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With Bussell, council has different look
By BRADY DENNIS © St. Petersburg Times, published April 12, 2001 ZEPHYRHILLS -- It isn't clear yet what changes newly-elected Mike Bussell will bring to the City Council, but his victory brought varied reactions from city leaders. Bussell, 59, will be the new occupant of Seat 5 in the council chambers come April 23 after defeating six-year veteran Tim Ippolito. This much is certain: Bussell is certain to be more outspoken than Ippolito, who was quiet and reserved. And Bussell is 22 years older than 37-year-old Ippolito, placing him in an entirely different generation than his predecessor. "It will certainly be different without Tim, but I do believe new blood is healthy," said Council member Cathi Compton, who along with Jim Bailey frequently voted on the opposite side of issues from Ippolito. "I think Mr. Bussell will bring a refreshing change of pace to the council. He has a great deal of business sense." Others weren't as excited. Elizabeth Geiger, who often voted with Ippolito, was concerned about the local firefighter union's ties to Bussell. The firefighters attacked Ippolito and supported Bussell after Ippolito voted last year not to give the firefighters the same raise as local police officers. The raise was based on a city-commissioned study called the Cody Report, which suggested certain pay grades for city employees. "It will be interesting to see how his allegiance to the firefighters affects his vote," Geiger said. "I hope he'll look at all city employees and not just one group. I hope there will be no attempt to undo (the Cody Report). Those decisions were very deliberate." Geiger, who defeated Bussell in last year's election, said she looks forward to working with a new council member but will miss Ippolito. "Tim was criticized because he didn't speak up enough," she said. "But that didn't mean he didn't give a lot of thought to his votes. He made decisions that showed he had a lot of integrity." Geiger isn't the only one sad to see Ippolito go. By losing Ippolito, whom he encouraged to run for re-election, City Manager Steve Spina also lost a council member who repeatedly defended him when he was under fire. "My job is to work with whoever is elected to council, and I'm going to do that," Spina said. "I think it's going to change the dynamic of the council. Tim was pretty quiet, and I think Mike definitely will be different than that. "I just hope everybody is a little open-minded. We'll see where we go." Bussell won Tuesday's vote with 361 votes to Ippolito's 301. Only slightly more than 10 percent of the city's registered voters turned out.
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