Main Street Director Plans To Run For City Council

NEW PORT RICHEY - Most people drive down the city's main thoroughfare and see a ghost town of empty sidewalks, unfilled storefronts, vagrants and for-sale signs.

Judy DeBella Thomas doesn't see things that way.

For the past six years, the New York native has been trying to breathe life into downtown as executive director of the Greater New Port Richey Main Street program.

Now, she's planning to run for a seat on the city council.

Thomas, whose husband, Ted, is a former council member and past president of Main Street, pulled paperwork early Wednesday to get on the ballot for the April 8 election.

If she qualifies, Thomas will be vying against Glenn Hanff for the council seat being vacated by Deputy Mayor Ginny Miller, who plans to run for the Pasco County Commission.

Hanff, a member of the Community Service Council of West Pasco, filed last week.

The one-year, part-time position pays a $3,600 annual stipend.

Besides the council seat, voters will also be going to the polls to elect a mayor to replace Dan Tipton, who is running for Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Court clerk.

Scott McPherson, a local lawyer, has filed paperwork to run for Tipton's seat.

The qualifying period began Tuesday and ends Feb. 19. Although other potential candidates have reportedly pulled paperwork, none had filed by Wednesday.

Thomas, a political neophyte, said the "timing was right" to run for office.

"My children are all grown up, and it just seemed like a logical move," she said.

When Thomas moved to New Port Richey about three decades ago, the city's downtown was lined with boarded-up properties, cracked sidewalks and crumbling roads.

In the early 1990s, city leaders began talking about plans to redevelop the downtown to attract more retailers, restaurants, niche businesses and, in turn, more foot traffic. They spent $6 million adding lights and trees, widening sidewalks and offering incentives to merchants who wanted to open in the commercial area.

Sure enough, the main thoroughfare improved.

Empty storefronts began filling up.

Developers converged on City Hall with project proposals.

People started returning to Main Street.

It was about that time that Thomas joined Main Street as a development coordinator, building membership, corporate sponsorships and partnerships with other groups.

After former director Laura Turner stepped down in 2002, Thomas took the helm.

But for all the successes, efforts by city officials to revive downtown have been tempered by a series of redevelopment setbacks and the commercial drain of U.S. 19.

Nevertheless, Thomas is optimistic that things are changing on Main Street.

It's a viewpoint that, if elected, she plans to take with her to the council.

"I'm not a politician," she said. "I just have a love for my city and want to see it succeed."