Kelly Hayes
A second candidate has entered the race for the open District 8 seat on the St. Petersburg City Council.
Dane Kuplicki, an optometrist at a local private practice, filed to run for the seat on Monday. Kuplicki joins St. Pete teacher Richmond Floyd in the race for the seat currently held by Amy Foster, who is facing term limits. Foster has served on the Council since being elected in 2013.
A longtime resident of St. Pete, Kuplicki sees the next 10 years as crucial for the city.
“I believe that the Council will face tough decisions in the coming years,” Kuplicki said in a news release. “We need to do more as a city to serve our residents. I believe this leads to strengthening our neighborhoods and making our community thrive.”
Kuplicki’s top priorities involve affordable housing, racial and gender equity, coastal resilience, transportation and the redevelopment of Tropicana Field.
A son of two Pinellas County public school teachers, Kuplicki graduated from the University of South Florida in St. Pete, and earned his doctorate in optometry from Indiana University’s School of Optometry.
He is a member of the American Optometric Association, Florida Optometric Association and the Pinellas County Optometric Association.
In addition to his professional memberships, Kuplicki has served as a St. Pete Young Professionals volunteer and volunteer with the Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s vision bus.
He has also spent time as a volunteer clinician with the Moran Eye Center’s Global Outreach Division, participating in outreach work with the Navajo Nation.
“After college, I joined Moore Resources, a locally owned independent insurance agency,” Kuplicki said in a news release. “I really enjoyed working with individual homeowners, and small businesses here in the community. I learned a lot about what makes St. Pete so special and how we need to preserve all of the things that make it unique.”
Kuplicki is working on collecting signatures in order to qualify for the ballot by petition.
District 8 borders the west side of I-275, above south St. Pete.
