An empty seat on the Anna Maria City Commission was filled after a three-month vacancy.
Commissioners voted Dec. 3 to appoint Doris “Deanie” Sebring to a two-year term. She took the seat vacated in August by Commissioner Amy Tripp.
Commissioners Jonathan Crane, Joe Muscatello and Mark Short ranked Sebring as the top candidate over Sharon Wisniewski, the other candidate for the seat.
Commission Chair Carol Carter ranked Wisniewski over Sebring.
Tripp qualified to run for reelection without opposition earlier this year, but shortly after she announced she was moving to North Carolina and in August resigned from the commission.
Commissioners agreed to leave Tripp’s seat open until her term expired in November, allowing them to appoint a two-year successor.
Both applicants for the seat, Sebring and Wisniewski, attended the meeting and were given five minutes to address the commission before voting began.
Mayor Dan Murphy drew a name from a bowl to determine who would speak first, and Sebring won the draw.
A Louisiana native, Sebring told commissioners of her experience in the business world as general manager of an auto dealership and creator of a product to help reunite people with their lost keys.
She also wrote a children’s book, “Skip and Deanie’s Flying Bike Trip,” which is based on the imaginary adventures of herself and her real-life diabetic alert dog.
Sebring said Skip, her dog when she wrote the book, had died, and she was carrying a new diabetic alert dog, Humphrey, in a sling across her chest.
She said her priorities as commissioner would be to maintain the city’s home rule in regulating short-term vacation rentals and improving pedestrian and traffic safety.
“I have no hidden agenda or political interests other than serving the community,” Sebring said. “And I love this island just as much as anyone here in this room.”
Wisniewski told the commission she and her husband served in the U.S. military and moved to Anna Maria in 2015.
She said she is qualified to serve as commissioner as a former officer in the military, where she developed skills and gained a wide breadth of knowledge to fulfill her duties.
Wisniewski also noted she is personally invested in the business community through her daughter, who is associated with a Pine Avenue business, Pizza Social.
She added that she hadn’t considered joining the commission until there was an unexpected absence.
“When I saw there was a need,” Wisniewski said, that’s what moved me to “step up to the plate.”
After the candidates finished their remarks, Anna Maria resident Dusty Crane spoke in support of Sebring during public comment.
“She is an outstanding individual,” Crane said.
The appointment process included a ranking system for each of the candidates.
Sebring won the point ranking.
“I’m excited about the future of the city and helping play a role in it,” Sebring told The Islander after the meeting.
In other matters, Mayor Dan Murphy and Commissioner Mark Short were sworn in at the Dec. 3 meeting, having won reelection without opposition.
Carol Carter was reinstated as commission chair and Short became deputy chair.
The next scheduled commission meeting will be at noon Jan. 21, at city hall, 10005 Gulf Drive.
