Zephyrhills picks Burnside; council veterans returning

By CARY DAVIS

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 12, 2000

ZEPHYRHILLS -- Roy Burnside stood in the background as the final election results were posted at the east Pasco vote counting center in Dade City Tuesday night.

Then, seeing others scurrying to look at the results, Burnside began a slow walk to victory lane.

He looked at his name, saw he had emerged as the winner in the three-man race to become Zephyrhills' next mayor and lost no time congratulating his opponents.

"You guys are still my buddies," Burnside, 75, told August M. "Mickey" McPhee and Mel Barrows.

Burnside captured 39 percent of the total vote Tuesday in his first run for public office. McPhee received 32 percent and Barrows finished third with 28 percent.

Also Tuesday, two familiar faces won seats on the City Council.

Incumbent Elizabeth Geiger won re-election to Seat 2 with 49 percent of the vote. She defeated Michael M. Bussell, who collected 37 percent, and Ann Hubbard, who received 14 percent.

Jim Bailey returns to Seat 4, a post he held for 18 years before becoming the city's mayor in 1992. Bailey, with 66 percent of the vote, easily defeated Tony Goodwin, who collected 34 percent.

The five members of City Council and the town's mayor serve two-year terms and earn $3,600 annually.

Nearly 20 percent, or 1,173, of the city's 5,918 registered voters cast ballots Tuesday. It was a marked improvement over last year's turnout, when just 13 percent of the city's registered voters went to the polls.

"I'm very happy, very pleased," said Geiger, 56. "I look forward to serving the city another two years."

Geiger, who received 550 votes, hadn't faced a challenger since 1994.

"I took my opponents very seriously and I'm glad I won," she said.

Hubbard said she wasn't discouraged that she only garnered 158 votes. She indicated she would make another run for office.

"You rarely win your first time out," she said. "I learned a great deal."

Bussell, who received 417 votes, could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

Bailey, 67, said he's anxious to return to the City Council. He stepped down as the city's figurehead because he had grown frustrated that, as mayor, he could not vote on city business.

"I've enjoyed being mayor and I really look forward to being back on the council," said Bailey, who received 753 votes. "I appreciated very much the people who supported me."

Bailey, like the other seven candidates, spent most of Tuesday at the Alice Hall Community Center, the city's voting precinct.

"I'm going to bed," he said. "I'm tired."

Goodwin, like Hubbard, said he was not disappointed and is using the campaign as a learning experience for next year's election.

"I'd like to have won," said Goodwin, who got 391 votes. "But this doesn't discourage me from running next year."

Burnside, who collected 451 votes, campaigned on a platform based largely on fixing what he sees as a morale problem in city government. He said in interviews that City Manager Steve Spina is largely to blame for the problem.

"I want two good years to see if we can help bring things back together," he said.

McPhee, who got 371 votes, said he was relieved that the election season had ended.

"If that's what the voters want," he said, "then that's the way it is."

Barrows, who received 324 votes, said he expected to finish third in the race for mayor.

"We were all friends before," he said of his two opponents, "and that's not going to change. I'm going to support Burnside 100 percent."

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.