Kenneth City rejects idea of annexing Lealman

Concerned by the unincorporated area's much larger population, the town decides not to study the possibility.

By ANNE LINDBERG

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 12, 2001

KENNETH CITY -- The fear of losing power, and a bit of snobbery, killed any chance of a marriage between unincorporated Lealman and Kenneth City.

"This is a situation where once annexation was complete, they had the right to vote in Kenneth City," Mayor Bill Smith said Friday. And Lealman, with a population about eight times greater than Kenneth City's, could have recalled the Town Council, changed the charter and changed the style of government, just to name a few things, he said.

"We can't afford that, no matter who it was. Why would the city want to work since 1957 to build a pretty nice city, with most properties looking nice, to give it all away?"

Smith added: "I was advised to tell them to bring themselves up to the same standards as Kenneth City and we might merge."

Lealman residents also had their concerns.

Many worried that Kenneth City police would swoop in and force them to get rid of their pickup trucks and instantly comply with town codes.

Leaders of the Lealman Community Association reassured their neighbors that they outnumbered Kenneth City residents. It would be possible, for example, for Lealman residents to vote for different zoning rules for different areas.

Lealman resident Jim Barca told a community association meeting earlier this month that if they didn't like the Kenneth City government, once they were annexed, they could recall it or change it or do whatever they wanted.

"So arguments of our coming under their rule without any say is nonsense," Barca said. "It's nonsense."

Kenneth City residents at the same meeting taped Barca's statements, printed them on a flier and distributed them around town.

Annexation opponents also took pictures of run-down homes in Lealman and posted them outside the Community Hall before Wednesday night's meeting. A sign asked, "Do you want to annex this?"

Ray Neri, president of the Lealman Community Association, did not attend the Kenneth City meeting, but none of the tactics surprised him. Part of the problem for both sides has been one of perception, he said.

"They thought we were a bunch of hayseeds that live in squalor and they live in paradise. We thought they were a bunch of old fuddy-duddies," he said. The real problem for Kenneth City and for Lealman, Neri said, was dealing with the potential loss of power. You can't annex a large area and have your life stay the same, he said.

"We were hoping that there were people (on both sides) with a bigger vision who could see what (we) could become," he said.

Kenneth City's decision leaves Lealman with one fewer option.

The unincorporated area is being eroded by successive annexations from Seminole, Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg.

Just Thursday night, Pinellas Park annexed a couple of business properties at 62nd Avenue N. And earlier in the evening, Pinellas Park annexation boss Bud Wortendyke announced that former Kenneth City Council member Ray Ott now lives in the Lealman area west of Kenneth City. Ott has talked to Pinellas Park about annexing the condominium where he lives. That complex is next to Five Towns, and its 1,500 condominium units, which already abuts Seminole.

Such a move would put both cities in a position to woo Five Towns to annex into their boundaries.

Kenneth City itself seems poised to join the municipalities interested in Lealman property.

Before voting against a feasibility study of annexing Lealman, Town Council member Theresa Zemaitis read a prepared statement:

"I do sympathize with the people of Lealman community. They are being nibbled to death and I admire them for actively trying to save their neighborhood. But us annexing them is not the answer. Kenneth City residents don't want it. Lealman residents don't even want it themselves, so I can't see spending money on a feasibility study for a project that no one wants. It just doesn't make sense. If you attend their meetings or you listen to the tapes of their meetings, you can see that what they truly desire is to be their own city and I wish them luck in that endeavor."

Zemaitis then said the issue caused her to look at what Kenneth City needs, and that is to grow. She proposed forming an annexation committee to look at the town's borders because the window for action is closing. Either Lealman will become a city or other municipalities will annex up to Kenneth City's borders, she said.

Lealman is left with two choices: Become its own city or hope the county can come up with some way to preserve the borders against annexations.

If both fail, Lealman is in real trouble, Neri said.

"We're going to be gutted," Neri said. "We'll just be this little enclave in here that continues to not get any attention. It's just sad, because with a little help, we could have become something."

Ray Neri, Lealman Community Association

To all concerned:

Tonight, Kenneth City's Board decided that annexing Lealman was not in their best interest and did not approve the expenditure to even see if it was good for them or not. We will now pursue the feasibility of forming a new city called Lealman. We are in contact with the League of Florida Cities, an advisory group, who have offered to assist us in the process of incorporation.

We are disappointed that Kenneth City's leaders did not have the same vision we had for this area, but we wish them well in their future. Our concern from the start was to ensure we did not continue losing our valuable tax base, and that is still our concern. The County Board of Commissioners are now actively looking for a remedy for our situation, but until they come up with one, it is in our best interest to pursue forming a new city.

We will discuss our options at our next LCA meeting on the first Wednesday of September. Bring your neighbors. If ever we needed to stick together it is now.

Kenneth City Mayor Bill Smith

As most of you were here at our workshop on July 25, when Mr. Healey from the Pinellas Planning Council spoke to us about annexation and the mechanics to make it happen, you will remember that I asked the council to place on the agenda for tonight whether or not we should hire the (Pinellas) Planning Council staff to do the study on this issue of Kenneth City annexing Lealman into Kenneth City and the council agreed to put it on the agenda for tonight.

Since the night of the workshop, I have spent most of my time listening to the people in Kenneth City who were interested in this matter, reading what was being said in the newspaper and talking with other community leaders about annexation.

I have concluded, taking into consideration all the information I have been able to assemble, that should Kenneth City annex Lealman, what you have been reading in the newspaper, that control of Kenneth City would shift to the citizens of Lealman as soon as the annexation took place. Having one vote on the council, whether it be a five or seven-member council, would be meaningless.

Therefore, I would ask for a motion that we do not hire the Pinellas Planning Council to study this issue and go no further with the matter of annexation of Lealman.

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