 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Qualifying begins for Seminole council
By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN SEMINOLE -- Planning to make some goals for the new year? How about serving on the City Council? Seminole will have three seats up for election on March 4. The qualifying period begins at 8 a.m. Friday. Candidates must turn in their paperwork by noon Jan. 17. Candidates must be residents of Seminole for at least one year. They must pay a $15 fee and either get 40 signatures on petition cards from Seminole registered voters or pay a $100 filing fee. Packets can be picked up at City Hall, 7464 Ridge Road, during regular business hours. For more information about the election process, call City Clerk Beverly Brown at 391-0204. The qualifying period in Seminole will be only two weeks long this election season. The Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Office asked some municipalities to move up their deadlines so absentee ballots could be ready 35 days before the election, said elections specialist Frank Gould. Creating ballots for the county's new voting machines takes more time, Gould explained. "There are more steps in the process," he said. The seats up for election in Seminole are held by council members Pete Bengston, Patricia Hartstein and Paul Trexler. Bengston, 68, said he wants to keep his seat. Appointed to the seven-member body when Penny Rasmussen resigned in 2000, Bengston was the top vote-getter in the 2001 election. Saying he has had a rough year, Trexler said he won't run for a sixth term. "Ten years is a long time," Trexler, 55, said. "I think it's time for somebody else to do the job." Hartstein, 55, could not be reached for comment. She has been on the council since 1995. Council members are elected at large for two-year terms. The salary is $5,400 a year. Voter registration deadline is Feb. 3.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times South Pinellas desks 2002: The Year in Review |
