Don Marsh the Window Cleaner: "Transparency Through Technology"

Don Marsh: Transparency through technology - Running for mayor in the bluest city in this part of the state, Don Marsh is the reddest of the five Gainesville mayoral contenders. The other day, Marsh, 51, with his blue eyes, blue T-shirt and blue jeans talked about his first rodeo as the red guy - his run for Alachua County commissioner in 2002. Marsh, a Republican, received 33.67 percent of the vote in a loss to Cynthia Chestnut, a Democrat. "It made me more understanding of public officials," he said, "though I still reserve the right to roundly criticize them."

In the early 1980s, Marsh and his wife, Cindi, moved from Clearwater to Gainesville for work. But soon afterward the job was pulled out from under him, he said. "I'm a high school graduate in a college town," he said. So with no degree, he felt he had to create a job for himself. And he did. He started a window cleaning business by one day buying a squeegee, and now, nearly three decades later, he's still washing windows. "I never thought that an education was something on paper," he said. "It's something that's in your head."

In 2004, he started a Web site, Alachua Voter Guide, as a melding of his interests in both the Internet and local politics "I wanted people to know what was going on," he explained. During his campaign, he has employed Facebook, Twitter and his blog to get his message across. As mayor, Marsh said he would use the electronic media to offer "unvarnished truth" and "real transparency" to the public. Marsh, a supporter of the Tea Party movement, said his main issue, if elected, would be lowering utility bills.

Gainesville Regional Utilities "is fundamental to our economic ecosystem here, and if we screw that up, we put ourselves in a hole that we can hardly get out of," he said. In the campaign, Marsh has raised the second-least amount of money among the five candidates, but he said he is confident going into the election Tuesday. "I'm not a quitter. I started my business with next to nothing," he said, adding that "on Election Day they count the votes, not the money."

Questions for the candidates - The Sun asked each candidate the same four questions, asking them to keep their answers to 50 words or less...

How would you handle the city's projected budget deficit of roughly $7 million?
Stop ambitious road-narrowing projects, cancel One-Stop center, sell or lease Ironwood Golf Course, eliminate the office of Communications and Marketing, staff reductions for non-essentials, move to open source software licenses, hold more review board meetings online, collect rent on more cell towers.

What would you do to alleviate the city's issue of homelessness?
It is time to cultivate a good relationship with our houses of worship. These are the people who are most willing to help them for free, and we need a healthy working relationship with them.

What would your top priority be in office?
Reduce the transfer rate from GRU and stop hiding our taxes there. Then, lobbying state and federal authorities to lift the moratorium on coal power plants. We will use alternative fuels when we can afford them.

Why are you the best person for the position?
I want all the right things -- fire and police protection, affordable standard of living, job opportunities in a positive business environment. And I am willing to drag every project out into the light and let the citizens see it so we can either own it or reject it.