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Hart winds down political career PDF Print E-mail
Around Osceola
Wednesday, 30 June 2010 00:00
By Morgan Harvey
Intern
With the meetings and the speeches winding down, Mayor Donna Hart has few regrets as her second term as St. Cloud mayor – and her political career, at least in the short term – come to an end.  
After four years in the mayor’s seat, Hart was in the running for Osceola County Commission as one of three Democrats but recently pulled out of that race, saying she needed more time with her family.
Hart has left her mark on the city. She and the council have supported the continued beautification and maintenance of the city waterfront, developed a new water plant and expanded and re-designed the sewage plant. Her proudest accomplishment, though, is the St. Cloud business incubator, which fosters the growth of small businesses into bigger businesses that are more likely to stay in Osceola County and diversify the local economy.  
This year has been a very active and rewarding year for Hart, being named the 2010 Citizen of the Year at the annual veterans dinner. The honor, however, was bittersweet.  
“I was very excited about that,” she said. “And also sad, in a way, because my dad died in January and he was a World War II vet, so that night when I got that, it was kind of a mixed feeling because … I wish my dad would've been here to see me get this award and I know he would have really been proud.”
Hart also received the Osceola County School Board Secondary Counselor of the Year award for her work at the Osceola Center for the Arts and the Professional and Technical High School. This award was particularly special to her, she said, because it came from her peers in the School District.
“I was very proud of that as well,” she said. “I work with a great group of people so it could have gone to anybody.”
After two terms of public service and a countless appearances and speeches, Hart said she has gratitude for those she served.
“I think that one of the best things was being able to really see the difference that you make when you do that kind of a job,” she said. “I would meet people in the grocery store they would come up and just talk to me about things and they would feel like they had a voice and they had someone that was listening. It’s rewarding to see that kind of reaction.”
The future mayor of the city has some big shoes to fill, but Hart has some advice for whomever takes her chair.
“I think that there are two things: one is to make sure that you have some basic values that you can always go back to and depend on and rely on. Because a lot of situations, a lot of decisions, 50 percent of people are on one side and 50 percent are on the other side. Then you have to do what you think is best and you have to have a base of right and wrong in order to do that and a value system about your community, a vision about your community. Then be a good listener and give everyone their right to be heard.”
Hart has run for numerous positions over the years. She ran unsuccessfully for the Florida House of Representatives in 2000 and for the Florida Senate in 2003. However, she did win election to the Osceola County School Board and served from 1992 to 2000.
With four successful years behind her, Hart said she is looking forward to spending more time with her family and enjoying her free time.
Although she will no longer be at the council table, she said she would, as always, be around St. Cloud.
 

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