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The mayor and commissioner fill-ins take the oath and get down to business with a meeting.
By LEON M. TUCKER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 9, 2002
DUNEDIN -- The words "so help me God" boomed over the loudspeaker and over the audience like those of a seasoned radio announcer.
And just like that, Richard Gehring -- a planning consultant, with an office overlooking Dunedin's Broadway and Alt. U.S. 19 -- was sworn in as the city's interim mayor Thursday evening.
Gehring replaced Tom Anderson, who was elected to the State House of Representatives Tuesday.
Some 20 years earlier, Gehring, 55, sat on the dais as the city manager. Last month, Commissioners John Doglione, Bob Hackworth and Deborah Kynes brought him back to city service by appointing him to the head spot.
His term will last until the city's next election in March.
"It's a short period of time," Gehring said. "But you can actually have a positive impact in that short period."
Dunedin businessman Sonny Thornton was appointed to a vacant commission seat left open by Janet Henderson.
"I'm really looking forward to this," said Thornton, owner of an insurance and financial planning business downtown. "I am hoping we face some challenges, and I hope we'll get some work done."
Thornton's term also ends in March.
To qualify to run for state legislative seats this fall, Anderson and Henderson officially resigned their commission jobs in July and stepped down on Election Day.
Both were expected to run for the state House District 45 seat, but Henderson switched before qualifying began and entered the District 11 Senate race.
In August, she dropped out of that race after discovering that her new home was a few blocks outside the boundary line for the newly redrawn district.
After Thornton and Gehring were sworn in by Assistant City Clerk Jane Gregory, Doglione welcomed them with city of Dunedin ties and lapel pins.
"I think it's going to be a good group for the interim period," said Doglione, who was appointed vice mayor. "They're both pretty experienced people -- I'm very pleased and look forward to working with them for the next four months."
Gehring dedicated his term to Claire Miller and presented the wheelchair-bound man with a plaque engraved with the words, "Keep smiling and tell the truth."
Miller, a retired former commissioner who made the motion in 1974 to hire Gehring as city manager, said those words to Gehring shortly after he was hired.
"It's the best advice I ever got," Gehring said. "It was a real pleasure to see that he came out and was willing to be there."
After receiving his plaque, Miller made a short speech congratulating Gehring, then called him over to shake his hand.
"If you were being appointed to a postion like this in England, they would call you sir," Miller said.
He then kissed Gehring's hand.
The meeting continued with a few seemingly awkward moments involving point of order.
As the board considered approving spending more than $48,000 to purchase lighting equipment for Fisher Field and the Dunedin Little League, Commissioner Deborah Kynes brought up the fact that the organization had not submitted a 990 IRS form to the city for consideration.
The lighting system is more than 30 years old and is a safety concern. Replacing the 16 lights on the four fields is estimated to cost about $140,000, of which the city is considering paying 40 percent of the cost.
In the past, according to city officials, the commission has required that organizations seeking assistance submit financial information.
Commissioner Hackworth expressed concern that the 40-60 split in paying to replace the lights could be a burden for the organization and recommended using the recent $97,000 rent payment from the Dunedin Country Club to help with the costs.
Doglione expressed concern about the commission's straying from the original agenda item.
Throughout the back and forth, Gehring listened as he gripped the gavel, then banged to restore order.
"My job is just to keep the dialogue going, and I think we all did a pretty good job," Gehring said. "If it doesn't get organized, then it doesn't work for anybody -- luckily, everyone respects each other."
Kynes said she was pleased with the meeting.
"I thought it went quite well," she said. "Richard was obviously well prepared and seems to really be exited about this job and taking it quite seriously."
Hackworth agreed.
"I thought they did well," he said. "I threw a little bit of a curve ball trying to get that little league thing going, but they didn't bite."
"Given it was his first time up there, I think it went smooth, but not as smooth as it will be the next time."
-- Leon M. Tucker can be reached at (727) 445-4167 or tucker@sptimes.com .