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2 retired military men square off for Meadow Pointe seat
By JAMES THORNER © St. Petersburg Times, published November 5, 2000 MEADOW POINTE -- Nearly 10 years after developers started hacking the soil south of State Road 54, the first 1,458 Meadow Pointe property owners will get a taste of home rule. With the consent of Devco Development Co., homeowners this year will assume a three-seat majority of the five-member board of the Meadow Pointe Community Development District. Two retired military men, both of whom live in the Summerbrook section of Meadow Pointe, are vying for Seat 4, the only seat contested this year. Carl Johnson, a 51-year-old New York City native, moved to Meadow Pointe in 1996 after 21 years in the Air Force. Dennis Smith, 53, spent 28 years in the Army, mostly as a non-commissioned officer. Born and raised in York, Pa., he moved to Meadow Pointe in 1998. After 1 1/2 years together on the Meadow Pointe Community Council, the largely toothless body that passes recommendations to the CDD board, Johnson and Smith are scarcely on speaking terms. Johnson said Smith turned "vindictive" after a series of disagreements, particularly over access to neighborhood ponds. Johnson opted to keep ponds off-limits to residents who didn't own a home on the water. Smith favored letting all Meadow Pointe residents use common ground near ponds to picnic and relax. "Ever since then, if I say the sky is blue, he'll say the sky is light blue," Johnson said of Smith. Smith said Johnson is opinionated to the point of trying to snuff dissent. Such a personality isn't the best for the CDD board, where compromise is necessary, he said. "I thought Carl was the one person least likely to hear opposing views," Smith said. Johnson said he often compromises -- within limits. "I'm flexible," he said. "But when I'm right, I'm not flexible." Johnson vows to foreswear his board member's salary, which tops out at $4,800 a year. Smith said he won't entertain such a move unilaterally. "I'm willing to do it if the other four are willing to do it," Smith said. As for their accomplishments on the community council, Johnson takes credit for installing a jag on County Line Road to slow traffic. Smith said he was instrumental in getting a sidewalk extended for the safety of students at Sand Pine Elementary. CDD Seats 3 and 5, also relinquished by developers this year, were uncontested. Patty Asklar and Scott Todd won by default. Meadow Pointe II, that part of the neighborhood east of Clay Gully, will elect its own, independent CDD board in the future. The jobThe Meadow Pointe Community Development District consists of five seats. Residents take over three seats this year. The other two stay in the developer's hands until 2002. Only Seat 4 is contested this November. The board spends assessments paid by Meadow Pointe property owners on things such as roads, sidewalks and parks. The CDD is like a homeowners association, but it can't dictate deed restrictions. The CDD district comprises 1,458 homes and runs from Bruce B. Downs Boulevard to Clay Gully. The job pays $200 per meeting, to a maximum of $4,800 per year.
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