Candidates for City Council say they want to finish some projects and continue to help change their city's image.
By ANNE LINDBERG
Published March 3, 2004
PINELLAS PARK - Voters in the City Council election will choose among a longtime incumbent, a candidate making his second run for office and a political newcomer.
Patricia Bailey-Snook, who was first elected to the council 32 years ago, is facing Ralph Marlow and Daniel Kelley in the March 9 winner-take-all election.
Marlow made his first run at council in 2002, when he lost by five votes in a runoff to Sandra Bradbury. This is Kelley's first race.
Bailey-Snook said she is running for re-election because she loves Pinellas Park and wants to see completion of many projects, such as the new city building on Park Boulevard. She also wants the city to build an aquatic center before she leaves office.
"We've done so many fantastic things already," Bailey-Snook said. "We're just teetering on total maturity.... I want to still stay a part of this. I'm the city's mommy and I want to see it finished out."
She added that another four years in office would give Washington, D.C., a chance to work out a better way to help seniors pay for prescription drugs.
"It's going to be difficult to pay for my prescriptions," Bailey-Snook said.
Council members receive the same health benefits as city employees. Both the city and the employees contribute to the premium cost.
Bailey-Snook said there are no burning issues in this campaign, which has made it difficult for all the candidates to get their message out. With no debates, she said, it has been hard for residents to compare candidates.
She has been criticized for spotty attendance at council meetings, which she blamed on a 1997 automobile accident that was not her fault. Last year, she also missed 10 of the 12 meetings of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority. She apologized to the council in May and Rick Butler took over representation on that board.
Bailey-Snook said she has had more than 45 surgeries to correct problems caused by the accident. In December, she said her health was improving and so would her attendance.
Her record provoked criticism Tuesday from opponent Ralph Marlow, who said he had chosen to run against Bailey-Snook because she is holding a position rather than treating the council like a job.
Marlow said he is concerned about Pinellas Park's image. Improving that would include expanding parking at Youth Park and providing more recreation in the Fairlawn Park area. Also needing work is the Park Boulevard and 49th Street N intersection, which is notorious for flooding.
"I think that's a state problem, a state and county problem. I don't know why that's not fixed yet," Marlow said.
Also needing work, he said, is the city's truck ordinance, which bans commercial trucks from parking overnight in residential areas. Pinellas Park is a blue-collar community and the rules should reflect that, he said.
Council members recently agreed to examine the city's farm zoning ordinance, with an eye to limiting the number of horses and other livestock that can be housed on small acreage.
Marlow said he supports the horse community and would encourage more horse lovers to locate in the area because they bring business to the city and improve the city's image as a friendly place.
"I would much rather have horses on those farms than town homes," Marlow said. "We need to save them."
Marlow, like Bailey-Snook, has had some controversy. City clerk Kathy Witherington Rogers asked the city attorney for a ruling on a possible conflict with his job should he be elected. Marlow is the business assistance partnership specialist with the Pinellas Park/Mid-County Chamber of Commerce.
The position is paid for by the chamber, the county and the city. If Marlow is elected, he would be paid twice by the city.
Pinellas Park's city attorney did not give a clear answer to the question. But Tuesday, Marlow said he would resign his chamber position if there was a conflict.
Marlow also said he would not use his chamber job as a way to campaign, however, in recent e-mails answering questions about his position on issues, he signed his name using his chamber title.
Marlow said he sent the e-mails in response to questions that were e-mailed to him at the chamber. The chamber computer is set up so that his name and title go on all correspondence, he said.
"Yes, I did use my computer here, but that's not government property," Marlow said.
Marlow has also twice declared bankruptcy, once in 1986 and again in 2001. He has said in the past that those would not affect his ability to be a good council member or to help handle the city's budget.
"That's old news," Marlow said Tuesday. "In order to be successful, you've got to be willing to fail. Winners never quit and quitters never win."
Kelley is a carpenter who is running to give back to the community and to be part of the change to make Pinellas Park better.
Kelley said he believes the city should work harder, but more nicely, at making sure people keep their yards clean and mowed. Rather than coming down hard on homeowners, he said, the city should work on helping them meet codes.
"I don't want to be throwing fines around," Kelley said.
He would like to see more days when Pinellas Park has trash containers around town for folks to drop stuff in. And he'd like to see free junk car removal.
Kelley said "it's neat" to have horses in the community, but the idea of encouraging more of them to come to Pinellas Park worries him.
"I'm not in favor of everybody bringing their horses to Pinellas Park. Enough is enough," Kelley said.
Kelley was arrested by the Pasco County Sheriff's Office in 2002 and charged with contempt of court for failure to pay child support. Kelley said he has worked that out and is now having the payment deducted from his paycheck.
