Unlike two years ago, Mayor Matti Herrera Bower's campaign doesn't face an entrenched, well-financed politician slamming her with negative ads. But that hasn't saved the incumbent from attacks and allegations of conspiracy lobbed by the three opponents who qualified last month to unseat her as Miami Beach's mayor.

In September, Bower denied accusations that she conspired to have opponent Joshua LaRose tossed from the race after he bounced his qualifying check, and that she sent armed thugs to rough up Raphael Herman, who is now on his sixth quest to become mayor.

LaRose is out of the race and Herman -- who says he knows where Osama bin Laden is hiding and on a public television spot takes credit for John F. Kennedy's famous quote: ``Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,'' -- is once again playing the role of perennial, fringe candidate.

But Bower is now facing questions about her leadership from Laura Rivero Levey, an education activist who says her campaign is being run by former commission candidate Fred Karlton.

Levey, a 44-year-old mother of five who was born in Venezuela and is married to commercial litigator Lewis Levey, has railed against Bower as being unable to control commissioners who are sometimes at each others' throats.

She said she decided to run for mayor after a particularly heated September meeting, during which Bower called a recess amid squabbling by two commissioners.

Levey also said Bower has been unwilling to take a lead in slashing an unfunded employee pension liability that city officials say could balloon and cripple Miami Beach's finances in the near future.

``Matti is not paying attention to the unfunded pension,'' Levey said.

``She doesn't want to get in bad with the unions because they are supporting her.''

The Florida International University graduate says her first priorities would be to address the unfunded pension liability, cut the city's payroll and further promote the city's convention center and tourism abroad.

Brushing aside Levey's criticisms, Bower said she has always preferred working behind the scenes.

``I'm not a grandstanding person,'' she said, adding that she is content to go unnoticed ``as long as I achieve what I set out to do.''

Bower, who is 70 and was born in Cuba, is married with four children.

Two years ago, she became the city's first Hispanic and woman mayor.

She has faced several scandals since becoming the city's leader, including a criminal investigation into building department officials accused of bribery and racketeering.

Since becoming mayor, Bower said she has looked to improve the city's economy, creating a tourism task force to expand the city's popularity as a tourist and convention destination to new markets.

She also has worked with Miami-Dade County to improve the city's convention center, which should be the beneficiary of a $55 million county grant after a renovation study is completed.

This year, Bower leads a slow money race.

As of Oct. 9, she had raised $22,500, with at least $3,500 coming from sources related to police and firefighters.

Levey raised $3,900, funded almost entirely through a self loan and family donations.

Herman's financial records state that he loaned himself nearly $750,000 only to reimburse himself.

The 63-year-old, who describes himself as a real estate broker and Israeli commando, has cut a colorful figure in the campaign.

In an interview with The Miami Herald this week, he claimed to have a plan to bring Bin Laden to justice should he win the Miami Beach race, and said that he alone is qualified to save the city from what he described as a grim future.

``I'm the sunshine of the city,'' he said.

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