SEMINOLE -- Patricia Hartstein resigned her seat this morning, ending a 14-year career on the City Council.

Hartstein announced her abrupt decision in an email to Seminole City Manager Frank Edmunds, explaining that she was forced to resign so she could enroll in the Pinellas County School System's DROP retirement program. The program requires her to give up her council salary in order to enroll. 

"I was caught a little off guard with this information," Hartstein wrote. "With this being said, I am attaching a letter of resignation. I would like to request that there be no plaque and I would like no fanfare - just a quiet departure. Thank you."

The Seminole council has 30 days to appoint someone to fill the vacant seat until March 2010 when Hartstein would have been up for reelection. Council members are expected to discuss possible replacements during a retreat on Saturday.

Hartstein, 62, first became interested in city government in 1975 when she and her husband attended their first meeting to complain that the city had failed to live up to an annexation promise. Her husband later ran for council and served 10 years before stepping down. Hartstein waited a few years, then ran and was elected in March 1995. She has served on the council since.

"I can only say what an amazing run," Hartstein said. "It has been a pleasure and an honor to represent the citizens of the city of Seminole and a very rewarding experience to serve with all of the current and past council members."

-- Anne Lindberg, Times Staff Writer