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Pinellas' longtime supervisor of elections, Dot Ruggles, was too sick to sign her letter of resignation.
By EDIE GROSS
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 17, 2000
Her health declining rapidly, Dorothy "Dot" Ruggles has resigned as Pinellas County's supervisor of elections.
Ruggles, who has battled breast cancer for more than a year, was too sick to sign the resignation letter herself. Her son, James L. Walker, who has power of attorney, signed it for her and faxed it to Gov. Jeb Bush's office Monday evening.
"Due to my serious health conditions, please accept my resignation from the Office of the Supervisor of Elections of Pinellas County, Florida," Ruggles' letter said. "I intend this resignation to be effective immediately."
It is up to Bush to appoint an interim supervisor until a new one can be elected in November. His staff said Tuesday that he had no timeline for doing so.
In the meantime, deputy administrators Joan Brock and Deborah Clark are keeping the office organized. Ruggles, 59, has recommended that Bush appoint Clark to fill the interim position, but others, including Largo City Commissioner Marty Shelby, plan to apply.
Ruggles, the county's elections supervisor for 12 years, continued to run the office even after going through difficult chemotherapy treatments. Two weeks ago, she handed in her department's budget request.
But friends say her health began to sag shortly after that. On May 5, Ruggles said she would probably withdraw from the Nov. 7 ballot. A few days later, she made it known that she planned to resign well before the elections took place.
On Thursday, she was admitted to Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, said Clark. Her son and daughter, Diane Romero, returned her to her Clearwater home Tuesday morning, where hospice workers were caring for her, Clark said.
Ruggles had worked for the supervisor's office for 11 years before running for the head position in 1988. She was automatically elected that year, and again in 1992 and 1996, after drawing no opposition.
Charles J. Kaniss, the former supervisor of elections who hired Ruggles in 1977, said it will be difficult to replace her. Ruggles' spirit and energy were almost unmatched, he said.
Kaniss, who visited Ruggles in the hospital Monday, said it was difficult to see her so sick.
"It really ripped me apart. It's a tragedy," Kaniss said. "I wish there was something I could do. We're going to lose a good girl."