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Guyette resigns from commission to take new job
City officials seeking applicants to fill unexpired term
By DAVE SHELTON
Article published on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 |
LARGO – City Commissioner Andy Guyette has resigned to accept a new job in Alabama.
The announcement officially was made at the April 15 City Commissioner’s meeting, though speculation about the resignation had been floating around City Hall for at least two days.
The resignation, effective after the April 22 commission workshop meeting, leaves seven months left of his unexpired three-year term.
Persons interested in filling the unexpired term have two weeks to submit their applications.
Guyette was elected to the $12,000 a-year post in 2005 after defeating Rodney Woods, who was subsequently elected to the commission a year later.
“My time here has come to an end,” Guyette, 50, said during a City Commission meeting. “Every decision I thought of the best interests of the city as a whole. I have given it my all.”
Guyette said he would abandon his commission seat for only one reason and that was for “a job that I have dreamed of having all of my life.”
Guyette, who is a technical director for a missile defense system at Honeywell Inc., said he has accepted a job offer from a similar company in Huntsville, Ala. He begins on April 28.
Mayor Patricia Gerard said the city would accept resumes until May 1. She said the commission would likely fill Guyette’s seat at its meeting scheduled for May 6.
“The city charter says we should act quickly and we will act quickly,” she said.
Guyette’s seat and that of incumbent Commissioner Mary Gray Black will be on the city’s Nov. 4 ballot. To contend for either of those seats, candidates must file for qualification between June 3 and Aug. 1.
The City Commission approved a new state-mandated qualifying petition form slightly different from the nominating forms used in the past. City Clerk Diane Bruner was instructed to find out if the form can be amended so the person who signs it attests to being a registered voter in Largo, a requirement of the city charter.
As mandated by the state, the form only attests that the signer is registered to vote in the state and county.
This issue was raised by Black despite assurances from City Attorney Alan S. Zimmet that the Pinellas County Election Supervisor’s office would verify that all were signed by Largo voters.
Black argued that because some parts of the city are in Clearwater and other postal zones, determining if someone is actually a city resident can be difficult.
At the end of the commission meeting, Guyette reflected on his time as a commissioner. Although saying his primary goal as a commissioner would be budget oversight, he said his most memorable issues were last year’s termination of long-time City Manager Steve Stanton and the battle over plans for a crematorium at Serenity Gardens cemetery on Wilcox Road.
Guyette led the battle to fire Stanton after it was learned Stanton was undergoing medical treatments to be seen as a woman. He emphasized that his vote was based on what he saw as staff manipulation by Stanton, rather than by his sex change.
Guyette also became a close ally of his opponent in the 2005 election in Woods’ unsuccessful efforts to fund a memorial to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“One day I will return to where I have always considered home, the City of Largo,” Guyette said.
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Article published on Wednesday, April 16, 2008
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