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Safety Harbor vice mayor to resign

Kara Bauer, known for her willingness to take a stand, is joining her husband, who took a job in the Dallas-Forth Worth area.

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published September 9, 2006

SAFETY HARBOR - Vice Mayor Kara Bauer announced Thursday that she will be leaving to join her husband, who moved to Texas to take a new job.

In an e-mail to city commissioners and City Manager Wayne Logan, Bauer wrote: "My husband, Mark, has accepted a tremendous opportunity with a company in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It is with deep regret I will be resigning my position as Safety Harbor commissioner/vice mayor in the near future."

Bauer did not specify when her last day will be.

"I'm walking out with my head held up high," Bauer told the St. Petersburg Times on Thursday. "Some of the biggest things I wanted to do, I did. My job was to correct things, to open things back up. The city had turned into an exclusive little club that ran the city whether the members were elected or not."

Bauer, who ran unopposed and joined the commission 18 months ago, has lived in Safety Harbor since 1991 with her husband, who is a sales director, and two daughters. She is best known for her unwillingness to back down from a fight.

She sparred repeatedly with the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce over its refusal to turn over financial information to the city, and with former Mayor Pam Corbino over several issues, including the mayor's initial refusal to apologize to Logan, whom she had falsely accused of grand theft.

"Kara has done a tremendous job in the past year and a half and will be missed," said interim Mayor Andy Steingold. "She has a strong personality and a dedication to her stance on issues."

Steingold said Bauer speaks her mind even if her stance isn't popular.

Steingold said Thursday that he plans to seek the mayor's job during a special election in March.

With Bauer's departure, there will be a majority of interim members on the five-member commission. Commissioners chose Steingold to replace Corbino when she quit in July. Steingold then chose Bauer for the vice mayor seat. The commission also chose Claude Rigsby as interim commissioner, filling Steingold's position.

"It's the first time in my tenure with the city that there has been more than one interim" on the commission, said Logan, who has worked for Safety Harbor for 25 years.

Logan resigned in June after losing the commission's confidence, and will depart at the end of October or early November. The commission is scheduled to interview six candidates Thursday and Sept. 15.

Bauer said her tenure on the commission, although frustrating at times, has been rewarding. She pushed for an economic development officer position to be created, helped the Neighborhood Family Center promote its activities and got the word out about a child safety class run by the Sheriff's Office.

"If I had to do it again, I would do it again, absolutely," she said.

Eileen Schulte can be reached at schulte@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4153.

[Last modified September 9, 2006, 06:29:30]