Work lauded now; frame comes later

By Times staff reports

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 9, 2001

There's one thing Pinellas County Commission Chairman Calvin Harris never forgets: the phone number to County Attorney Susan Churuti.

"The county attorney is your best friend," he said recently as he presented Churuti with an award recognizing her 20-year anniversary with Pinellas County. "We all have these senior moments and forget things, but I think I can always remember Susan's number."

Musing about her longevity with Pinellas, he said, "I thought there were child labor laws. She had to have started at 14 or something."

Although 20 years got Churuti lots of praise, it didn't get her something fancy to hang on her wall. "I have a certificate here that probably should have been in a frame," Harris said handing her a paper award.

"In five more years you get the frame," Commissioner Bob Stewart told Churuti. "So hang in there."

THE FIRST FLIP-FLOP: Last week, Clearwater Commissioner Hoyt Hamilton became the first recently elected official in Clearwater to flip-flop on a position that he took on the campaign trail in February.

Hamilton had expressed a desire to go forward with a national search for a new city manager. But last week, in casual remarks at the end of a long workshop, Hamilton urged his colleagues to forgo a search and appoint Bill Horne, the interim manager, to the post.

"Maybe it would serve the city well," Hamilton said. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Hamilton said he changed his mind after talking to residents about Horne during neighborhood block parties last weekend.

But the other commissioners didn't go along with it and stuck to their desire to do a national search for the best person.

MAKING THE GRADE: Largo Mayor Bob Jackson wasn't entirely pleased with how city leaders and community activists graded him on his first year in office. In recent interviews with the Times, grades ranged from an "A" for effort from former Mayor Thomas "Thom" Feaster down to a harsh "F" from Taylor Lake resident Ruth Dowling.

So at Tuesday's City Commission meeting, Jackson tried to get an early start on improving his marks for next year.

Jackson voted in favor of putting Gigi Arntzen on the city's planning board. Arntzen gave him a "C."

"Maybe next year, she'll give me a B," he said.

THREE, FOUR, WHATEVER: What's wrong with this item from Tim Caddell, public events director for Pinellas Park?

"Park Boulevard and 66th Street will be closed in all directions from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. on Monday through Thursday, April 9-11 to facilitate the addition of left-turn lanes at all four points of the intersection."

Hint: Monday through Thursday is four days. April 9 through April 11 is, well, not four days.

- Times staff writers Deborah O'Neil, Christina Headrick, Eric Stirgus and Jean Heller contributed to this report.

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