Republican candidate Bob Starr, who will meet nonpartisan Ken Doherty and Democrat Jeremy Wilkerson in the District 1 Nov. 4 election, said county spending spurred him to enter the race. "One of my biggest concerns is the amount of money we spend unnecessarily on consultants," he said.

Starr, 65, defeated three Republicans in the Aug. 26 GOP primary, including two-time incumbent Ton D'Aprile.  If elected, Starr said he'll create a "kitchen cabinet" of 30 residents, mostly from homeowners associations, to ensure their concerns are addressed.

Doherty, a former commercial pilot and civil engineer who was Charlotte County engineer and assistant county administrator from 1979-84, said controlling spending is the top priority.  "You have to attack it from the expenditure side," he said, advocating a "zero-based budget."

Doherty, 58, is president of TerraSport Inc., which provides engineering for new ballparks nationally. He said spending is only half the equation, however.  "The real long-term solution is to diversify your tax base," he said.

Wilkerson, 36, a county employee who works in support services, said he sees waste on a daily basis. He said there is a disconnect between government practice and what is practical, a distinction he understands from hands-on experience. If elected, he said he'll ensure work not done by county workers goes "to local people. We need to keep our money here."

Commissioner Tricia Duffy, "a partial incumbent" appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush to succeed Sara Devos in 2006, said "high taxes" are a problem, but a bigger issue is "out-of-control spending."  Duffy, 53, will meet nonpartisan Don Coppola in the District 5 election.  She voted against raising millage rates in the 2009 budget and said she wouldn't raise them in 2010, even if faced with a projected $45 million shortfall.

Coppola, 73, who served as District 5 commissioner from 1996-2000, said the best way to lower taxes is to do away with a "predatory government" that has evolved from a "legacy of government by special interests."

Percy Angelo, 63, a Democrat who will meet Republican Robert Skidmore in the District 3 race, said her 30 years as an environmental attorney could pay dividends.  She has outlined what she says is a series of cost-saving efficiencies in her "Blueprint for Charlotte County," available on the Web and in print. She advocates a "zero-based budget" and reshuffling the county's organizational chart, which is heavily tiered with management.

Skidmore, who defeated two candidates in the GOP primary, including incumbent Tom Moore, could not attend because of a prior commitment.

Angelo said ensuring Lemon Bay water quality will require a multiprong approach that includes better stormwater drainage, continuing the "good start" established by the fertilizer ordinance, and revamping county regulations to promote a tree canopy.

Duffy agreed the county's tree ordinance needs to be upgraded.  She said a state-imposed septic monitoring program will also help stem runoff, but until the county can finance neighborhood improvements other than by its "broken" MSBU system, solutions will be expensive and vary from place to place.

Coppola said the county must adopt a hard line in protecting its natural resources.

Wilkerson said septic leeching should be "an easy fix," noting "septics are not being designed right" in the area.

Starr said Lemon Bay's biggest issue is dredging Stump Pass, an expenditure he opposed while on the county's Beaches and Shores Committee.  Spending up to $40 million over the years to dredge one pass while closing another "made absolutely no sense to me," he said, because unless all are open, the bay isn't properly "flushing."

Doherty said techniques and regulations used for 25, 30 years "aren't working" anymore.  For instance, he said, engineers now know grass swales clean water better than retention ponds.