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Member picked for American Assembly
By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff Writer LEALMAN -- Fire commissioners on Monday picked Kathleen Litton, a compromise choice, to represent them at the American Assembly, next month's gathering to draft Pinellas County's future. A nomination for commission president Linda Campbell died for lack of a second. Another nomination, for commission veteran Mike Brophy, was unsupported until he seconded himself. The motion then failed by a 3-2 vote. Litton, 44, has served on the Lealman Fire Board since 1996. She decided not to run for re-election in 2000 because she was nursing her father and thought she would not have the time to devote to the commission. She was appointed in 2001 to fill the unexpired term of Bob Carter, who left the board because of ill health. Litton works for the U.S. Postal Service and has worked as an events coordinator at Bayfront Health Systems. Before that, she was executive assistant to the chief financial officer at Bayfront. She is a 1979 graduate of Florida State University with a bachelor's degree in management. She has lived in the Lealman area for about seven years. The choice pleased Ray Neri, head of the Lealman Community Association and a member of the American Assembly's steering committee. Neri first had suggested Campbell for the assembly after Brophy had volunteered. For Neri, the decision to urge that someone other than Brophy represented the fire commission was "simple." The assembly, he said, will be dealing with issues from annexation to possible communitywide fire service that will require a person who is quick-thinking and articulate. Considering the Lealman area is "very under-represented" on the 150-member assembly, Neri said those qualifications are even more important. Brophy, he said, did not quite meet the area's needs. "I felt that you, the chairwoman, would best articulate all the aspects of what is going to face us in the future," Neri told Campbell and other commission members. "That's a personal assessment of my own." Board members dismissed Brophy's claims that the commission had appointed him as their representative in February. They agreed that Brophy had volunteered to keep them informed of the process but denied that they had intended for him to be the official representative. They also criticized his failure to keep them informed of the process, saying that until they had read a newspaper article on the assembly, they had not realized how important the group would be. "This whole thing is very serious," commission member Rebecca Harriman said. "This is going to affect our community and our county for a long time." Brophy, whose face had traversed the spectrum of bright reds during the discussion, said he'd still be glad to represent the commission. Litton then nominated Campbell. No one seconded the motion. Bill Adams nominated Brophy. For a moment, no one said anything. As Campbell began to announce that the motion would fail, Brophy seconded it himself. Campbell, Harriman and Litton voted against his nomination. There was silence. Adams, his face also a bright red, then nominated Litton. Harriman and Brophy seconded the motion in unison. The motion passed unanimously. In other action, the Lealman Fire Commission agreed to change its schedule of meetings to the third Monday of each month. They'll have a workshop on the first Monday.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
