A general election will be held on Nov. 5 and both Indialantic and Melbourne Beach have seats up for a vote.
Indialantic
Indialantic’s deadline for candidates to submit a qualifying packet isn’t until Friday, so the question of who will make a run for town council is still uncertain.
Up for grabs are two, two-year term seats currently held by Councilmen Randy Greer and Dick Dunn.
Neither plans to seek re-election.
“It has been an honor to serve on the Indialantic town council for the last six years,” said Dunn. “My thanks to the citizens of Indialantic for all your support.”
During his time on the council, Dunn’s said his goal was ensuring the town operated with fiscal responsibility. Among his accomplishments, he helped pass an ordinance requiring the town to maintain at least two months in reserve funds to address damage from natural disasters, and he was also instrumental in getting a plan passed that would help repair and replace the town’s 50-year-old storm drainage infrastructure.
“The time has come to pass the torch,” Dunn said. “I’m honored to have represented and served the residents of this wonderful community.”
Dunn said he’d like to see the torch go to Doug Wright, an engineer for Harris Corp., who he said is planning a run for council. Wright currently serves as the Committee Chair on the Board of Adjustments.
As for Greer, who served on the Zoning and Planning Board for 10 years, followed by nine years on town council, he’s also decided not to seek re-election.
“A project that I have been working on is the construction of a wheelchair accessible kayak launching ramp by the pier to provide safe access to the lagoon for paddle sports,” Greer said. “It will not happen for a couple years, but I will feel a great deal of satisfaction seeing people safely launch kayaks and paddleboards, and having it available to the Wounded Warriors.”
On Aug. 16, with one week left to go in the qualifying period, Town Clerk Rebekah Raddon said four people had picked up a packet – but none had been turned in yet.
Potential candidates have until noon Friday to turn in a qualifying packet.
Melbourne Beach
Meanwhile to the south, the town of Melbourne Beach is gearing up for a three-way race with two incumbents and one newcomer on the ballot vying for two, three-year-term commission seats. After a close race last year required a machine recount, this year’s qualifying period ended Aug. 16.
Vice Mayor Wyatt Hoover and Commissioner Corey Runte will run for re-election. They will be joined on the ballot by Kim Atkinson-Cowles, a senior agent with Bankers Life and Casualty in Melbourne, who also currently serves on the Melbourne Beach Code Enforcement Board.
In the last election, Runte, who is the director of preconstruction at Certified General Contractors in Melbourne, won a one-year term in the seat left open after former vice mayor Tom Davis resigned and Hoover took on the role of vice mayor.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the commission thus far and have provided a strong skillset that was previously missing from the commission for a long time,” Runte said.
“I have been able to provide professional consulting within our infrastructure improvements, construction projects, civil engineering and planning, and especially a long-term sustainability plan that is affordable and makes sense.”
In his time on the commission, Hoover has worked with the Environmental Advisory Board to produce a Sustainability Action Plan for the town and secured a civil engineering/sustainability double major from Florida Tech as an intern to assist with the project, which includes investigating solutions to address challenges in both stormwater and pedestrian infrastructure. He is a marine biologist, currently managing the River Oak Dental practice in Palm Bay, which he owns along with his wife, Dr. Lilly Marshall.
Commissioner Steve Walters is not up for re-election but says there are two major issues in the next 12 months residents should consider when they vote.
“The first is the volunteer fire department has requested a near doubling of their budget so they can hire two additional employees full time and have a paid/volunteer fire department,” Walters said.
“The second issue is whether or not the town commission can increase taxes by more than the 10 percent of the roll-back rate without a vote of the taxpayers.”
In addition to the municipal election, a referendum will also be held with two questions for voters. The first involves placing the town clerk under the supervision of the town manager, and the second amends the town charter to make any references to the town manager gender neutral.
