One challenger supports a tax. Another says she's good at cutting costs. The incumbent says he can build a cheaper station.
By Times Staff Writer
Published October 27, 2004
Incumbent W.A. Adams has been at the center of some of the more drawn-out battles among Lealman fire commission members. In recent months, those debates have raged over his insistence that the board could build a new fire station that would be less expensive and withstand hurricanes better than the design favored by most of the other commissioners.
W.A. Adams says those disputes are why he is running for reelection: To try to ensure the board operates in a fiscally responsible manner. That's especially important, he said, when the commission's constituents cannot afford high taxes.
"That's one of the only reasons I'm there is to try to keep the cost down. Let's not have runaway government," W.A. Adams said. "Where do you draw the line?"
Marion Boyle decided to run after a Lealman firefighter suggested she do so. Running, she said, was the only way she could pay the Lealman Fire Department back for all they do.
Boyle said she has attended only a couple of meetings, but thinks the board needs to be more cohesive.
Spending is a big issue with her and it is something Boyle said she is familiar with as president of the Emory Building homeowners group at Five Towns Condominiums.
"I think their budget is bigger than mine in this building, but I do the same thing," Boyle said. "(I ask), "Where can I get a bargain? How can I save money?' "
Boyle said she is hardworking, honest and practical, all traits that would serve her well if elected to the fire commission.
Vivian Diane Campbell is running because she thinks the fire commission has failed to advocate for area residents in areas such as the need for fire hydrants and helping control annexation.
"My heart's in Lealman and I feel like I can do a really good job," she said.
The lack of hydrants in the area has been an issue with her for a long time, and prompted her to join the Lealman Revitalization Team.
"I've been advocating for (hydrants) since 2000 with everybody who would listen and some who didn't want to," Vivian Diane Campbell said.
The biggest issue facing the district in the near future, she said, is the push for a countywide fire service. Vivian Diane Campbell opposes a unified service because "I don't want to wait as long for a fireman as I do a policeman, for starters."
She supports a countywide property tax to support local fire departments. Such a tax, she said, could lower the burden on Lealman residents.
SEAT 5
W.A. ADAMS, 57, is a native of New Jersey who spent his early youth in and near Guam. He moved to Florida around 1960 with his parents and lived on St. Pete Beach and Treasure Island. He moved to the Lealman area in 1972 when he married. He is a semi-retired, self-employed commercial general contractor. He is a mason and Shriner and a member of the Elks and Moose. He is married. INCOME: Investments. ASSETS: Investment property, vehicles. DEBTS: Mortgages.
MARION BOYLE, 64, is a New York native who moved to Florida in 1974. She lived in Seminole, then moved to the Lealman area about two years ago. Retired now, she worked for the telephone company in New York for 18 years and for almost 24 years as a 911 emergency call taker with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. She is the president of the Emory Association, one of the building homeowners associations in Five Towns, a condominium complex. She is a member of the Lealman Fire Department's Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Her hobbies are dance, crafts and interior decorating. She is a widow with three children and seven grandchildren. INCOME: Retirement. ASSETS: Condominium, van, investment condominiums. DEBTS: Credit cards.
VIVIAN DIANE CAMPBELL, 58, is a native of Virginia who grew up in Indianapolis. She briefly lived in Florida in 1968 and moved permanently to Florida and the Lealman area in 1989. She is retired from Detroit Diesel Allison as a factory worker for airplane parts. She was a union steward for the United Auto Workers. She served in the Coast Guard Auxiliary for five years. She is a member of the Lealman Community Association and the Lealman Revitalization Team. She has gathered signatures on petitions for streetlights and a unified garbage service in the Lealman area. She also has tutored and mentored with the Pinellas County School System. She has received certificates for service with the Coast Guard during Operation Desert Storm. She is divorced with two children and four grandchildren. INCOME: Social Security. ASSETS: Home, car. DEBTS: Mortgage. E-MAIL: vdianecearthlink.net.
