Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Association

HONNA Officer and Director nominations are due in November. The term duration starts in Jan. 2003 for one year.

Please give a thought to serving the association and the neighborhood as an officer or director ... we've had barely enough nominees in recent years.

Nominations for all positions are due in writing at the November meeting. The election will be held at the January meeting and terms last one year.

For more information, please contact Julie Turner, chair of the Election Committee, at 896-2237 or jturner@hough.com

Officer nominations

2003 Officers
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President Julie Turner
President-elect Chris Eaton
Treasurer Jim O'Donnell
Secretary Eileen O'Sullivan

Next year's President is automatically succeeded by this year's President-elect (Bylaws). Only one nomination was made for each of the other three officers so those elections will be affirmed by acclamation.

Julie Turner, 2003 President
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Julie Turner moved to St. Petersburg from Orlando and purchased her home in the Old Northeast area in July of 1997. She relocated for work from a historic neighborhood adjacent to downtown Orlando that had seen a tremendous resurgence in popularity and property values due to a strong interest in historic home renovation and joint efforts with the city on improvement projects such as re-bricking and streetscaping.

Julie purchased her home in the Old Northeast area because she saw great potential for a similar revitalization, and she has been extremely encouraged by the improvements in the neighborhood in just the past 3 1/2 years. Julie is very interested in improving the quality of our neighborhoods through protective measures such as code enforcement and traffic calming procedures.

Julie is an investment banker with William R. Hough & Co., working with cities, counties and school districts across the state of Florida to finance capital projects. Julie earned a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida. Her education includes study at Harvard University, Oxford University (England) and the American University in Cairo (Egypt).

Chris Eaton, only candidate for President-elect - no election
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St. Petersburg has been my home since high school and I'm a graduate of USF with a degree in History. I own and manage a small business, Bridge Builders, which helps U.S. organizations engage in volunteer humanitarian and cross-cultural projects in many other countries. I speak Spanish and am an avid dog owner.

I served as HONNA President for 2002 and am proud that membership and meeting attendance have grown significantly in the past year. To help provide continuity for the future, I'm volunteering to serve as President-elect for 2003. One of my goals is to find ways to encourage more members to serve neighborhood leadership roles.

Eileen O'Sullivan, only candidate for Secretary - no election
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When my husband Frank transferred out of Miami in 1979, we knew we were coming back to Florida but not to Miami. We vacationed all over the state for the next 18 years; when we discovered St. Petersburg we knew the search was over.

We moved to 21st Avenue NE on Halloween of 1997 and have been members of HONNA since we bought the house two months earlier. I've been secretary of the Association board for a few years. We've been very pleased about the opportunities the Old Northeast has provided for us to help in improving our city, and particularly enjoyed the Vision 2020 process.

Jim O'Donnell, only candidate for Treasurer - no election
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I was born and raised in the Canal Zone, Republic of Panama. There I graduated from the Canal Zone College and Florida State University Extension where I received a B.A. degree. I also attended Thomas Edison College and graduated with a B.S. in Industrial Technology.

As the Legislative Representative for the AFL/CIO in the Canal Zone, I worked on the legislation for the Panama Canal Treaties of 1979. Other labor positions that I held were President of the Balboa Civic Council, Treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 397 and I am now President Emeritus of the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 14. I also held the position of President of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees, Chapter 895 for a year.

I retired as Chief Power Dispatcher for the Canal Commission and came to St. Petersburg in 1992 when I joined HONNA. For the last few years I have been HONNA Treasurer.

Dir. cand.: Carol,Claude,Craig

Carol Wellner
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Carol Wellner and her husband, Tom, moved to the Old Northeast in March 2001 from Atlanta. Since Carol works from home (as an immigration paralegal for an Atlanta law firm), her prime consideration for buying a house was to be in a location that would be a good place to live/work 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. The varied housing styles, beautiful trees, busy sidewalks, and proximity to the parks along Coffee Pot Bayou and Tampa Bay made selection of the Old Northeast a no-brainer.

Carol, Tom and their son, Steven, are all graduates of Rice University. (Steven will be returning to school in 2003 or 2004 to pursue a law degree at Georgetown.) Daughter, Leslie, is a junior and broadcasting major at Virginia Tech. Carol and Tom have 2 dogs, 1 cat and 2 parrots. Carol is an avid gardener and rug hooker. Tom enjoys kayaking in Coffee Pot and Tampa Bay, and spends a lot of time (but doesn?’t necessarily enjoy) working on home improvements.

Carol is interested in maintaining the integrity of the Old Northeast neighborhood, promoting activities that will bring the neighborhood together and enhance the lifestyle of those who live in Old Northeast.

Claude Arnould
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I was born in France and lived there until I was 24 and then I lived in various countries sometimes for professional reasons but mostly for my passion for sailing: Canada, Australia and Greece. I settled in the States in 1994 when I married my wife Jeanne.

In 1997 we moved to The Old Northeast. Since I enjoyed the neighborhood I was drawn to participate to the association?’ activities. Web site maintenance, fundraising in the Candlelight and Garden Tours and the Planning committee. I joined the board in 2002 and would like to see a broader participation of neighbors in HONNA?’s activities and a new neighborhood plan by 2003.


Craig Hyde
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Born in a small town east of Cleveland Ohio and attended Cornell University in upstate NY. Spent most of my adult life in Columbus Ohio practicing corporate law: mergers, acquisitions, takeovers; Enron kind of stuff.

After 15 years of that I decided that enough was enough and retired my suits and ties and pursued my passion: gardening and landscaping. At that time, my partner was looking for a new job and found a position in Largo - so here we are. We were drawn to the Old Northeast to feel at home. Our previous neighborhood was about 2500 households in a historic neighborhood of houses built between 1850 and 1910 called German Village. It is the largest privately funded complete historic renovation in the country.

Once we found this incredible neighborhood, I wanted to be part of what was happening, meet some ''neighbors'' and assist with activities that will accomplish the types of historic preservation we so desperately need. I would like to see the 3000 or so households that surround us become a true neighborhood with a sense of community where events become traditions and neighbors embody the true meaning of ''neighborhood.''

I am presently on the Historic Preservation Committee and the Candlelight Tour of Homes Committee. I would like to see us create some new events that will become traditions and more importantly, I would like those events to bring out neighborhood volunteers. It sure would be nice to see someone form a garden club too. For those of you who have lived here for a long time, perhaps you take it for granted that we have a 12-month growing/flowering season - but I am loving every minute of it.

Dir. cand.: Douglas, Joe, John

Douglas Haan
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My partner and I bought our ''Fixer Upper'' home in Historic Old Northeast in August 2000. Originally we planned only to spend a week or so per month here. However, as most of you know this wonderful neighborhood gets under your skin and you do not want to leave. Instead of spending a little time in St. Petersburg we were spending almost all our time here fixing up the house, meeting new people, making fantastic new friends, and getting involved. Needless to say, we gladly sold our home in Virginia and have settled here full time.

I am completing my second term as a board member. I have served as the financial coordinator for the last two neighborhood Spring Garden Strolls as well as this and last year's Holiday Home Tour. I also volunteer as a cook at St. Vincent homeless shelter. I am running for my 3rd term on the board with the desire to foster continued neighborhood involvement in our community. There is so much we all can do to help this neighborhood continue to be a place we can be proud to say we live.


Joe O'Connor
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I'm a native Floridian but lived and traveled around the country for college and career pursuits. I finally returned to this area in 1995 after establishing a career in management consulting and software development. One of the prominent reasons that my wife and I moved specifically to the Old Northeast was for its cohesive sense of neighborhood as well as it architectural diversity and amenities. Now that we have a very young daughter, for her sake I have more reasons to contribute to the neighborhood's well being.

My goals during my first year as a Board Member in 2002 were in two key areas: work to expand the membership base, and work on newsletter activities to help make the newsletter more robust. A common element for these goals is that HONNA improve its ability to communicate with membership and the neighborhood on a regular basis. I think we accomplished a lot in this regard in the past year. For 2003, I want to add a new goal of building our base of active volunteers. The more that we can expand that base, the healthier both HONNA and the neighborhood will be.


John Gee
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After 20 years in emergency medical services, I was pursuing my new career as a high school history teacher in New Mexico. However, due to my wife?’s consulting company?’s relocation, we found ourselves looking for a house in St Petersburg. Although apprehensive about urban living, my wife, Kathy, assured me that she found a neighborhood that offered us a quiet urban setting that would alleviate the culture shock for a person used to quiet surroundings - she found a house in the Old Northeast.

In the three years we have been here, we are impressed that we live in a populous county and yet our neighborhood still maintains the ambience of a small town. Since this is the case and since my wife loves our house on 21st Avenue NE, we have decided that it is imperative to join with our neighbors and work to keep this unique neighborhood?’s special nature. For this reason, I would like to be involved in HONNA.

I feel that HONNA has the type of vision that will have a positive effect on the Old Northeast?’s future. I want to work with you to continue to find ways to build the pride of place among our neighbors and work to maintain our unique neighborhood.