Some say outspoken mayor has gone too far

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Miami Herald

Some say outspoken mayor has gone too far
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle's recent tirade about public gay sex may have damaged his political clout, observers said.

Posted on Mon, Jul. 30, 2007

By AMY SHERMAN
[e-mail]

What began as a routine discussion about the need for public restrooms on the beach ballooned into a fiery debate about gay sex in public places, and it now threatens to limit the effectiveness of the plain-spoken mayor of Fort Lauderdale in his last two years of office.

Mayor Jim Naugle's two-decade tenure of blunt speech has riled many residents over the years. Now, some observers say his recent statements about gays have created a swirl of negative feelings that erode Naugle's ability to press his anti-tax, slow-growth agenda until term limits force him out in March 2009.

Jim Kane, a pollster and political newsletter editor who has worked on Naugle campaigns, said that while Naugle previously had teetered at the edge of acceptability on social issues, he has gone over the top this time.

`POLITICAL WAR'

''I'm surprised he has taken it to this level,'' said Kane, who edits the nonpartisan Florida Vote. ``Jim Naugle will taunt you a little bit, poke you a little bit but generally speaking he won't go to war. This appears to be . . . a signal that he is willing to go to political war.''



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