Miami Herald

Published Sunday, August 19, 2001

Reno trucks on -- test run takes her to Martin County

BY SARAH EISENHAUER Palm Beach Post

Thelma Waters sat front and center of a small church in Booker Park in rural Indiantown Saturday morning, amazed that the former U.S. attorney general of the United States had taken time to stop in one of the oldest neighborhoods in Martin County.

``This is a history-making day to see you walk up the street in Booker Park,'' the longtime Indiantown resident told Janet Reno. ``You've gone from the White House and now you're in our house, and we are a community that needs attention.''

Reno, the former Dade County state attorney who served as attorney general during the Clinton administration, has been traveling the state extensively in her red Ford Ranger pickup exploring a possible run for governor. On Saturday, she took the truck to western Martin County and spoke for about two hours with nearly 70 residents at the New Bethel AME Church in Indiantown.

She told the group she's trying to gauge whether she would better serve the state in public office or in the private sector. Although she won't announce a decision until September, Reno used Saturday's forum to explain her stance on several issues including education, the juvenile justice system, community-based policing, mentoring programs and election reform.

She said the state needs to better invest in good teachers, get parents more involved in their children's schools and reduce class sizes to ``give teachers an opportunity to teach.

``We've got to be accountable, but not with one test that can make or break a school or child,'' Reno said, taking a slight stab at Gov. Jeb Bush's school grading system.

At the urging of some audience members, Reno shared her opinion about one of Martin County's most controversial issues: growth and development. Reno said she doesn't believe it's possible to ``keep everything the same'' in the state but said growth should be patterned more effectively around urban areas and land that is already developed.

Smiling at her sister in the audience, Maggy Hurchalla, a well-known local environmentalist and former Martin County commissioner, Reno added she gets ``good advice'' on the growth issue. If Reno decides to run for governor she would join a growing field of Democrats that include House Minority Leader Lois Frankel of West Palm Beach, state Sen. Daryl Jones of Miami-Dade, former ambassador to Vietnam Pete Peterson, Tampa lawyer Bill McBride and U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, also of Tampa.

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2001