Competition scarce in two elections

One, not two, of Zephyrhills' City Council races will be competitive, after one candidate failed to qualify before the end of the filing period Tuesday.

Municipal elections there are set for April 8.

Elections won't be necessary in St. Leo and San Antonio, where only one candidate signed up for each of the four available seats on those cities' governing boards.

Rachel Wright, a member of Zephyrhills' performing arts center task force, didn't get her petition and filing fee turned in by Tuesday's noon deadline.

Wright said she was in a class at Pasco-Hernando Community College until 12:30 p.m., after which she took her petition to the Supervisor of Elections office in Dade City. But it was well past 1 p.m. by the time she got there.

"Since (the petitions) came in after the deadline, we wouldn't verify them," qualifying officer Sondra Trussell said.

Wright said she was told in Zephyrhills that she would have until 5 p.m. to bring in her papers. She plans to find out today whether she can still enter the race for Seat 2 against incumbent Cathi Compton.

"I'm going to find out if there's some way," Wright said. "If there isn't, then I guess I'll just start getting ready for next year. But I definitely am going to run one time or another."

Trussell said state law designates the qualifying period and that she has never seen any exceptions made.

Unless Wright is allowed to enter the race, Compton will run unopposed. So will Clyde Bracknell, the current council president.

Seat 5 incumbent Mike Bussell will run against teacher Celia Graham, who lost the race for Seat 4 last spring. Bussell is seeking his second term on the council.

Meanwhile, there will be no race, but one new face, on the governing boards of St. Leo and San Antonio.

In San Antonio, incumbent city commissioners Sharon Madden and Dennis Phillips were the only candidates to sign up for their expiring seats.

And in neighboring St. Leo, Mayor Janis Klingle signed up to retain her seat, while departing Commissioner Brent Sutton left his seat open and Saint Leo University director of development John Fantone stepped up as the only candidate.

Elections would have been held April 8 if they had been needed, but without extra candidates, no contest is required.

Fantone, 59, moved in 2001 to the portion of the Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club development that is inside St. Leo town limits. He ran against Commissioner Richard Christmas last year in his first bid for public office and lost by seven votes.

He said Tuesday that he wants to bring new ideas to commission meetings with an eye to maximizing the potential property tax windfall the city is due as more than 100 homes are built inside town limits in his Lake Jovita community.

"I would like to see us explore and take a more proactive position," he said. "We can use the tax base to bring new services and expand the town."

He said he would like to see the city act on long-delayed plans to build a fire station in town, as well as annex nearby unincorporated lands.

Fantone and his wife, Linda, have two grown sons and a granddaughter.

In announcing his decision to step down from the St. Leo commission, Sutton cited new demands at his job following this year's acquisition of his former employer, Lykes Agrisales, by Tennessee-based Helena Chemical. He has served on the commission since 1997.

Klingle, 71, has been on the St. Leo commission since 1989. She was named mayor by peers on the commission in 1999 and has held the post since.

Madden, 49, took her seat on the San Antonio commission in February 1999 and has held it since. She has overseen growth and redevelopment of the city's parks.

Phillips, 62, was appointed to the San Antonio commission in December of 1999 after Commissioner Joann Hawkins died. Phillips has been on board since.

He also served in 1989 and from 1993 to 1995.

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