Former Mayor to Challenge Eggers in City Election

Rumors of a Bob Hackworth run for mayor have swirled around town for months.

The city clerk's office confirmed Thursday that the former Dunedin mayor submitted all the petition signatures required to formally challenge incumbent Mayor Dave Eggers. The city clerk's official said Hackworth was only missing a few forms, but that she was confident they would be turned in before the qualifying period ends Monday.

Hackworth, 57, served as mayor from 2002 to 2009. He made a run for Pinellas County Commission in 2010 against longtime incumbent Susan Latvala, but lost.

On his county commission campaign site, Hackworth touted some of his mayoral accomplishments as:

• Cutting tax rates by more than 21 percent without cutting municipal services. 
• Creating Dunedin's economic development, housing department, and neighborhood enhancement programs. 
• Bringing in the .

Hackworth works in his family publishing company H&H Publishing, which produces collegiate-level textbooks and testing materials, and lives with his wife and two children in Dunedin.

Other city candidates, aside from the mayoral candidates, include:

Commission Seat No. 1

• Julie Scales, incumbent

Commission Seat No. 3

• David Carson, incumbent
• Heather Gracy