City Commission Candidate Forum Tonight at 6 at City Hall

Three candidates for the open Safety Harbor City Commission Seat 1 will be on the same stage tonight, participating in a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters at City Hall.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. Oct. 24, but residents are invited to arrive at 5:30 to submit questions to the candidates Richard Blake, Ray R. Irvin and Bobby Saltzman.

While each candidate has had a presence in the community ever since the commission seat opened up following Mayor Andy Steingold's resignation, they have not yet met live in a face-to-face, Q&A format.

"The three candidates will answer audience questions that have been vetted through a League of Women's Voters representative," said Normajeanne Anderson of the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce.

"It's a very structured format, people are generally well behaved, and it should be very informative," she added.

City manager Matt Spoor, who will be in attendance, said a voter registration table, staffed by the Supervisior of Elections for Pinellas County, will be set up from 5:30 to 6.

Patch contacted each candidate and asked them what they hope to accomplish or see happen tonight.

"My run for Commissioner started on Jan 17th when I asked the Commission to get the staples out of the trees on Main St.," Saltzman said via email. "Now it comes down to expressing our views and our vision for Safety Harbor.

"I hope we get a big crowd and are asked some tough questions, I feel I am ready."

Irvin, who was recently endorsed by the Safety Harbor Firefighters Local 2267, says he plans to "lay out 4 or 5 ideas on how we (should be) maintaining Safety Harbor's quality of life."

He says he'd like to "promote our Safety Harbor community as a place to retire or open an art gallery, service business or raise a family."

Richard Blake, a local realtor also running for the position, could not be reached in time for publication.

Update: Mr. Blake contacted Patch via email and said, "I look forward to meeting with more of our city residents and the other candidates tonight and appreciate the opportunity to share our ideas and vision for the city."

The candidate forum begins at 5:30 at City Hall at 700 Main St.. You can also watch it live online at www.CityofSafetyHarbor.com or when it replays on Safety Harbor’s TV channel (Bright House channel 615, Knology channel 15, Verizon FiOS channel 25). 

More coverage

• Safety Harbor Commission Candidates: What You Need to Know

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