The Anna Maria City Commission is whole again.
City commissioners voted Jan. 26 to appoint resident Charles “Charlie” Salem, a newcomer to politics in Anna Maria, to fill a commission seat left empty by Carol Carter late last year.
Carter vacated the seat in December for a move to Sarasota County after serving nine years on the board and three as chair.
Salem and Brian Seymour applied to fill the vacancy.
Salem moved to Anna Maria with his husband in 2017, became a board member of the Center of Anna Maria Island in 2019 and a member of the city’s planning and zoning board in 2021.
He most recently worked in Washington, D.C., as Microsoft’s managing director of public policy.
He’s no newcomer to politics, as he also spent years working with elected officials, including as special counsel in Tallahassee for the Florida Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget in 1991 and as chief of staff and legislative director for then-U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Indiana, in D.C. 1999-2010.
Seymour has spent 14 years in Anna Maria and owns the Anna Maria General Store, 503 Pine Ave., as well as operates the City Pier Grill and Bait Shop.
Seymour also spent time in a leadership role on the city commission. He was first elected to the board in 2016, became chair in 2018 and served in that role until he resigned for personal reasons in August 2019.
Salem and Seymour were the first candidates to go through the city’s new appointment process, which Mayor Dan Murphy established to increase public involvement and awareness.
The city previously filled commission vacancies by allowing applicants to introduce themselves with five-minute speeches, then voting to appoint a new commissioner at the same meeting.
The new process involved collecting questions from the public, then holding a workshop for the candidates to introduce themselves and answer the questions and, lastly, a commission meeting to vote on a winner.
Both candidates attended the Jan. 19 public workshop and answered all 24 questions collected by the city — leaving the four sitting commissioners to make their decisions at the Jan. 26 meeting.
Salem and Seymour were given a chance ahead of the Jan. 26 vote to make their final cases for the job.
Seymour said regardless of the outcome, he would remain involved with the city, but was looking forward to bringing his perspective back to the commission.
Salem said he appreciated the opportunity and the city’s new appointment process, and wanted to be a help to the city whether he won or not.
Commissioners Jonathan Crane, Robert Kingan, Deanie Sebring and Mark Short were asked to rank Salem and Seymour as their first and second preferences for the seat.
Crane, Kingan and Sebring ranked Salem their top choice.
Short ranked Seymour as his first choice.
And the appointment went to Salem.
Carter’s term, which Salem now holds, expires November 2023 — at which point Salem said he plans to run for election.
Murphy asked for suggestions regarding any changes to the new appointment process.
Salem, Short and Sebring voiced support for the process but Salem suggested allowing candidates to take live questions from the public at the workshop instead of only precollected questions.
With the commission whole again, Murphy also announced new liaison assignments, including:
- Crane: Anna Maria City Pier;
- Kingan: Island Players;
- Salem: Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce;
- Sebring: Anna Maria Island Historical Society;
- Short: Center of Anna Maria Island and the ManaSota League of Cities.
There was no public comment.
The commission will meet next at 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, at city hall, 10005 Gulf Drive.
Directions to attend via Zoom can be found at cityofannamaria.com.