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Six to make case for council seat

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published January 7, 2007

SEMINOLE - Six residents have applied to fill a vacancy on the Seminole City Council.

That's more than the four people who signed up to brave voters' whims in the March election, when three seats are up for grabs.

The vacancy stems from the resignation of Trina Watkins, who left office last month to run for mayor in March. There are two years left on her term.

Among the applicants: a former Seminole council member, a former Ohio mayor, a local attorney, one of the candidates in the March election and a father-daughter duo.

Here, in alphabetical order, are the applicants and a bit about them from their application letters, resumes and public records.

PETE BENGSTON, 72

Bengston is a familiar face to Seminole residents, having served on the council for a little more than four years. He lost his seat in 2005. Bengston has lived in Seminole for 41 years. He has served on the board of the Greater Seminole Chamber of Commerce and as a coach and umpire/referee of youth sports organizations. He has been a member of the Masons and Shriners.

Bengston says he wants to regain a seat on the council to "help the city obtain its future objectives. ... I know that I can do the job and I believe my experience will be a benefit to the city of Seminole."

JOHN GEORGE HALAK, 75

Halak has lived in Seminole since 1988. Before moving here, he served for eight years as mayor of North Royalton, Ohio, which is about 15 miles from Cleveland with a current population of about 32,500. He also served for 14 years on the North Royalton City Council and more than five years on the city's Civil Service Commission. He has worked as a technical sales representative for Henkel Chemical Co. and for Swift and Co. He served in both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force. He has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the Ohio State University.

His goal, he says, is "to contribute to the betterment of our community."

Halak has been arrested twice. The first time, in 1991, he was accused of retail theft and pleaded nolo contendere, or no contest. He was fined $150, according to Pinellas County records and ordered to pay restitution.

"The retail thing was, they accused me of not paying for, I think it was 68 cents of bologna," Halak said. He never made it out of the store, he said, and only pleaded no contest because his mother was dying and he could not fight the accusation at the time.

He was charged with domestic battery in 2006 but the charge was dropped. "The battery issue was that my granddaughter ... spit in my face," Halak said. "I grabbed her behind the neck and put her out."

His granddaughter was 19 at the time. "That's the only time I was ever arrested in my life," Halak said.

PETER HOFSTRA, 54

Hofstra is a partner in the Seminole law firm of DeLoach and Hofstra. He has worked in Seminole for the past 30 years and has lived in the city since his subdivision was annexed in 2000.

He serves on the city's Development Review Board. Hofstra says he looks "forward to contributing my services to the affairs of the city."

PATRICIA PLANTAMURA, 49

Plantamura is also a candidate in the upcoming March election. If chosen by the council Tuesday, her three opponents - all incumbents - would automatically be re-elected. (Those are Dan Hester, Patricia Hartstein and Bob Matthews.)

Plantamura moved to Florida 16 years ago from Nebraska and to Seminole more than six years ago. She has a bachelor's degree in Spanish and International Affairs with a minor in Latin American Studies from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She also has an associate's degree in Environmental Technology from the Environmental Technology Center in Tampa and is working toward a master's degree at the University of South Florida.

She is a teacher at Bardmoor Elementary School. She is vice president and past treasurer of the Cordova Greens Condo V Association.

Preserving the environment for current residents and as a way to attract newcomers to Seminole is a prime concern.

"I do not pretend to know all of the answers," she said. "I do, however, continue to inform myself and would dedicate my efforts and critical-thinking skills to take a solution-oriented approach to local government."

KIMBERLEY WARTH, 40

Kimberley Warth is a native of St. Petersburg who moved to Seminole in 1994. She has held jobs with Sembler, Florida Power, Hunter Douglas and E-Systems.

She currently works as administrative support to the adoption team at Gulf Coast Community Care, an agency of the Safe Children Coalition. She attended St. Petersburg Junior College (now St. Petersburg College) and Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Her concerns for Seminole include traffic, development and community safety.

Warth says she wants to serve because "I am concerned about the welfare of my community and would like to see the city of Seminole, Florida, prosper. We should have a beautiful city that we should protect and enhance."

ROBERT L. WARTH, 77

Robert Warth, who is Kimberley's father, is a native of Dearborn, Mich., who moved to Pinellas in 1953 and to Seminole in 1994. He was raised on a dairy farm and enlisted in the Merchant Marines in 1944. He has been employed by Honeywell Inc. and owned rental property from 1968 to 2003. His concerns include traffic flow, listening to residents' wants and needs, wise expenditures of tax monies and starting a neighborhood watch.

Warth lists eight reasons for wanting to serve on the Seminole Council. Among them: "I like it here. I hope to serve as a public servant. I would like to make Seminole (a) more beautiful, safe and friendly place to live."

The process

The Seminole Council will hold a workshop at 6 p.m. Tuesday to interview the applicants for City Council. The council is scheduled to decide who will fill the open slot during Tuesday's council meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. Both meetings are open to the public, but comment is allowed only at the meeting. Both will be held in the City Hall, 9199 113th St. N.

[Last modified January 7, 2007, 02:24:26]