Differences emerged among the four candidates for Lakeland City Commission at a recent forum held by LkldNow. Issues where the candidates differed included COVID-19 masking, the South Florida Avenue road diet, body cameras for police officers, the city’s hospital lease and ways the city can support minority businesses.

The forum was held at LkldLive last Tuesday and was live-streamed on Facebook, YouTube and LkldNow.com. Here is video of the full forum. (The audio level starts out low but it is good by the time the candidates start speaking at 9:00.)

FORUM HIGHLIGHTS – Video clips curated by Michael Maguire:
Frankenberger | Musick | Post | Terrell

A special election is being held April 6 (view polling places) to select a commissioner to fill the unused portion of the term of Scott Franklin, who resigned from his Southeast district commission seat in connection with his successful run for U.S. Congress. The person elected will serve until the end of the year. Another election will be held this fall for a full four-year term.

Candidates are: Steve Frankenberger, head of the Publix corporate photography department; Mike Musick, president of a roofing company; Ken Post, a career project manager; and Shandale Terrell, a public school teacher.

Moderator for the forum was Andrea Oliver, the host of the LkldNow in View video conversation series.

At least two more candidate forums are planned:

Below are a selection of the questions asked and a summary of the candidates’ responses. By their nature, summaries can be incomplete, so check the video for full responses.

Left to right: Frankenberger, Musick, Oliver, Post, Terrell

COVID-19 precautions

Question: There is a lot of optimism about the trajectory of Covid-19. Vaccinations have started, and the number of new cases in Polk County has fallen significantly from its high at the start of 2021. Still, the numbers are well above last fall’s levels and there are new concerns about the newer more transmissible variants that are more common in Florida than any other state. Should the city of Lakeland do more than it is currently doing to encourage people to take precautions? If so, what should the city do? What would you recommend if they started dramatically rising again?

  • Frankenberger said he supported the mask mandate that the City Commission put into effect for three months last summer. With vaccinations under way, he wants to focus on supporting small business, perhaps by using a portion of the city’s federal COVID relief funds.
  • Musick: Citing a strong priority for personal freedoms, Musick said he differs on the mask mandate. He said he carries a mask with him and puts it on when entering a space where it is required.
  • Post said people should continue masking. He noted that the one he was wearing at the time said, “Love your neighbor,” and caring for others is why people should wear masks. A mandate is needed because many people won’t do things if you don’t tell them to.
  • Terrell: The city’s mask mandate was appropriate, and people should still wear masks and stay socially distanced when going into buildings where there are lots of other people.

Road Diet

Lakeland is in the middle of a one-year test of the South Florida Avenue road diet. The City Commission will vote this fall on whether to work with the Florida Department of Transportation to make the road diet permanent through Dixieland. Part of that will involve adding landscaping and wider sidewalks instead of the temporary concrete barriers. Based on what you’ve seen so far, would you vote to make the road diet permanent?

  • Frankenberger: With COVID-19 depressing the amount of traffic on Florida Avenue, the test should be extended. If a decision were to be made now, he would vote against it. “It’s not the right time.”
  • Musick: The road diet is pushing more traffic into adjoining neighborhoods and making it hard for people to turn onto Florida Avenue from side streets. His vote would be no to make it permanent, and he would have voted against starting the test.
  • Post supports the road diet as a good plan to make Dixieland more walkable. People will be able to stroll and enjoy the new murals planned for the corridor, and the combination of murals and walkability will attract visitors from other communities.
  • Terrell did not like the road diet test at first because he felt the barriers were bulky. Now he feels the road diet is necessary because businesses are so close to the road, but he’d like to see the barriers narrowed a bit to keep cars from hitting them.

Body Cameras

Body cameras for police officers have become a big issue. After last spring’s social justice protests, Mayor Mutz said that everybody he talked with about the protests suggested police be equipped with body cameras to safeguard both the public and the officers. But Police Chief Garcia has said it will be costly to equip all officers with the equipment, store and maintain all of the video, and hire the two people needed to take care of the technology and records requests. Do you think Lakeland’s police officers should be equipped with body cameras? Should the cost take precedence over the salary negotiations for police officers in the union contract which expired more than 2 years ago?

  • Frankenberger said he’s a fan of body cameras because they increase accountability, providing protection for both the officer and others involved in a police interaction. He feels costs for data storage and management can be negotiated so will probably be lower than projected by the police chief.
  • Musick opposes body cameras as an affront to personal freedom. With the prevalence of cell phones, video of incidents is already widely available. He fears bystanders will sue the city when they are caught in unflattering ways.
  • Post said body cameras serve a good purpose because they help people understand what really happened during a police encounter.
  • Terrell: Before the city buys body cams, it should raise police pay because Lakeland police should be among the highest paid in the region instead of among the lowest. Body cameras add to accountability, and they will be adapted eventually.

Cleveland Heights

There has been debate in recent years about the city’s subsidy to operate the Cleveland Heights Golf Course. Critics question whether the city should spend more than $1 million a year on the amenity. Supporters say the golf course improves the quality of life and provides recreation at a reasonable cost. Should the city continue to support the golf course? Do you have any ideas for reducing the costs or increasing the revenues? If the city were to decide to discontinue its operation, what should be done with the property?

  • Frankenberger: Cleveland Heights is an important amenity, especially as the city tries to attract companies with higher-paying jobs. The city should consider turning nine of the 27 holes into a course for Frisbee golf and should also look into drone racing there. He does not support selling a portion of the golf course for development.
  • Musick said he loves the golf course but doesn’t love deficits. Cleveland Heights plays an important role as a venue for fund-raisers for local nonprofits. He wants to learn more about proposals to sell nine of the 27 holes for development.
  • Post: Cleveland Heights is an asset to the city and should be maintained as part of the parks system. Perhaps greens fees can be adjusted to help reduce the deficit.
  • Terrell supports keeping the golf course as well as its dining and banquet facilities.

Hospital lease

Recently the City Commission made a major change to the city’s lease with Lakeland Regional Health. The hospital will be paying a lump sum of $215 million to end its lease obligations instead of more than $14 million per year, through 2040. Supporters say the move will help protect the hospital’s long-term viability. Critics say the move will force the city to look for new revenue sources for things like parks and fire stations. Do you think it was a good idea to approve the lump-sum payment?

  • Frankenberger said he understands the need to preserve the viability of the hospital as competition increases, but would have preferred if a long-term deal was negotiated instead of a lump-sum payment. The reductions to city revenue will be hard to overcome.
  • Musick said he was disturbed by the lack of transparency in the deal. The public wasn’t informed of the pending decision until the last minute. He said he probably would have voted to approve the lease changes but would have liked to see more dialogue.
  • Post said he would not have voted for the lease changes and would have wanted to see more information. He was skeptical that the city will be able to attain the 6% return officials said they expect from investing the proceeds. “The hospital … is a great asset, but at the same time we need to take care of other parts of the city and keep things funded.”
  • Terrell said there must have been a reason six out of seven commissioners supported the lease changes. “It’s very hard to answer yes or no because you had to be at the table to really understand the reason they voted for it.”

Lakeland Electric

There has been considerable discussion over the years on whether the city should make it easier to sell our municipal utility, Lakeland Electric. Would you favor or consider the sale or lease of Lakeland Electric?

All four candidates say they oppose the sale or lease of Lakeland Electric.

Strong mayor

There was a major effort a few years ago to replace Lakeland’s manager-council form of government with a strong mayor form. If the issue surfaces again, which form would you favor and why?

  • Frankenberger: Lakeland is not large enough to accommodate a strong-mayor system such as the ones in Tampa, Orlando and St. Petersburg.
  • Musick: Opposed. A strong mayor system would enable somebody with a lot of money to put the person they want in charge, and that would not serve the interests of the citizenry.
  • Post: A strong leader would help push the city forward and speak on behalf of the city.
  • Terrell said he wouldn’t support a strong mayor unless an analysis shows that we have the numbers to support it; he did not specify which numbers should be analyzed.

Broadband

The city of Lakeland owns more than 300 miles of fiber optic cable that it uses for its own operations; in addition it sells access to the fiber to large organizations. There have been talks for years about building onto the fiber optic system to provide high-speed Internet to local homes and small businesses. Should the city of Lakeland extend its fiber network to start a broadband Internet utility either on its own or with a private partner?

  • Frankenberger: While the city operates great utilities, it’s probably not a good idea to get involved with broadband; private industry should do it.
  • Musick: Private business needs to be involved. The city shouldn’t be in the fiber optic business or cable business.
  • Post: The city should reach out for partnerships with companies that already know how to run a broadband business.
  • Terrell: “It’s not conducive to the residents in the city of Lakeland so until it is compatible and it’s more accepted within the city of Lakeland and Lakeland Electric, I’ll have to say no.”

Single-member districts

As you know, four of the city commissioners represent a specific quadrant of the city although they run citywide for the office. Should Lakeland change its city charter so that these four commissioners are elected only by the people in the district they represent?

All four candidates oppose a move toward single-member districts.

Minority businesses

What would you do to ensure growth and equity for Black-owned businesses and contracts for those businesses?

  • Frankenberger: Respect and dignity for all is key. Leadership training and help with budgeting can help all businesses. Open-door diversity should be a way of life in Lakeland.
  • Musick: “One of the best things we can do for everybody is to have a blind-envelope system where the best person gets the job, the most qualified who meets the standards set up in the RFP.” To help minority businesses that feel disadvantaged, hold training sessions in the neighborhoods where they’re located.
  • Post: The city should consider directing a portion of its coming federal COVID assistance to minority businesses, many of which suffered during the pandemic.
  • Terrell: Invite small business owners to the table and keep things open. “Afro Americans pretty much purchase a lot so we should own the same amount of business as we purchase from.” But the businesses need to make sure they have their credentials in place.

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Barry Friedman founded Lkldnow.com in 2015 as the culmination of a career in print and digital journalism. Since 1982, he has used the tools of reporting, editing and content curation to help people in Lakeland understand their community better.

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