Advertisement

Familiar faces dot Kenneth City election field

 
Published Dec. 22, 2012

KENNETH CITY — Voters here will have a full slate of familiar faces to choose from in next year's town election.

Incumbent Troy Campbell is seeking re-election. Also seeking one of the two available seats on the Kenneth City Town Council are Albert L. Carrier, Joanne DeSimone and Wanda Dudley, all former council members. Incumbent Ron Sneed is not seeking re-election.

Campbell, 44, was first elected to the council in 2011. He currently oversees the town Police Department. He is a computer systems analyst at Florida Blood Services and formerly served on the Kenneth City zoning board. He grew up on the edge of Kenneth City in the unincorporated Lealman area and is a graduate of Seminole High School, St. Petersburg Junior College (now St. Petersburg College) and the University of Phoenix. He is married and has two children.

Carrier, 76, was born in the tiny town of Mexico, Maine, and moved to Kenneth City in 1995. He attended electronics schools with the Air Force, Northwest University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is retired. He is a member of the Elks and the Knights of Columbus. He has been vice president of the Kenneth City Homeowners Association. He is a widower and has one son and three grandchildren. He also has served on the Kenneth City Board of Adjustment.

DeSimone, 68, was born in New York and raised in Valley Stream, Long Island, N.Y. She worked in the fashion industry as a buyer representing retail clothing stores across the U.S. She moved to Florida in 1979 and moved to Kenneth City in 2003. She is single. She is a former Redington Beach city commissioner in charge of the finance and building departments. She served on that town's planning board. She also served on the board of directors of the Gulf Beaches Public Library. She was elected to the Kenneth City Council in 2010 and lost a 2012 bid for mayor to Teresa Zemaitis.

Dudley, 55, was born in Montrose, Pa., and moved to Kenneth City in June 1983. She teaches at Westgate Elementary School in St. Petersburg. She is a clinical educator. She has been president and secretary of Northwest Youth Baseball. She is married and has four children. She was elected to the Town Council in 2006 and left in 2012 due to term limits.

Kenneth City is about 1 square mile in area and has about 4,500 residents. It is generally located in the center of the unincorporated Lealman area and bounded by Pinellas Park on the north and St. Petersburg on the south.

The council has four members and a mayor who are in charge of the day-to-day activities of the town government. Council members serve two-year terms and are paid $300 a month. The two top vote-getters in the March 12 election will go into office.

Anne Lindberg can be reached at alindberg@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8450.