by Caron Conway

Two former Town Council colleagues will square off in the race for the office of mayor in the March 10 municipal election.

Incumbent Tom Truex, who was elected to the Town Council in 2001 and has served as mayor since 2003, faces opponent Judith “Judy” Paul, a three-term District 4 councilmember from 1998 to 2007. The mayor’s race is the only contested seat in the election.

A third candidate with prior experience on the dais was former councilmember and vice mayor Bryan Caletka, who won his District 1 seat without opposition when candidate Karen Stenzel-Nowicki withdrew from the race. Caletka, a teacher at Western High School in Davie, resigned his seat last year to run for the Broward County Commission.

The elected officials will serve until March 2012.

Truex, 51, has been a resident of Davie since 1987 and opened his law firm there in 1985. Before his election to the Town Council, Truex served as chairman of the Davie Charter Review Board (2000) and as a member of the District Boundaries Committee. He also served as a board member of the E.A.S.E. Foundation in Davie, the Davie-Cooper City Chamber of Commerce, and the Davie Merchant and Industrial Association; as president of the board of directors for Hope Pregnancy Centers of Broward County; and is a board member of Firewall Ministries.

Paul, 68, a retired 39-year schoolteacher who holds a master of arts degree, has lived in Davie since 1986. She currently chairs the town’s Senior Citizen Advisory Committee and serves as a board member of several organizations, including the Davie Area Land Trust, 4-H Foundation, Junior Achievement, Project Stable and South Florida Trail Riders. Paul’s other civic involvements have included the Davie Charter Review Board (1996 and 2007), Broward County Farm Bureau vice chair and Friends of Davie Farm Park, Inc. president.

One of the biggest differences between the two mayoral candidates – and perhaps the most critical campaign issue – is their positions on the controversial Davie Commons project, a mixed retail and commercial “lifestyle center” proposed for the western part of town.

Paul strongly opposes The Commons, calling it incompatible with the character of the surrounding area and a significant traffic generator. She cast the lone vote against the project in 2007.

Truex voted to permit the project to move forward for county and state reviews, but stressed that improvements are needed before he could give his blessing when the project comes back to the Town Council for final approval, likely this year.

The 152-acre project would bring more than 1 million square feet of retail space to western Davie, where large lots and single-family homes are the norm. The developers, Turnberry Associates and Coral Gables-based Retail Estate, Inc., envision high-end shops, restaurants, offices and a hotel that could generate more than $3 million in taxes for the town.

In early February, the South Florida Regional Planning Council voted 13-1 to send the project to the state Department of Community Affairs, but noted that it is “generally inconsistent” with the area’s regional plan.

Both mayoral candidates stress the importance of preserving open space. Truex characterizes himself as an advocate of business development who has “always supported a happy medium between residential and commercial development.”

As for the traffic fears raised by the proposed Commons project, which would be built off Interstate 75 and Royal Palm Boulevard, Truex said neighboring Davie residents would not be impacted, with “100 percent of [new] traffic on and off the interstate.”

In addition, the western Broward population expected to patronize the mega-complex is “now not going to be traveling the interstates and other roads to get to other [retail] destinations,” Truex said. “So by traveling a shorter distance, they’re actually taking a very considerable number of travel miles off the books, just by shopping a little bit closer to home.”

Paul maintains that The Commons development would ruin the semi-rural character of the town’s western neighborhoods. She supports balancing new development with the redevelopment of existing homes, businesses and offices “so that it remains compatible with neighboring properties and retains their unique characteristics.”

Paul’s other priorities as mayor would include making Downtown Davie a “viable destination for shoppers and diners,” creating a long-range plan for the revitalization of the State Road 7 corridor, addressing ways to make the town more environmentally friendly, seeking new sources of revenue and eliminating unnecessary spending.

If re-elected, Truex said his top priorities would include keeping taxes low, maintaining open space and trails, ensuring quality public safety, supporting recreation and physical fitness programs, and promoting appropriate development and redevelopment.

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