Beach city elections draw little interest

Incumbents are coasting toward automatic re-election in some cases, perhaps canceling some elections.

By AMY WIMMER

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 10, 2001

This year's municipal elections are shaping up to be fairly predictable.

Nearly every incumbent in the south Pinellas beach cities is running for re-election, many of them without opposition.

In Madeira Beach, District 3 Commissioner Roger Koske and District 4 Commissioner Charles Parker currently have no competition. No other residents have picked up the paperwork that must be filed by Friday in order to qualify as a candidate, City Clerk Denise Schlegel said.

Parker and Koske automatically would win their seats, and Madeira Beach's March 13 election would be canceled. No voter referendums are scheduled for this year's ballot.

In Redington Beach, Mayor Jerry Reitz and Commissioner Laura Canniff have both filed to run again. Commissioner Michael O'Brien does not plan to return, and one city resident has picked up candidacy forms but not yet filed them.

The filing deadline in Redington Beach also is Friday, the election March 13.

In Treasure Island, District 1 incumbent Stephanie Lavino and District 3 incumbent Mary Maloof have both qualified to run for re-election. One resident of District 3 picked up candidate qualification forms but has not yet returned them.

Treasure Island's deadline is Jan. 30. The election will be held March 6.

In South Pasadena, Mayor Fred Held has filed to run for his last term in office. The City Charter forbids public officials from serving more than three consecutive terms in an elected office. Held originally was appointed mayor in 1994 and then elected to two subsequent terms.

No one else has picked up qualification forms to run for mayor, the only job on the ballot in the city's March 6 election, City Clerk Diane Orloff said. The qualification period in South Pasadena ends Jan. 19.

In Gulfport, only Mayor Michael Yakes has filed to run in the March 6 election. Yakes is seeking a sixth term as mayor.

The other incumbents, Ward 2 Commissioner Jack Olsen and Ward 4 Commissioner Larry Cooper, have picked up the paperwork that is due Jan. 25, and one other resident of Ward 2 also picked up candidacy forms.

Three cities -- North Redington Beach, Redington Shores and St. Pete Beach -- have not yet opened their qualification windows. In North Redington Beach, that period is Jan. 22-Feb. 2; in Redington Shores, Thursday-Jan. 26; and St. Pete Beach, Jan. 22-Feb. 6.

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