Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Safety Harbor board fills seat

After her competition withdraws, Martha MacReynolds is picked to join the City Commission.

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published November 9, 2006

SAFETY HARBOR - Local planner Martha MacReynolds was chosen Saturday to replace former Vice Mayor Kara Bauer on the City Commission.

The decision was not easy. During a special meeting, commissioners were evenly split between MacReynolds, 57, and lawyer Robert Hoskins III, 56.

The impasse ended after Hoskins withdrew his name from consideration.

"The last thing in the world I want is for you guys to fight about this," he said.

In the first round of voting, commissioners narrowed the field of 11 applicants to three finalists: MacReynolds, Hoskins and Ajamu Babalola, 59.

In the next round, however, MacReynolds and Hoskins each got two votes.

Commissioner Kathleen Earle and interim Commissioner Claude Rigsby chose Hoskins.

Interim Mayor Andy Steingold and Commissioner James McCormick selected MacReynolds.

McCormick said he chose MacReynolds because he wanted someone, like her, who was not interested in running for a seat on the commission in March.

Steingold said MacReynolds' background was a good fit for the commission's needs.

"We are considering a moratorium on building," he said. "Martha is a certified planner and would provide experience we don't have on the commission at this time."

MacReynolds, a Safety Harbor resident for nine years, earned her master's of city and regional planning from California State University at Fresno. She has been a member of the city's Planning and Zoning Board since 1999.

But Earle supported Hoskins, the city attorney from 1980 to 1990. "He's represented developers and antidevelopers, and development is crucial at this time," Earle said. "And Martha would be missing from the Planning and Zoning Board."

Steingold countered that if Hoskins were appointed, there would be three lawyers sitting on dais, counting himself and the city attorney.

"Who better to sit up here than a certified planner at this time?" Steingold said.

Then the talk turned to what would happen in the event of a tie: Gov. Jeb Bush would be forced to step in and make the appointment.

At that point, City Clerk Cathy Benson said the commission could flip a coin, but the group decided against that idea.

So Hoskins stepped forward and withdrew his application, saying the last thing he wanted was for commissioners to fight.

"The second to last thing would be to wait for a month or for however long it took for the governor" to appoint someone, he said.

Steingold thanked Hoskins for his graciousness, and the commission asked if he would consider temporarily filling MacReynold's vacancy on the Planning and Zoning Board. He agreed.

In the end, the commission unanimously voted for MacReynolds to fill the seat left open when Bauer moved to Texas last month.

"I expect I'll have to work very hard for the next four months," MacReynolds said.

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

[Last modified November 8, 2006, 23:35:53]