Kolojeski
McMullen
Morgan-Johnson
Olesen
Stephen
Five residents will have a shot at two vacant seats on the Anna Maria City Commission.
Despite one withdrawal, five applicants remained in the running to succeed Commissioners Robert Kingan and Deanie Sebring at the city’s Dec. 15 deadline, according to city clerk LeAnne Addy.
Sebring vacated her seat and moved away in October. Her successor will serve the remainder of her term, which expires in December 2024.
Meanwhile, no one qualified to run in November for the seat that was occupied by Kingan, who chose not to run for a second term.
His successor will step into a full two-year term, since Kingan’s expired this month.
Applicants for their vacant seats include:
- John Kolojeski;
- Gary McMullen;
- Kathleen Morgan-Johnson;
- Pat Olesen;
- Susan Stephen.
Another applicant, Sharon Wisniewski, submitted a letter of withdrawal Dec. 9.
“I wish to pull my application for a commissioner position with the city of Anna Maria. I was given another position that will require more time than anticipated and I have chosen to focus my efforts on that opportunity,” Wisniewski wrote.
Now that the application window has closed, the next deadline in the commission appointment process will be Wednesday, Dec. 27, the final day for the public to submit forum questions.
The questions will be provided to applicants by Friday, Dec. 29, so they have time to prepare before the forum at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, at city hall, 10005 Gulf Drive.
The forum was set to be similar to a process used in January to appoint Commissioner Charles Salem, with the addition of live questions, but it may be streamlined due to the number of applicants.
City commissioners reached consensus Dec. 7 to authorize Mayor Dan Murphy to revise the forum process to keep the meeting from stretching past a reasonable time limit.
The existing commission — which will consist of three members by Jan. 11 — will vote to appoint two new members at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25, also at city hall.
The applicant with the most votes will choose between the one- and two-year terms, leaving the other slot to the applicant with the second-most votes.