Commission candidates split on phosphate pact
Pending Mosaic deal draws fire, support during Rotonda forum

ROTONDA WEST -- Three Charlotte County commission candidates say signing a pact with Mosaic that limits local governments' role in ensuring enforcement of phosphate mining regulations is folly.

Two others maintain that the pending agreement offers environmental protections the county couldn't secure while spending $12 million in legal battles with the corporate giant.

The controversial Mosaic deal -- which remains unsigned -- was among the most divisive topics that surfaced during a candidates' forum at the Rotonda Golf & Country Club attended by about 40 people.

District 1 Republican candidate Bob Starr and nonpartisan entry Ken Doherty differed dramatically, as did District 5 Republican incumbent Tricia Duffy and nonpartisan challenger Don Coppola.

But none were as outspoken in opposing the pact as District 3 Democratic candidate Percy Angelo.

Angelo, an environmental attorney for 30 years, said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' decision to "revisit" Mosaic's mining permit on the 2,048-acre Altman Tract in Manatee County will result in better protection for Charlotte Harbor water quality.  "This is a major breakthrough," she said, noting Charlotte County's legal pressure was instrumental in convincing the federal government to get involved.

Starr scoffed, comparing the county to "Don Quixote fighting windmills" before asking, "Should Charlotte County have spent $12 million of taxpayers' dollars to fight this?"

Doherty called the pending pact "a moving target" because Sarasota and Lee counties refuse to sign on.  "The bottom line, looking at economic development, if we don't protect Charlotte Harbor, we don't have economic development," he said.

District 5 Democratic challenger Jeremy Wilkerson, who will face off with Duffy and Coppola in the Nov. 4 general election, offered no opinion on the pact.  "I'm not saying if I am for or against it," he said. "I'm saying fertilizer is important for groceries."

Coppola, who served as District 5 commissioner from 1996 to 2000, said he has been suspicious of Mosaic and its corporate predecessor, FMC, since it proposed drawing 10 million gallons a day from the Peace River watershed.  He said the pact demonstrates that they "are being pandered to today. They are being allowed to do what they damn well please and we have to stop it."

Coppola called the $12 million spent on the lawsuit "peanuts to protect one of our most important resources. We've spent $12 million on parks that no one wants and sidewalks to nowhere."

Angelo said those who argue it is fruitless to battle Mosaic "are just wrong.  The idea that we have to lay down because this corporation is bigger than we are is just wrong," she said. "This is the law I have practiced for 30 years. It is not impossible. They all tell you we can't win. Well, we won."

Angelo said it is unconscionable for the county to consider a pact with a "gag order that prevents us from asking the Corps of Engineers from doing their job."

"I disagree," Duffy countered, noting the "gag order prevents us from filing any more challenges, which we aren't going to do anyway."  Not only can't the county afford spending money on court challenges, but the pact "offers us more protection" than Charlotte Harbor has now, she said.  "The agreement has higher standards," Duffy said. "We don't have that now; we have nothing."

District 3 Republican candidate Robert Skidmore did not attend the forum, citing a previous engagement.

 By John Haughey, Staff Writer