Dunedin, FL ( March 4, 2009) - Having been on the City Commission for ten years, Deborah Kynes is throwing her hat in the ring for Dunedin mayor. “I have this vision. I have the skill I have proven leadership success and this is my hometown and I want to see it continue, to evolve and to keep its charm and its uniqueness and flavor,” says Kynes.
If elected, she plans to nurture the arts and environment, prohibit high-rises from going up, and maintaining the small town feel of “Mayberry with an edge”. She’s recently taken advantage of Florida Forever, the environmental land-buying program kept alive by Governor Crist. It makes sense to preserve the land, considering Dunedin was just voted as having the #1 beach in the country.
TBI: Are you worried about the possibility of inheriting Dunedin in less than favorable economic times?
DK: “The Chinese symbol for crisis is the very same symbol for opportunity. I really believe that there will be great opportunities, and it will have to be very creative. We’ll have to look at new collaborations, but I think that the important thing is for Dunedin not to stand still.”
TBI: What are some things that makes a great leader?
DK: "I think compassion, honesty, integrity, creativity, kindness…and vision. I think it’s important that leaders have vision. They have the ability to really think out of the box and not say, “Well, we’ve always done it this way”.
TBI: You seem to have such a soft, nourishing touch…
DK: "I think women leaders tend to have that quality. They can be strong, but they have different qualities than male leaders. They can be nourishing and that can shape."
TBI: I love that idea of being a strong woman, but doing it in a dress.
DK: "We went through this thing in the 80s… you really played down your femininity to get by. Some of the strong women leaders coming out of that movement a long time ago gave up some of their femininity, but I think that’s shifting and now I think there’s a new paradigm. Women have to understand they can be strong, they can be authoritative they can retain their femininity; it’s a blend instead of having to shift this way or that way. "
TBI: Why do you think this area has gotten so much nicer all of a sudden?
DK: "I really think that creative people call to creative people, so when you start getting a nucleus of creative people anywhere that calls to more people of that nature. When you get that feel of that creativity nourished and respected in a community it just brings more of the creative entrepreneurial people in."
TBI: Do you plan on nourishing it?
DK: "Absolutely."