INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Incumbents David Foster and Janice Broda, who sit on the Mosquito Control District seats 1 and 3, respectively, have been returned to their posts.
As of 9:32 p.m., with 36 of 36 precincts reporting, Foster won the District 1 seat race with 24,772 votes, beating his challengers Charlie Sembler who earned 23,400 votes, and Thomas Lureau who garnered 8,796 votes.
Broda won her District 3 seat race with 35,344 votes over her challenger Scott Stradley, who earned 17,536 votes.
“I’m hoping to continue to serve the public well,” said Foster, who has been on the board for almost eight years and who directs landscaping at John’s Island.
Sembler, who is in New Jersey helping with the Hurricane Sandy clean-up, could not be reached for comment. But his wife, Beth Sembler, said she had called Foster to congratulate him.
“Foster ran a great race and I thanked him,” she said.
For the two incumbents, Foster and Broda, the main concern is similar: First and foremost is maintaining public health so that no one in Indian River County contracts West Nile virus, encephalitis or any other mosquito-borne diseases. Both commissioners are also very concerned about keeping costs down, and with protecting the environment.
“The results show that voters were not mislead by a negative campaign of misinformation,” said Broda.
“Even if I didn’t win the election, I still won because by running, I helped mosquito control become more aware of how it spends money and look for ways to control spending,” said Stradley, an accountant and financial planner.
The challengers, on the other hand, while concerned about public safety and the environment, built their campaigns primarily on promising to cut costs at the district. They questioned the amount of district money, which comes from taxes, being spent for travel expenses, overtime pay, and medical insurance for employees and their dependents.
Scott Stradley, a local CPA and financial planner, is running against Broda, who has held her district position for 20 years. Broda writes educational software for entomology programs at the University of Florida and is well-versed in mosquito control, having helped edit the 259-page book “Florida Mosquito Control,” which was published by the state Department of Agriculture in 2009. Broda is active in a number of environmental conservation causes in Indian River County.
Her challenger, Stradley, says that the Mosquito Control District operates on a bloated budget because of unnecessary spending. His campaign slogan: “Mosquito Control is out of control.”
Stradley is quick to say, if elected, his role on the board will not be to hire scientists but to revamp budgets and spending.
While Indian River Mosquito Control is proud of its leadership role in national and international mosquito control groups and education, as well as lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C., Stradley sees it as money misspent. He has also questioned a 2000 trip on mosquito control to Australia by some of the district leadership, for which the Australian government paid over 80 percent of the costs. The district’s director was the keynote speaker at that conference.
Aside from Stradley’s trying to unseat Broda, a second seat is up for grabs. For that seat, Charles Sembler and Thomas Lureau are competing with each other and incumbent David Foster.
Foster has been a Mosquito Control District Commissioner for almost eight years. He is director of landscaping for John’s Island.
He says that in the time he has been a district commissioner, despite the rising costs of gas, insecticides and insurance, the district has managed to keep its budget within three percent of what it was when he was elected in 2005 and still do an excellent job of managing mosquitoes.
But Sembler and Lureau question the budget.
Sembler, who is currently in New Jersey helping with the Hurricane Sandy clean-up, believes the district’s budget can be whittled down considerably. As a former state legislator and county tax collector, Sembler has experience with government office. He also has experience with environmental clean-ups, having started a business to help clean up the panhandle oil spill a few years ago.
Sembler believes he can maintain public health while still cutting the district budget.
Thomas Lureau owns an Arby’s fast food restaurant in Vero Beach. He also has past experience in interstate commerce. As a businessman, he says, his main concern is “fiduciary responsibility” and keeping a tight rein on spending.
Lureau, along with Stradley and Sembler, has based his campaign on saving money, first and foremost.
In the hierarchy of concerns, incumbent Foster lists public health, curtailing spending and protecting the environment as his main concerns, in that order. Broda lists public health, protecting the environment (the lagoon) and budgeting wisely as her main concerns, in that order.
“No matter who wins, I think the district will be more concerned about spending as a result of this election,” said challenger Stradley. “So, no matter what, we can see this as a victory for Indian River County.”
