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Election results

Markoe captures seat in District 4

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published March 9, 2005

ST. PETE BEACH - Political newcomer Nancy Markoe won a decisive victory in Tuesday's election.

Mayor Ward Friszolowski and District 2 Commissioner Deborah L. Nicklaus, both unopposed, will automatically return to office.

Markoe's winning margin of votes appears to reward her lengthy volunteer efforts for the city, and particularly for her involvement in the development of the city's master plan and the Pass-a-Grille Mini Master Plan.

Her opponent, Harry Metz, also a first-time candidate, had run a campaign that strongly criticized the commission's decisions relating to redevelopment.

Markoe was named the 2003 St. Pete Beach Volunteer of the Year and most recently served as chairwoman of the Future of the City Planning Committee.

As the new District 4 commissioner, representing Pass-a-Grille and Vina del Mar, she is expected to press her agenda for greater citizen input into establishing development goals for the city.

She also wants to work to create pedestrian, bike and jogger friendly neighborhoods, and to ensure the district gets its "fair share" of public services and maintenance.

She hopes to use her public relations and business experience to help the city improve communications with its residents through regular newsletters, brochures, the Internet and television.

"I'm so thankful for the experience," said Markoe on learning that she had won. "There is joy in the ballot box."

Markoe said she plans to work closely with district residents to bring them into the decisionmaking process. She plans to create regular focus groups to discuss issues.

One of the first issues she wants to tackle is the "stupid light, it's a small thing but very big to the people."

Markoe, 61, is a native of New York City and lived in Brooklyn. She moved to Florida in 1975 and has been a resident of St. Pete Beach for 20 years.

She worked for the National Geographic Society and various trade associations in Washington, D.C., in the retail and music industries in Woodstock, N.Y., and owned and operated a potter's studio in St. Augustine. She now owns and operates the Nancy Markoe Gallery in Pass-a-Grille.

[Last modified March 9, 2005, 00:55:19]