Five days ago, I would have said that the candidacies of David McKalip and Darden Rice were in jeopardy after Tampa Bay Times reporter Mark Puente “exposed” that McKalip and Rice were not living at the addresses they listed to meet the residency requirements to run in District 4.
Five days ago, I would have said that this issue would probably dog McKalip and Rice for the rest of the election.
Five days ago, I would have said that the third candidate in the race, Carolyn Fries, could have driven a truck through the hole McKalip and Rice had opened into the viability of their campaigns.
That was five days ago.
Today, what I’ll say is that any story about where McKalip or Rice lay their heads is increasingly old news, that this won’t be an issue come the Fall, and Fries missed a genuine opportunity to reset the race.
First of all, the story broke right before the extended Memorial Day Weekend. Even if anyone was paying attention to Puente’s published report on Friday, the story lost whatever momentum it had as most voters headed to the beach or barbecued the weekend away.
McKalip and Rice should consider themselves lucky the story broke when it did.
For those still interested in the story, Times columnist John Romano put the issue (mostly) to bed, shifting the blame from McKalip and Rice to the city’s redistricting commission.
“A candidate who gets caught in redistricting has to maintain a residence in the old district right up until the moment the maps are changed, and then move into a new home the next day if he or she wants to satisfy the 12 continuous months rule,” wrote Romano. “That, of course, is silly.”
In other words, if McKalip and/or Rice wanted to continue their campaigns this year — and both had expressed interest in running for City Council before the maps were approved — they had to find new homes while still holding on to their current houses.
Again, that’s just silly.
Speaking of silly, Fries’ reaction to the original report from Puente reinforced the notion that she is a very green candidate, perhaps not ready for prime-time. The political newcomer distributed a sarcastic press release in which Fries expressed disappointment “that my opponents don’t appear to meet the residency requirements to qualify for City Council, District 4.”
Puente’s story wasn’t about McKalip’s or Rice’s “residency”, it was about where they “lived.” There is a significant difference, legally speaking, between where someone lives and where they claim residence.
Fries would have been better served by saying little or nothing publicly, while working behind the scenes to raise questions about McKalip and/or Rice. Instead her unfunny press release backfired.
If Fries really wanted to win this seat, she would have some unconnected-to-her third-party in court this morning challenging something — anything — about McKalip and/or Rice candidacy or the legal ruling by city attorney Mark Winn which gave way to this mess in the first place.
Fries needed this issue to remain in the public domain for as long as possible. Her inexperience, if not political ineptitude, along with a generous column from Romano have put to bed — once and for all — the residency issues of McKalip and Rice.
