District 5 seat might be up for grabs in 2009

ST. PETERSBURG -- Officials are angling to create a legal exemption that would open an extra City Council seat for the November 2009 election.

Council Chairman Jamie Bennett, whose terms is up in 2012, has asked City Attorney John Wolfe to help him bypass the council appointment process and get the District 5 seat on the ballot.

Bennett must resign to run for mayor, but he doesn't want to resign before he has to or allow his council colleagues to pick his successor.

That's impossible under the City Charter, which states that Bennett must resign by May 30 so that voters can select a new representative. In that scenario, the council would appoint someone to temporarily fill Bennett's seat until the newly elected District 5 council member takes office in January 2010, said Wolfe.

If Bennett resigned after May 30, the council would appoint someone to the seat until the term is up in January 2012, Wolfe said.

For Bennett to get his way, the council would have to pass an exemption similar to a 2000 ordinance that allowed voters to replace Bennett's predecessor, Larry Williams, when he resigned to run for mayor.

Wolfe said he is working on a draft that could go before the council soon. If approved, five council positions would be up for election in November.

Cristina Silva, Times Staff Writer

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Comments

[Simply Wrong]

The rules even apply to you Bennette. You got in as a favor and now you are just a fluke.

What was good for Earnest is good for you. Who cares about your vote! Bye-Bye

this is odd. BEnnett should know better.

The voters should have a say in this. To appoint someone to fill out a term, fine. To appoint someone who would serve until 2012 insults the voters.

If he wants to run for Mayor he should resign NOW and not be running for another office on the city's dime. CHANGE IN ST. PETERSBURG IS ON THE WAY.

So it's a bad thing to allow the voters to pick their new councilman?

No, its not a bad thing to allow the voters to select the replacement. But if that is the right thing, then the City Charter should be amended to provide for that instead of voting on stand alone ordinances every now and again when certain people don't like what the Charter requires. Then the voters could have a say in whether the current Charter is the right way or the wrong way to do it, instead of Council Members passing an ordinance to help out a fellow council member when it suits them. An ordinance that really only benefits one person in one specific situation. If the Charter is the best way to do it, then follow it. If the Charter is not the best way to do it, then chasnge the Charter. The voters get to decide that.

Well put, 8:45... well put!

[reality check]

Hey Jamie ...

Why don't you just try auctioning the seat off, like Blogojevitch is doing. At least that way you can make a couple of bucks on the deal! It seems to be the Democratic way!!!!

A sad commentary, Jamie, on what many in this county thought was a real class act ... and legitimate mayoral material. Based on your devious backstage manuevering, it looks like we were wrong.