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Letter to the editor

Polson vs. Kersteen

By Aaron Sharockman
Published October 28, 2007

He recently retired, but Herb Polson found that life actually became more hectic after a year on the City Council.

Bob Kersteen is hoping that come January, Polson has plenty of time to relax with his family.

Kersteen, a member of the council from 1995 to 1999, is returning to politics to challenge Polson for the council seat in District 1.

Between them, Polson and Kersteen have more than 50 years of public and community service.

Polson spent 30 years working for the city, most recently as the city's lobbyist. He was appointed in December to fill Rick Kriseman's seat on the council.

Aside from serving on the council, Kersteen spent 12 years on the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and another 14 years on the city's planning commission.

The two tout their experience at events and in their campaign literature.

Kertseen, 70, also focuses on the city's spending policies.

In the five years Kersteen was on the council, property tax collection grew 4.39 percent per year, Kersteen said.

In the years since he left, he said, property tax collections have risen 11.4 percent per year.

"We're pricing people just out of the ball game," said Kersteen, who advocates cutting several city upper management positions and consolidating economic development efforts with Pinellas County. "We have to get a handle on spending."

At the same time, Kersteen said, the city must improve the retirement benefits of its police officers. Unlike the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, for example, St. Petersburg makes its officers contribute to their retirement.

Polson, 59, said the city needs to find a way to better recruit and retain members of its police force.

He said officers deserve the best training, equipment and benefit package the city can afford.

"It won't assure that everyone's going to stay, but it will take away some of the reasons people leave," Polson said.

Polson, who has been endorsed by Mayor Rick Baker and his predecessor, Kriseman, said the city must also do better when it comes to affordable housing.

He said the city needs to become more involved in developing affordable housing while offering incentives to developers to build low-cost housing.

To make his point, Polson talks about the new Ovation condo tower downtown, where a unit costs at least $1.6-million.

"The folks who live there are going to demand services," Polson said, "but if we don't start to fix things soon, there will be nowhere for the service people to live."

Herb Polson

Age: 59. He is the current council member in District 1, appointed to fill the seat held by Rick Kriseman. Polson graduated from Dixie Hollins High School, Florida State University and the Florida Institute of Technology, where he received a master's degree in public administration. He spent 30 years working for the city before retiring in July 2006. Polson also is a former intelligence officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He is a graduate of Leadership St. Pete, a board member of Creative Clay and a member of several groups, including the Suncoast Corvette Association, Friends of the Westside Library and the Suncoasters. Assets: Residence, city retirement plan, savings. Liabilities: None. Source of income: City salary. Web site: www.herbpolson.com.

Robert 'Bob' Kersteen

Age: 70. He is a former City Council member in District 1 and an executive with GTE who now runs his own consulting business. Kersteen was born in Pennsylvania, attended high school there and earned his college degree from LaSalle University in Chicago. He is a 1971 graduate of Leadership St. Petersburg and was recently inducted into the St. Petersburg Senior Hall of Fame. He was a longtime member of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. Kersteen served on the City Council from 1995 to 2000, when he ran unsuccessfully for the Florida House. Assets: Residence, retirement account, investments. Liabilities: Mortgage, credit cards. Source of income: Social Security, consulting business, 401(k), investment income. Web site: www.kersteen4stpete.com.

[Last modified October 28, 2007, 14:05:47]