Anna Maria Mayor Mark Short reached out to The Islander by email Jan. 5 to share information with the newspaper’s readers on the withdrawal of one of two candidates for an open commission seat that was to be decided this month by the four seated commissioners.
Short stated: “Brian Seymour has withdrawn from being considered for the open city commissioner position.
“We will still hold our 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7, candidate forum to allow John Lynch, the other candidate, the opportunity to address any questions submitted.
“The commission is then expected to vote at the Thursday, Jan. 9, meeting on adding Mr. Lynch to the commission.”
In his letter, which can be read in full at islander.org, Seymour said that due to the priorities for the commission of replacing the Anna Maria City Pier and finalizing the “Reimagining Pine Avenue” project, for which another commissioner already recuses, and the likelihood he would have to recuse from voting as a tenant on the pier — and as a business owner on Pine Aveune — “I think all five commissioners should have have a vote on the various stages of the pier rebuild.”
Lynch shared his vision and priorities with The Islander Jan. 5: Vision: Anna Maria continues to grow as a thriving, friendly, healthy, safe and environmentally sustainable community that is a wonderful place to live, do business and entertain visitors. Anna Maria cares about our people, business owners and guests and balance our plans to serve these stakeholders. Anna Maria is the beautiful endpoint destination where people want to live , vacation and prosper.
Priorities:
- Develop and implement plans that continue to improve the safety and security of our full-time residents.
- Fiscal Rrudence inside the framework of a long- and short-term capital and financial plan. Ensure we are efficient with our resources and leverage city and other external resources and expertise to successfully implement projects on budget and on time. We have a number of projects on the docket and the impact of recent weather events have made this an even greater priority.
- Continue to improve and maintain robust communications so we are proactive and collaborative and have the input of stakeholders in decisions to be made.
- Build productive and collaborative relationships with the surrounding city, county and state agencies to help achieve our goals while maintaining the independence to chart our own future.
- Maintain our independence as a city. I would oppose proposed city consolidations or any plan to dissolve cities. We, of course, would look to gain efficiencies and save taxpayer money where possible, but not at the risk of losing our independence.
— Bonner Joy