Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 37

777T77 i i 4 33 ST. PETERSBURG TIMES SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6. 1983 The big names were missing, but candidates had their forum ly DAVID FINKEL It. Mtar tbur Tim tuff Wrttar it 4 You've got Philanderers. I think first of aU they have to have a national council of Christians and Druze." On a balanced budget: Richard Kay: "We'll never balance the budget unless we put Congress in a straitjack-et.

And that is going to take the demand by the American people to have a constitutional amendment to have a balanced budget That's the only way it's going to be done." Grayaon: "I think we should tax the heck out of rich people. There are a lot of rich people in this country. And we need them. Because without rich people, America would be a poorer place. Now as for balancing the budget, I have a plan.

On the back of the dollar, there's the great seal of the United States. Now we all know that seals can balance things. If we used the great seal to balance the budget, we would have no problems." At the end of the forum, a straw poll was held to see whom the shoppers preferred for president. Nineteen ballots were turned in, but only 16 people voted. Grayson got five votes, Britt got five, Elijah the Prophet got three, President Reagan got two and Reubin Askew got one.

Later, after the forum had ended and the mall had emptied, David Citron said he thought the American political process had been well-served. "It was a good exercise in political freedom," he said. "Can you imagine something like this going on in Russia?" Because there was no one around to answer him, he answered himself. "Of course not," he said. firm.

Even when a movie called Wicked Lady began at the mall cinema and the crowd dwindled to five, the candidates kept at it, wooing the five shoppers if they were 5,000. Out of all of this emerged the following views, which the candidates hope voters will consider at election time. On the invuion of Grenada: Elijah ths Prophet: "I think that gunboat diplomacy, which has been tried before, is not the way to go. I say it's time for America to begin to trust in God, like it says on the dollar bill. If you start caring about the people in Grenada in a way that would show them that they don't have to turn to the Soviet Union to get aid, that they can get support and aid from us, I think that would be the best approach." Richard Grayson: "We don't know what's going on there, basically because some people pronounce it Gre-NAY-da and some people pronounce it Gre-NAH-da.

That's probably why they got mad at us. Now all these countries are mad at us because we can't pronounce their names. In Libya, we've got trouble. Have you ever seen Khadafy's name spelled twice the same way? No wonder he's mad at us." On the Middle East: George Britt: "I think the Middle East problem is a very unsolvable problem. At the moment.

It probably will remain a very unsolvable problem for a long time. As far as the PLO, I don't know where we're going to put the PLO. It's a very touchy problem. But I do support Israel's right to exist." Grayson: "There are so many fractions there. That's the problem.

You've got Druids. Richard Kay of North Palm Beach. Kay is a lawyer who ran for president in 1980 on a platform of controlling inflation, streamlining the welfare system and rehabilitating criminals by sending them to isolated penal colonies in Micronesia. He lost. This time around, he want to make sure that homosexuals and "other sexual deviants," such those who engage in bestiality, aren't given constitutional equality.

Elijah the Prophet of New York City. A quality-control expert for Western Electric who used to be named Charles Stewart, Elijah said Armageddon wu approaching, and the Messiah would return before the general election. Asked if he wu in this to win, Prophet said, "Sure." Richard Grayson of South Florida. Asked why he wu running for president, Grayson, an English teacher at a community college, said, "The presidency pays $180,000 a year. You get to live rent-free in not such a good neighborhood, but the house is good.

You get your own plane. You get a lot of nice things. You get to be on television whenever you want. You have your own bowling alley. The question to me isn't why I'm running for president, but why you aren't." DESPITE THE hope of some mall merchants that the Presidential Forum would bring in shoppers, only 22 blank-faced people gathered in the middle of the mall when Citron kicked things off by striding to the podium and saying, "Who are these guys?" But the lack of reaction didn't keep the four candidates from acting like big-time, sought-after contenders.

They ranted. They sweated. They squared their jaws and looked Th presidency pays yew. You Ct to llvo rant-froo In not such Good neighborhood, but tho houM is good. You est your own plxns.

Tho question to mo isn't why I'm running for prssidsnt, but why you Riohard Grayson night, the forum wu held at the Cross County Mall, adjacent to a store called Lynn's Dinettes. 8TILL, A8 David Citron, forum organizer and mall publicist said, it wu a chance for the lesser-known of the 121 candidates who are officially running for president to meet the public and get their views across. The forum luted two hours. Ninety candidates were invited. Fourteen said they would attend.

Four showed up. They were: George Britt of Pennsylvania. At a press conference in the mall office, complete with refreshments that included coffee and Moon Pies, Britt said he wu running for president to teach young people about the election process. To back up his words, he has a 15-year-old campaign manager. Britt said they met on a bus.

He said he travels by bus a lot, each month purchasing a 30-day unlimited travel ticket. That's how he got to the forum. The trip, he said, wu encouraging. "I met a lot of people on the bus who are ready to support me," he said. WEST PALM BEACH Somewhert in the South this morning, a man named Marlin Thacker ii heading home to Alabama, wondering if hit political career it finished because of what happened Friday night He wu supposed to be in West Palm Beach.

As an official candidate for president of the United States, he had been invited to par-ticipate in the first-ever Florida Presidential Forum. But he got lost. His last known position, reported in a desperate call he made from a pay phone: the intersection of U.S. 441 and Hollywood Boulevard. Trying to stay calm, he said he'd be right along, But he never made it OTHER CANDIDATES also didn't make it, including Askew, Cranston, Duke, Glenn, Hart, Hollings, Jackson, McGovern, Mondale and O'Cummings.

Duke, for those who don't know, is the Rev. Willie Duke of Ohio. He didn't make it because he broke a toe. O'Cummings is Grady O'Cummings III of New York. He didn't make it because his mother died.

But he thought enough of the forum to stop at a pay phone on his way home from the funeral parlor to call a reporter with the following message for the people of Florida: "Tell 'em I'm definitely running." For the 9,746,302 of the 9,746,324 Floridians who missed it, the Florida Presidential Forum was not your typical big-money political gathering. For instance, while the state's 1 Democratic Party held a convention earlier this month at the Diplomat Hotel in Holly- wood, where the cheapest room goes for $60 a i 7 I Crash kills man, woman in Clearwater Thi story alto apppeeri in Mm Times regional edit tone. By JUDY BRENNAN St. Peiereburq Timee Staff Writer CLEARWATER A Clearwater man and woman were killed Saturday afternoon when the motorcycle on which they were riding collided head-on with a pickup truck, police said. The victims were Melissa Anne Plants, 17, of 2699 Seville Blvd.

and William David Simpson, 18, of 5175 Glen-wood Ave. Ms. Plants was killed on impact Simpson died shortly after arrival at Clearwater Community Hospital, officials said. The accident happened at 12:40 p.m. on a sharp curve in front of the Harbour Towne Condominiums, in the 400 block of Bayshore Boulevard.

Police shut off traffic along part of Bayshore for more than an hour Saturday. "AT THIS point we believe the motorcycle caused the accident," said Sgt. John McNeilly. "It was headed northbound and when it hit the curve, it apparently swerved into the path of the truck headed south." Author- fries said the motorcycle skidded underneath the truck. -William Turner, 46, of 8880 60th Way Pinellas Park, the driver of the GMC pickup truck, wu not injured in the Accident, police said.

"It was incredibly sad, terribly sad," said Alex Kozlowski of 316 Bayshore who witnessed the incident. He was told by police not to discuss details of the accident. NEIGHBORS from the condominiums watched police measured skid marks of more than 100 feet before the point of impact. The motorcycle was destroyed in the accident. Police estimated about $750 damage to the front of the truck.

"There have been so many bad accidents on this curve," laid Kozlowski, "and I've seen so many of them." "It really bothers me that nothing has been done to change this," he said. "Neither of those people were driving fast. The road was just slippery and look what happened. Two people had to lose their lives." GEOFFREY INVITES YOU AND YOUR FAMILY TO THE SUPER OPENING OF HIS NEWEST STORE! OVER 10,000 the entire family LOW, LOW PRICES all brand names FULLY year 'round LIBERAL MONEY-BACK your shopping satisfaction TOVS J) World of Fun for Everyone! bbbbbbbkw- sa rm Call Days Evenings Weekends 41 (813) JpV 988-0003 law IAA41 SJ Come meet Geoffrey, his Family and Friends Sunday, Nov. 6th.

Educational Center 56th Street Tampa, Florida 11 AM-1 PM TIST PREPARATION SPECIALISTS SINCE U38 Reserve Your Seat Today CLASSES BEGIN NOV. 16 Care Bears iMiAmitcM aneHMtCeie. Papa P.yo 1M1 LlewiMd by W.llac. tvfo 1 Co. 3 DARTHVADER TAMPA 1235 E.

Fowler Ave 4 Mil East of I-7S TM tucatrmii LTD UFl) 1M 7 UNIVERSITY SQUARE Giant 2 for 1 Cocktail Ftm Mwnchisa 1-4 P.M. in our Pilgrim 'a Pub. SUNDAY SPECIALS BRAISED LAMB SHANK $449 ROAST PORK S4.W BAKED CHICKEN PIE W.W YANKEE POT ROAST WHOLE BONED RAINBOW $4.91 ROAST CHOICE LEG OF LAMB $5.99 ROAST PRIME RIB, au jus $5.99 LIVE 1 lb. MAINE LOBSTER SS.99 ALL DINNERS INCLUDE: chok of wup or juke, our SUPER SALAD BAR, chok of potato or froth vegetable or ltd dith of spaghetti, assorted homo baked broads muffins. tu FOWLER AVE.

Dunieonsr)ra3ons CICfFXEY, CHARACTERS ADVANCED DUNGEONS DSAOONS tt IraOMiwrk ol TSP, Inc 1M) TSA.IM. Free Dessert with Dinner Present ad, good for entire party Area's Finest Banquet Facilities 1 Ml ODWidailv 11,30 A.V ite Credit Cards 822-7982 Wis 1900-4th St. Opp. Sunken Gardens SLmmmmnt0Wmmm I ll I J. i It-' J.

MM I.