Update:
VERO BEACH — With all four city precincts plus mail-in ballots now reported, three-time candidate John Cotugno was the top vote getter and Vice-Mayor Rey Neville came in a close second place to hang onto his council seat for another two years.
Shortly after polls closed when only the absentee ballot tally was released, Neville was in the top spot with Cotugno second, but then Cotugno caught up and passed Neville once the election day votes were counted.
Cotugno got 1,217 votes or 24.22 percent to win a council seat.
Neville got 1,059 votes or 20.2 percent to hold his council seat.
Tracey Zudans came in third with 982 votes or 18.73 percent.
Ken Daige took fourth place with 15.32 percent.
Newcomer Taylor Dingle, and former Vero councilmen Charlie Wilson and Brian Heady each got less than 10 percent of the vote.
Seven candidates competed for two seats — one held by Neville and one left open by the departure of Councilmam Dick Winger, who was selected in March to serve out the remainder of Councilman Joe Graves’ term and did not run for re-election.
Cotugno will join Mayor Robbie Brackett, Vice Mayor Neville, Councilwoman Honey Minuse and Councilman Bob McCabe on Nov. 15 when the new members will be sworn in and get briefed on Florida’s open meetings and open records laws.
The council will also choose a mayor and vice mayor to serve until the November 2022 election.
The citywide referendum on the ballot to approve a land lease with Indian River County for a communications tower passed easily with 78.58 percent of Vero voters saying “yes” to the deal, which will also transfer parcels of oceanfront land at South Beach Park from the county to the city.
VERO BEACH — With only the mail-in ballots being counted in the Vero Beach City Council race so far, incumbent Vice Mayor Rey Neville and challenger John Cotugno are in the lead in the seven-person race for two seats.
As of this preliminary report, Neville has 22.32 percent of the early vote, with Cotugno close behind at 21.96 percent.
In third place in these preliminary returns is Tracey Zudans with 17.61 percent of the vote, followed by Ken Daige with 16.6 percent of the vote, Charlie Wilson with 9.28 percent of the vote, Taylor Dingle with 6.86 percent and Brian Heady rounding out the field with 5.36 percent of the absentee vote.
The two top vote-getters when all the ballots are counted will win a two-year term on the council. They will join Mayor Robbie Brackett, Councilwoman Honey Minuse and Councilman Bob McCabe on Nov. 15 when the new members will be sworn in and get briefed on Florida’s open meetings and open records laws.
Councilman Dick Winger, who was appointed in March to serve out the remainder of Councilman Joe Graves’ term, did not run for re-election.
The citywide referendum on the ballot to approve a land lease with Indian River County for a communications tower looks like it will pass, with 79.71 percent of absentee voters saying “yes” to the deal, which would also transfer parcels of oceanfront land at South Beach Park from the county to the city.
There are four city precincts yet to report.
