DUNEDIN — The two candidates seeking an open seat on the Dunedin City Commission made their case to voters at an Oct. 1 League of Women Voters forum, each promising steady fiscal leadership and better storm preparedness.
Janice C. Bennett, the city’s former director of utilities and engineering, faces Mark Ossian, a local attorney and certified public accountant, for Seat 4 in the Nov. 3 election. Commissioner Jeff Gow, who holds the seat, cannot run again because of term limits.
Speaking at the Hale Senior Center, Ossian said commissioners are entrusted with setting the annual budget, deciding how tax dollars are spent, keeping essential services running and making sure the city is ready for emergencies like the recent hurricanes.
“I’m running to be your city commissioner because I believe Dunedin needs leadership that is willing to make difficult decisions, ask tough questions and put the long-term interests of the city ahead of short-term politics,” he said.
He said commission decisions affect what residents pay, how the city grows, how it manages infrastructure and how it protects its neighborhoods and character. “These responsibilities cannot be taken lightly,” he said.
Ossian said his 40 years as an attorney and CPA have trained him in financial matters and conflict resolution.
“My background as an attorney and CPA has taught me to examine facts, understand the numbers, challenge assumptions and think about the consequences before making a decision,” he said. “I also believe accountability matters. Residents deserve to know how decisions are made, why they are made and who is willing to stand behind them. I’m not running simply to occupy a seat.”
He pledged to support firefighters, paramedics and law enforcement, to protect the city’s parks, recreation facilities and library, and to keep an open mind when residents bring him concerns.
A Dunedin native, Ossian was born at Mease Hospital and attended San Jose Elementary, Dunedin Middle and Dunedin High schools, according to his campaign website. His family lived in a neighborhood north of Dunedin High that his maternal grandfather developed on land that was once his orange groves.
Bennett opened on a different note.
“I am not running to fix Dunedin,” she said. “Dunedin is a great place to live, work and visit. I’m running to protect the quality of life that we’ve all come to love and expect here in Dunedin, especially in the face of uncertain fiscal challenges ahead.”
A professional engineer and Leadership Pinellas graduate, Bennett has spent 25 years in engineering, utilities and public works for local governments, including Safety Harbor, Oldsmar, Clearwater and Pinellas County. She has worked for Dunedin three separate times, totaling eight years.
“The reason I keep coming back is because Dunedin isn’t just another job to me, it’s home,” she said.
She came out of retirement in 2023 to become the city’s director of utilities and engineering, then retired again in January.
Bennett said she grew concerned in recent months about the affordability and economic challenges facing the city and asked herself who could guide Dunedin through the next few years while keeping it affordable for young families, frontline workers and retirees on fixed incomes, and who would speak up for the natural environment.
She started as a licensed practical nurse at 18 and kept nursing while working her way through college, where she found her calling in environmental engineering. Both professions, she noted, require licensure and a code of ethics meant to protect the public.
“I took a medical oath to do no harm, as well as an engineering oath to provide service before self-interest and to put the public good above all else,” she said. “These are creeds I live by every day.”
She said the election comes down to who can make the hard choices ahead: how to balance a budget with shrinking resources and how to prepare Dunedin for the next big storm and for sea level rise.
“I think you will agree with me that my training, my experience and my track record of leading efficient operations and managing budgets make me the best candidate,” she said.
Born and raised in Pinellas County, Bennett has lived in Dunedin since 1998. She has been endorsed by the Suncoast Sierra Club and the Suncoast Tampa Association of Realtors.