5 seeking vacant Town Council seat

The vacancy was created last week when Chuck Webber quit Kenneth City's council.

By ANNE LINDBERG

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 7, 2000

KENNETH CITY -- A former council member, a former council candidate and three community activists have applied for the council seat vacated last week when Chuck Webber resigned to take a job annexing property for Pinellas Park.

The remaining members of the Kenneth City council on June 21 will appoint Webber's replacement, who will serve until next March when the term expires. Town residents have until June 16 to apply for the position.

By midday Tuesday, five people had applied.

One, Art Mason, is a former council member. Another, Russ Dumont, has twice run for the council. A third, Dolores Urso, is president of the Kenneth City Homeowners Association. The fourth, Teresa Zemaitis, is active in town government. The fifth, Christopher Taylor, has also served on a town board.

Mason, 69, is a North Carolina native who moved to Kenneth City in 1963. He served on the council from 1967 to 1969. He also served as parliamentarian during Harold Paxton's mayoral term. Most recently, he was a member of the Make Kenneth City Safer Committee, which campaigned to abolish the Police Department in favor of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

"We have a lot of things going on," Mason said. "Whatever he (Webber) was supposed to be doing hasn't been done."

Mason thinks his previous experience on the council will easily enable him to take over Webber's duties. He wants to make sure residents are informed about what's happening in town and would urge the council to issue a newsletter that would go to everyone.

With residents' decision to retain the Police Department and drainage problems, Mason foresees a likely tax hike. He wants to keep an eye on taxes and make sure any increase is held down and spent wisely.

Dumont, 64, ran unsuccessfully for the Kenneth City Council in 1996 and 1997. He also served as head of the Make Kenneth City Safer Committee. He is a Massachusetts native and moved here in 1964.

He wants to be on the council because he likes the way things are going now and wants to maintain that trend.

"Everything seems to be going pretty good, and I'd like to keep it going that way. There seems not to be so much animosity between council members anymore," Dumont said. "I can't see too many changes."

Urso, 63, is well-known by members of the Homeowners Association and those who attend council meetings where she is a regular. She campaigned to retain the Police Department. Born in the Bronx, N.Y., she moved to Florida about 20 years ago.

She wants to serve on the council to help Kenneth City "go somewhere."

"I just felt that maybe I should do it. Have another woman up there," Urso said. "Kenneth City needs to go somewhere. Right now, it's not going anywhere."

For Urso, that means beautification and improving the town's parks so residents will have something better. She was especially impressed by a plan Pinellas Park has for making Park Boulevard more of a landscape showplace, and would like to see something similar in Kenneth City.

Taylor, 36, was born in Columbus, Ohio. He's lived in Kenneth City for about five years. He served on the Kenneth City recreational board. He also acts as a weather watcher for WTSP-Channel 10 television.

Taylor thinks he would bring a different perspective to the town government because he's younger than most members of the council.

"I'm fairly young, compared to some of the people that's been there," he said. "I have a young family with children."

He would like to see the council open more family-oriented activities that would help out youth. That would include such things as more access to libraries and mentoring programs.

Zemaitis could not be reached for comment Tuesday. She's a regular at council meetings and serves on the town's Capital Improvements Committee. She also served on the Activities Committee before it was disbanded.

If you're interested

Applications for the open seat on the Town Council can be picked up at the Kenneth City Town Hall, 6000 54th Ave. N, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. An applicant must have been a Kenneth City resident for the past two years and be a registered voter. Completed applications must be turned in by June 16. The council will choose from among the applicants at a special meeting at 10 a.m. June 21 in the Community Hall, 4600 58th St. N. For information, call Town Clerk Nancy Beelman, 544-6655.

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