Former Tallahassee Mayor Dot Inman-Johnson and current City Commissioner Curtis Richardson took part in a recent candidate forum as they vie for the City Commission’s Seat 2. Whoever wins their race on Nov. 5 will determine the balance of power in City Hall.
The forum was presented by the League of Women Voters of Tallahassee, the Tallahassee Democrat and WFSU Public Media.
The two candidates were questioned on several topics of interest to the voting public, including natural disasters. Tallahassee has had two close calls with hurricanes recently, and Suzanne Smith with the League of Women Voters asked: “What kept you up at night when it looked like it was certain, what does the city need to ahead of next time when we may not be so lucky?”
Inman-Johnson said she and her husband evacuated. She added that she was impressed with the city’s preparedness for Hurricane Milton.
“I must say that the city did an excellent job and actually the hurricane did an excellent job by missing Tallahassee both Helene and Milton,” Inman-Johnson said.
Richardson said: “My daughter, who’s a midshipman at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, called my wife and I and asked us if we would abandon the city, and I quickly told her I can’t do that in the leadership position that I’m in. I have to be here for the people that I represent in the city of Tallahassee. So, my wife and I decided we were going to ride it out, which we did, and fortunately the hurricane took a different route.”
William Hatfield, the Democrat’s editor, asked, “If your opponent is elected what will the city look like four years from now?” Inman-Johnson said, “It will look exactly like it looks now with a city manager running the government instead of the City Commission answering to the public. The voters are the employers of the City Commissioners, and they have a job to do what’s in the best interest of the public — not developers.”
Richardson, a regular member of the majority in 3-2 commission votes, said if Inman-Johnson is elected, the currency majority would become a minority. “I think that we would be a community that is anti-business,” he said.
A new law went into effect Oct. 1, banning homeless individuals from camping in public. Local governments are authorized to designate a public space for camping and sleeping with approval from the state.
The two candidates were asked how the city should tackle this dilemma.
Richardson described it as “tremendous and challenging. We’re going to have a conversation again as a community as to how we’re going to afford that.”
Inman-Johnson said, “We have a 25% poverty rate in this community, and something has to be done. We can learn from the success of other communities.”
The forum gave viewers a glimpse of the tension between Inman-Johnson and Richardson. In the August primary Inman-Johnson edged Richardson by roughly 3 percentage points, but did not secure the 50 percent needed to win the seat.
Inman-Johnson and Richardson were critical of one another on multiple issues, including the city budget.
Johnson was the first Black female elected to the Tallahassee City Commission, including two terms as mayor. She has served in many leadership roles in Leon County.
Richardson, in addition to serving as mayor pro-tem, is a former member of the Florida House of Representatives.