Over Coffee
Over Coffee Mar.6, 2008
By Penny Fletcher penny@observernews.net
Mar 6, 2008 - 5:44:51 PM

I know a lot of people who gripe about the political system but only a few who actually try to change it.

I first met Peter Allen in 1988 when he was leading a group called Write to Secede. The group was gathering support to break away from Hillsborough County after a sewer system was made mandatory in areas of South County that had always been on septic tank. The system began to collapse long before it was even completely installed, yet many homeowners were forced to hook up to it whether they wanted to or not.

It wasn’t only the sewer system residents objected to. Many said they weren’t getting any representation on the County Commission because all its members except one – a Republican, Big Jim Selvey of Riverview- were from Tampa. 

So Peter and a small band of friends took time to organize the secession group. There was a lot of ill feeling towards county government at that time. The Zoning Conformance of 1990 had just begun, and the 20-year growth plan was in its first stages. People saw industrial zoning on maps in areas that had always before been home to tomato farms and orange groves and many said they’d had no chance to give their input on the changes.

The secession movement - which was actually composed of two groups- not just Write to Secede- was a major catalyst for new and improved relations between county government and South County.

But Peter didn’t stop there. The Hillsborough County native and former president of the Riverview Chamber of Commerce was again a catalyst for change in 1992 when he threw his hat in the ring as a County Commission candidate.  
 
Following that attempt, he said he was through trying to change what he described then as “the inevitable” because of the time and money it took away from running his business, Peter Allen Electric.

But third-party candidate Ross Perot’s attempt at the presidency that same year encouraged Peter to stay involved.

“I could see that a lot of people all over the country wanted change. They were tired of two-parties running everything,” he said. The fact that Perot had taken high numbers of voters away from the two main parties showed him there were many others who felt as he did: changes were necessary if Americans expected to keep the freedoms for which the founding fathers had fought.

So in 1996, the Riverview businessman again threw his efforts into politics and founded The Independence Party of Florida, of which he remains state chairman today, working with the party in other states on a national level.

Aside from running two businesses with the help of his wife, Penny, songwriting and playing lead rhythm guitar and keyboard – an effort which also contains some political themes- the 58-year-old works on a national level to gain recognition for his party.

“People have no idea how many parties are really registered in the United States,” Peter said during our recent interview over breakfast- and lots of good coffee- at the Village Inn in Riverview. “Most of the time we only get to see two parties on television, so people  think that’s all the choice they have, when actually there are 30 registered parties in Florida, with ours (The Independence Party) being the sixth largest.”

Riverview resident Peter Allen rests before tackling his many jobs. You’d think he was busy enough running two businesses and writing and performing songs, but no, he’s also founder and chairman of The Independence Party of Florida and works on a national level to see that third-party candidates get on state ballots and in the news. Penny Fletcher Photo

Peter isn’t stumping for any candidates. He knows his party won’t win any elections in Florida in 2008. It doesn’t have any candidates yet, and won’t until “the perfect candidates for a challenge” are found. But with 58,555 people now registered in the party within the state, Peter says he is hoping to get some good candidates on the ballot in the next few years.

One thing that really bugs him about the status quo is the fact that only registered Democrats and Republicans can vote in the primaries in our state.

“It’s time Florida got out of the dark ages and had open primaries,” he said as we ate our eggs. “That’s something we really need to work on.” (Open primaries are held in some states. This means that independent voters may vote in whatever election they choose; whether Democrat or Republican.)

“I’m all about choice,” he said last week. “I keep saying I’m going to quit- or that I have quit. But as you can see, I’m right back at it again.”

Peter and his friend, David Draper, have literally brought third-party thinking to the forefront of local politics. Whether people join the Florida, or National, Independence Party or not is not his biggest goal.

“People need to know they have more choices than what they see on television,” he said. “They need to know the political choices are bigger and better than that. If enough people demand it, third parties will get to take part regularly in debates, and they’ll start getting more media coverage.”

Hillsborough County’s Supervisor of Elections Office does a good job listing all the parties, and candidates, on ballots, he said. But some other Florida counties do not.

“As a result, many people, in Pinellas for example, don’t even know other people (besides Democrats and Republicans) are running.”

With breakfast now over and the interview at an end, I asked him if he intended to run for any office again. After all, it’s always good to see a local resident that’s willing to sacrifice for changes he (or she) believes should occur.
I didn’t get an answer to that.

His only reaction was a smile.

Perhaps you have a story you’d like to share. Or maybe you’d rather tell the community something about your favorite charity or cause; or sound off about something you think needs change. That’s what “Over Coffee” is about. It really doesn’t matter whether we actually drink any coffee or not (although in the 14 weeks I’ve been doing this column, I’ve only missed coffee twice!) It’s what you have to say that’s important.


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