New Anna Maria mayor focuses on service
The city of Anna Maria will soon say “aloha” to Mayor Dan Murphy, who did not seek another term, bringing his 10 years of service as the city’s administrator to a close in December.
As a result of the Nov. 5 polling, Commissioner Mark Short will trade his seat on the dais for the mayor’s seat.
Short dominated the municipal vote over his opponent, former Commissioner Brian Seymour, by 60.47% of the vote — 387 votes for Short, 253 votes for Seymour.
Short is a retired accountant and originally a member of the city’s 2019 charter review committee. He was appointed to the commission later the same year and reelected without opposition in 2020 and 2022.
Short became chair of the city commission in 2022 and remains in that role until he is sworn in as mayor. The swearing in date was not set by Islander press time.
Responding to an email inquiry Nov. 8 from Bonner Joy of The Islander, Short said, “I would just like to thank the voters of the city of Anna Maria for electing me as the next mayor and to let them know I will be focused on serving them in the best way possible. Clearly our near-term focus will be on finishing our recovery efforts and getting the city back to as normal as possible.
“We will be having our next commission meeting at 2pm Nov. 14, at which time updates on the pier and the city’s clean up efforts will be discussed.”
Christopher Arendt, chair of the 2024 charter review committee, qualified to run for a seat on the commission and had no opposition.
Commissioner Gary McMullen also qualified to run. He was appointed by commissioners in January to serve the remainder of a term that expires in December.
Since Arendt and McMullen were the only candidates for the two available seats, they are each automatically elected to serve two-year terms.
The Anna Maria mayor earns a $19,600 annual salary, while commissioners receive $4,800 a year.
Both offices are two-year terms.
Anna Maria had 831 registered voters as of Oct. 7, according to the election supervisor.
The city electorate cast votes Nov. 5 at a new polling location, the Island Library in Holmes Beach.
No contest in Bradenton Beach, new commissioner
After a year of absences by Commissioner Marilyn Maro — and no explanation—the city of Bradenton Beach has a new commissioner from Ward 2.
Scott Bear, a civil engineer and Bradenton Beach resident for the past two years was the only person to qualify for the Nov. 5 municipal ballot.
Scott said his decision to run stemmed from a desire to advocate for the Ward 2 community, particularly on issues of home rule and stormwater resiliency.
The Islander has no phone number for Maro and she could not be reached for comment.
In a typical year, two seats on the commission are up for election in Bradenton Beach.
However, due to ward boundary modifications, Commissioner Ralph Cole will keep his seat until 2025. The ward changes were implemented in February, granting Cole an additional year on the commission.
The move also eliminates his accumulated term limits.
Bradenton Beach commissioners receive an annual salary of $4,800.
There were 581 registered voters in Bradenton Beach as of Oct. 7, according to the SOE.
Holmes Beach retains mayor, elects commissioner, past mayor to commission seats
Mayor Judy Titsworth narrowly held onto her seat in the Nov. 5 city election.
In what turned out to be a close race, Mayor Judy Titsworth faced off and beat political newcomer Michael “Mike” Roth by 41 votes.
Titsworth — granddaughter of the city’s namesake John Holmes Sr. — first served on the city commission and then was elected mayor in 2018 and reelected without opposition in 2020 and 2022.
Titsworth is a life-long resident of the city. Roth previously owned a vacation home in the city and resided in Tampa, but now claims his primary residence in Holmes Beach.
He spent 34 years in in the U.S. Army and the Florida National Guard.
He currently works as the West Florida area executive and corporate group manager for City National Bank.
“MJ” or Mayor Judy as she is referred to at city hall, took 51% of the vote, while Roth had 49% of votes cast.
Titsworth was winning by a greater margin in the early vote and vote by mail tallies, but Roth pulled in more votes at the polls, making it a close race, 1,012 to 987 votes.
Titsworth told The Islander Nov. 8 by phone from the Florida Keys that she would rely on the past six years accomplishments and look forward to two years fulfilling goals for the city to continue risk vulnerability assessments and seek grants for resiliency.
She remarked that she is pleased to have newly elected friends on the county board, and that she’s relieved that the threat posed by Kevin Van Ostenbridge, who lost his race for the at-large county seat won by Commissioner George Kruse, is gone.
Also, four candidates competed for two spots on the Holmes Beach city commission.
While Greg Kerchner did not seek reelection, Dan Diggins — who was elected to the commission in 2022 — earned enough votes to take a second term on the board.
Diggins said he is “looking forward to working with Carol Whitmore” and thanked everyone for taking time to vote.
The two seats, each for two-year terms, went to the two highest votegetters.
Whitmore, a former city commissioner and mayor, as well as a former county commissioner, had the most votes — 1,121 to Diggins 852, with planning commissioner Steven Oelfke taking 598 votes and Clean Water Committee member Bill Romberger taking 322 on Election Day.
No date had been set for a swearing-in ceremony by press time for The Islander.
Due to damages following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the election supervisor changed the polling location for Holmes Beach to the Island Library, 5701 Marina Drive.
At the close of registration for the Nov. 7 election, Oct. 7, Holmes Beach had 2,452 voters, according to the SOE.