2013 for the next city elections.

For more information on how to register visit the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections website.

Both candidates have set up Facebook Pages; here are the links:

• Sam Henderson for Mayor of Gulfport FL
• Bob Worthington for Mayor of Gulfport, Florida