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New commissioner named to replace Guyette
By DAVE SHELTON
Article published on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 |
LARGO – Robert Murray has been sworn in as a city commissioner, replacing Andy Guyette who resigned last month to accept a job in Alabama.
Commissioner Mary Gray Black, at that same May 6 City Commissioner’s meeting, announced that she will seek re-election in November.
Murray, who has lived here for 30 years, was unanimously appointed to the seat vacated by Guyette who resigned with seven months left in his term.
“Thank you for your confidence in me and I will do my best to contribute to this position,” Murray, 53, said.
“During the last three years I have been to almost every commission meeting and work session. I believe that I am current with many of the issues and would make an easy transition onto the city commission,” Murray said in his application cover letter.
Black, meanwhile, objected to the balloting procedure before a secret poll was taken on the seven candidates who applied for the seat. She said the vote should be done more openly and refused to write her vote down.
Black nominated regular city finance critic John Atanasio but gained no second to her nomination. He was a member of the city council in Bergenfield, N.J. from 1957 to 1964.
Mayor Pat Gerard continued with the ballots on which Murray received nominations from her and Commissioners Gigi Arntzen, Harriet Crozier and Woody Brown. Commissioner Rodney Woods nominated Milagras M. Cortez, a retired benefits coordinator for the city.
With Murray the only candidate to receive a majority of votes for nomination, the appointment was brought to a vote and it passed 6-0.
The new commissioner will serve to the end of Guyette's term which expires on Nov. 11. He said he has not yet made plans to seek election at that time. One of those who applied for the seat is rumored to be seeking election in November to the seat - Joe Falanga, who is treasurer of the Greater Largo Mid-Pinellas Chamber of Commerce.
Others who sought the seat were: Charlie Graul Jr., Robert P. Hunsicker and Jerry Mullarkey.
Murray is Pinellas County Sheriff Jim Coats' senior flight mechanic, overseeing maintenance of the sheriff's five helicopters. He is also an assistant adjunct professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Tampa.
The new commissioner is a graduate of Pinellas Vocational Technical Institute, Embry-Riddle and is a doctoral candidate in business administration at Northcentral University, Prescott, Ariz.
Murray and his wife, Theresa, have three grown sons. He was a member of the city's Finance Advisory Board but had to resign, according to city charter, when he accepted the appointment to the commission.
The new commissioner has also represented Largo on the Pinellas County Metropolitan Planning Organization citizen's advisory committee and was a member of the city's Charter Review Committee in 2006.
Voters returned Black to the city commission in 2004 after having served from 1975 to 1984 and again from 1989 to 1991 on the commission. She chose not to seek re-election in 1984 and gave up her seat in 1991 in an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the state legislature.
Black is retired from Belleair Beach where she was city clerk and has lived in Largo for 37 years. She has an associate's degree from St. Petersburg College.
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Article published on Wednesday, May 7, 2008
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