GAZETTE Tampa Bay Gay and Lesbian News

By Brian Feist
TAMPA BAY-"To whom much is given, much is expected," and "with privilege comes responsibility" are phrases that are most often used to engender some sense of social responsibility in children of political or financial dynasties. While Carrie Wadlinger was not born into privilege, years of hard work coupled with exceptional business sense have afforded her the opportunity for a relatively comfortable "early retirement."

But Wadlinger clearly subscribes to the philosophy, and sees serving in a political office as an important way to give back to the community. Though she and her partner Sherry Kinder have been in the Tampa Bay area for less than five years, Wadlinger has already been very active in the local Democratic Party. She worked on Janet Reno's gubernatorial campaign and more recently ran for Pinellas County Clerk of Court. She didn't win, but earned more than 45% of the votes cast - not bad for a relative newcomer and a Democrat in a solidly Republican county. Rather than using her defeat as a reason to drop out, Wadlinger took on an even bigger challenge, becoming the "Howard Dean" of Pinellas County, as chair of the Pinellas County Democratic Party. "The party is in a mess," says Wadlinger. "There is so much work to be done!"

Politics was never a goal of Wadlinger's. She and a business associate had a medical billing company in Cleveland. Realizing that hospitals were losing a significant percentage of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements that were ultimately being written off, the two women focused their business on helping hospitals collect these bad debts. "These are government programs!" said Wadlinger. "How could it be that the government wasn't paying their bills."

A bit of investigation revealed that most of the late or absent payments were due to clerical or coding errors on the part of the hospitals' billing departments. By negotiating commission rates well under the fees charged by collection agencies, Wadlinger and her partner built a successful business helping hospitals and clinics get paid for the services they provided and had previously written off as bad debt.

In keeping with her philosophy of giving back, she also did a lot of volunteer work. "I have found that the more you give, the more you get back," says Wadlinger.

Wadlinger says her introduction to politics came about through the work she did with a free clinic in Cleveland. The clinic provided medical services primarily to disadvantaged women and families. Obtaining funding for the clinic was always a challenge. "They didn't want to affiliate with a major charity or hospital," says Wadlinger, "because they didn't want all the strings that come attached to such funds." Wadlinger adds, "You can stand on a corner and ask for donations for a homeless shelter and people will give you money, but ask for money for a free clinic and all they want to know is 'how much is the doctor getting paid.'" (Ironically, the Medical Director of the clinic would accept no more pay than any other staff member.) So Wadlinger had to find other sources.

She turned to local and state politicians when someone told her that they may know of alternative funding sources. As it turned out, these politicians did, in fact, have knowledge of funding sources, and helped her to tap into these resources.

"That was when I realized that politicians do have the possibility to really help people, and that good politicians really can make a difference in the lives of less fortunate people. That's when I realized that politics, when it's done right, really is about public service - the hope that you can make a difference."

Unfortunately, it seems that "good" politicians have a harder time winning campaigns. Candidates with less than altruistic motives often are more adept at campaigning and winning elections.

Wadlinger's challenge, as chair of the Pinellas County Democratic Party is to bring the local party together on a unified platform, and field candidates to run for office. "It's an exciting time, she says. It's a good time for new candidates to run for office. There are going to be several openings to fill, and we need to have good candidates to fill them."

What makes a "good" candidate?

"A desire to serve has to be the number one priority," says Wadlinger. Most first-time candidates in local elections run for office because they have passionate feelings about some issue or matter of public policy that is - or they feel should be - up for consideration.

Their passion for that one issue may pull them into a race, but they must also know what their strengths are. What skills do they bring to the table? "I ran for County Clerk of Court because my skills - my work history - fit that job. Maybe someone is strong on environment issues, or has experience with zoning or development, or healthcare - those are the things they have to offer."

They should also be prepared to try again if they lose.

"Even if you lose, you earn name recognition," says Wadlinger. "When you run a second time you have a better chance because people see that you're serious about serving...that you're not a fly-by-night."

Wadlinger concludes, "I have talked with Republicans and really, most of us are not so very different. A lot of Republicans are not happy with the direction their party is going. There is plenty of fighting going on within the Republican Party - they are just better at keeping it quiet than the Democrats." She adds, "In his book, Bill Clinton says the best part of his Presidency, when he accomplished the most, was right after the election for his second term. He said that the Republicans were so angry that he had won and were fighting so much among themselves that they weren't cohesive enough to block him. We are in the same position now with George W. Bush. We can't let our anger over losing the election keep us from being focused. FMI 727-327-2796 or www.pdp.org.

Congratulations to Carrie Wadlinger, the Tampa Bay Business Guild's 2005 Citizen of the Year.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR presented by the Tampa Bay Business Guild

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