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Ruling keeps Treasure Island commissioner on the job
By KATHY SAUNDERS TREASURE ISLAND -- Pinellas Circuit Judge Thomas Penick on Monday dismissed the recall petition against city Commissioner Barbara Blush. "I'm happy to be back to work full time," Blush said. "Now that this is behind me, it's time for our city to heal." Ken Weiss, the Treasure Island attorney representing the recall committee, said his clients will accept the judge's ruling. "This was not vindictive," Weiss said. "This was an attempt to make elected officials accountable for their actions." The Committee to Recall Barbara Blush began collecting signatures because the District 2 commissioner voted in October to put new land development regulations in place before the voters went to the polls Nov. 5 to take control of future development. In an unprecedented turnout, Treasure Island residents voted in favor of a citizen-initiated ordinance requiring that all height or density changes in the city's land development regulations be approved by a majority of the city's registered voters. Donna Boren, the head of the recall committee, charged that Blush and the other commissioners didn't follow the law in approving the new LDRs. Weiss said he expects that the separate case to permanently remove those new laws will be dropped because all of the candidates in Tuesday's mayoral and commission elections vowed to rescind the regulations. Penick previously prohibited the city from enforcing those new regulations until the case is resolved. In the Blush case, Penick agreed with her attorney that it was neither against the law for Blush to vote as she did nor was it illegal for her to refuse to revoke her earlier vote. State statutes allow Blush to be reimbursed by the city for her legal expenses to fight the recall effort. Blush said her legal fees are $9,000, but that doesn't include costs for recent court appearances. "Once again, that's a burden on the taxpayers," Blush said. Weiss said the recall committee has no regrets. "A lot of citizens put their heart and soul into doing something they thought was right," he said.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks | ||||||||||||||||||
