Southpinellas: Beach town finally fills commission seat

Beach town finally fills commission seat

Patricia Emser, who bowed out earlier, is named to the Indian Rocks Beach commission after several tries.

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA

INDIAN ROCKS BEACH -- It took seven nominations, five votes and two meetings, but the City Commission once again has five members.

Patricia A. Emser, 45, chairman of the city's Parks and Recreation Board, is the new commissioner.

She fills a seat vacated first by Joanna "Cookie" Kennedy, who resigned to run for the state Senate, and second by Betsy McKenna, who rejected her appointment so her daughter could continue working part time for the city.

Eight residents -- including Kennedy, who lost her Senate bid -- originally applied for the job. Three of those applicants, including Emser, backed out to support Kennedy's reappointment.

"I e-mailed the commission (before last month's meeting) that I was not going to attend. I felt the commission would do the right thing and reappoint Cookie," Emser said Tuesday.

But when that didn't happen and McKenna refused to accept her appointment, Emser let the commission know she was still interested -- so interested, she says she will run for election to the seat in March. The post pays about $4,400 a year. Emser's appointment came after commissioners again deadlocked 2-2 over the nomination of Ed Piniero.

Commissioner R.B. Johnson then nominated Emser, whose appointment was approved 3-1 with only James Palamara opposed.

Emser, who has lived in Indian Rocks Beach since 1987, is a systems analyst at Eckerd Corp.

She has been chairman of the city's parks board since 1999. She also serves on the Pinellas County Bicycle Advisory Committee and the steering committee of the YMCA of the North Beaches.

A native of Wichita, Kan., Emser served in the U.S. Army for three years as a Hebrew-language interpreter, and earned her bachelor's degree at Eckerd College and an MBA in data processing at Florida Tech. She is married and has two children.