VERO BEACH — A fourth Vero Beach resident has declared his intent to run for a seat on the Vero Beach City Council.
Commercial Realtor Richard Kennedy filed his papers late last week with the Vero Beach City Clerk’s Office.
Kennedy had tried to get a seat on the council earlier this year, when he applied to fill the vacancy left when a county judge removed then-Councilman Charlie Wilson from office.
In January, Kennedy told VeroNews.com that he chose to partially retire to Vero Beach in part due to the city’s small town feel.
Before going into real estate, Kennedy was an attorney in Washington, D.C., working in telecommunications.
He cited his big-city job experience as a strength he would bring to the council dais, when he applied for the open seat.
Kennedy said, at the time, he doesn’t attend council meetings and doesn’t watch them on television. He said he knows enough about the city operations to point out a few areas for improvement.
Kennedy joins Mayor Kevin Sawnick, Dean Heran, Craig Fletcher and Pilar Turner in the race for four seats on the dais.
Those whose seats are up this November include Sawnick, Vice Mayor Sabe Abell, Councilman Tom White, and Councilman Ken Daige, who was appointed to fill Wilson’s open seat until the next municipal election.
As such, there are two types of seats available for candidates to choose – the one-year term seat currently held by Daige, and the two-year term seat held by the other council members.
Candidates are expected to announce which of the two seats they are running for by the time they file their qualification papers during the qualifying period. That qualifying period runs from Aug. 19 through Sept. 3.
The only one whose seat is safe on the dais come the election is Councilman Brian Heady.
