2 City Council Seats Up for Grabs

Want a seat on the New Port Richey City Council?

Your chance to try to become one of the elected city officials is approaching.

Two council members’ terms expire in April, and city residents can start filing on Feb. 14 to run for their seats in this year’s municipal election. Judy DeBella Thomas and Ginny Miller are the two incumbent city council members for the seats.

Thomas said she plans on running to stay on the council, which she has sat on since 2008.

Miller, a long-time councilmember, said she has not decided whether she will run for another term.

The qualifying period for the city council seats begins at noon on Feb. 14 and ends at noon on Feb. 21. If more than one candidate qualifies for each seat, voters will go to the polls April 10.

To run for either seat, a person must have resided within the New Port Richey city limits since at least six months prior to the election and must be a registered voter.

Potential applicants can inquire with the City Clerk between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at City Hall, 5919 Main St., New Port Richey.  

Miller is a math teacher at Gulf Middle School in New Port Richey. She served on the City Council for nine years before 2008, when her term ended and she sought a seat on the county commission*. Her bid for a seat on the county commission was not successful.  She then ran for a city council seat in 2009 and won it.

DeBella Thomas was elected onto the city council in 2008. In 2009, she ran for election to a full three-year council term and won a seat.

DeBella Thomas said she wants to be on the city council to see evolving issues she’s weighed in on during her term come to fruition.

“Folks have complimented me on the job I’ve been doing,” she said.

She said these include the the construction of Main Street Landing, ideas on how to generate revenue for the city recreation and aquatic center and the city's proposal to take over animal control services.

“It’s been a very busy last couple years,” she said. ”We’ve got lots of opportunities to see the city continue moving in the right direction.”

DeBella Thomas was executive director of Greater New port Richey Main Street when she joined the council. She resigned from her position with the nonprofit in 2010, which allowed her to cast the deciding vote in favor of saving the city's subsidy to Greater New Port Richey Main Street.

She currently works as marketing and enrollment liaison at Advanced Research Institute, Inc., a pharmaceutical company that has a Trinity address as its headquarters

* Correction Appended. Previous version stated that Ginny Miller resigned from her seat, but her term ended.