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Community board gets new leader

Daryl Manning takes over at a meeting that saw questions about Kiana Appleby's drowning on May 5.

WESTCHASE - It was musical chairs at Westchase's recent community association meeting.

Jim Mills, association president for the past three years, ended up at the end of the board's table at the Swim and Tennis Center on Thursday night. Board member Daryl Manning plopped into the center, and into a new role - president.

Board member Ruben Collazo nominated Manning for the position, and everyone, including Mills, voted for him.

"There was a move afoot to make a change, and so I certainly wasn't going to be a lone dissenter," Mills said later. "We need to be unified in our positions."

The switcheroo came right after a line of questioning from the World of Westchase community magazine editor Chris Barrett about the drowning of Kiana Appleby in Westchase's pool.

"Given my position and responsibilities to the community, recent events compel me to ask some uncomfortable questions," he said.

Barrett, who had printed copies of his questions for each board member, asked Mills if he would like Barrett to read off each of his seven questions.

"You can go through all of them," Mills said. "I'm not going to respond to any of them."

Barrett asked pointedly about the May drowning, which was ruled an accident by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office on Thursday. He asked the board what it planned to do about safety improvements at the pool, staff member discipline and the possibility of legal action from the Appleby family.

Kiana's Dolphins swim team was evacuated from the pool on May 5 when a storm hit, and Kiana was later found at the bottom of the pool. The association has said it was waiting for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office to close the case before making any changes in how it manages the pool.

The Hillsborough County medical examiner said a history of occasional fainting spells may have contributed to Kiana's death.

Mills said he would pass Barrett's questions off to Westchase's lawyer, Steve Mezer.

When leadership roles changed in the midst of the meeting, Manning took over as spokesperson regarding the drowning. Manning, who recently missed three board meetings due to medical problems, said he needed to be caught up to speed on the issue.

"I plan on getting involved, but I will certainly discuss that with Jim," he said.

Mills said he wasn't sure if the leadership change had to do with the drowning.

"I think there's been some disagreements on the board, and I don't know," he said.

After three years in charge, Mills welcomes the step-down.

"There are a tremendous number of additional responsibilities that come with (being president)," he said. "It requires a much bigger commitment of time than most people realize. After three years, it's not the worst thing in the world."

Board members Ruben Collazo and Brian Ross flipped roles, Collazo taking over as vice president and recently re-elected Ross becoming treasurer. New member Mary Griffin was named secretary.

- Stephanie Hayes can be reached at 813 269-5303 or shayes@sptimes.com