Who is running for mayor and city commission seats in Anna Maria and Holmes Beach?
There are multiple races involving the cities of Anna Maria Island in Tuesday’s general election.
Holmes Beach and Anna Maria have candidates running for the mayor of each city, while Holmes Beach also has four candidates vying for two city commission seats.
Each race is designated as non-partisan with no party affiliation.
Here’s a look at the candidates:
Anna Maria
Brian Seymour and Mark Short are vying to become Anna Maria’s next mayor after current mayor Dan Murphy decided not to seek re-election. Murphy has held the mayor’s office for the past 10 years.
Short, the City of Anna Maria’s commission chair, said the biggest issue is the continued recovery from recent hurricanes.
“The walkway out to city pier was destroyed during Hurricane Milton,” Short said. “So the mission has changed dramatically in the last 40 days. It is now about recovery. It is now about ... getting the city back to what it used to be.”
Short said the focus is on getting the pier functioning, getting the water ferry service running again, getting businesses open again and getting people back into their homes.
Seymour is a former Anna Maria city commissioner. He was elected in 2016, and reelected in 2018. He resigned from the commission in 2019. He owns multiple businesses in Anna Maria, including the Anna Maria General Store.
Campaign contributions: Seymour has raised over $4,400, while Short has raised about $2,000 in campaign contributions.
Holmes Beach
Mike Roth is challenging incumbent Judy Titsworth, the city’s mayor since 2018.
Roth has lived on the island since 2002 and is a United States Army veteran.
After two hurricanes ravaged the area over two weeks, Roth said the biggest issues have changed.
He said trash pickup and cleanup of the island is a top priority.
“It’s depressing and demoralizing to come to Holmes Beach particularly,” Roth said. “When I go to Anna Maria, I look at that and I see a city government that has taken the initiative, looked out for the residents first and the rules have been abided by. But it’s been a direct action and decisiveness that I believe we’re missing in Holmes Beach.”
Roth said other top priorities include getting rid of the sand and working on the stormwater mitigation issues.
To address stormwater mitigation, Roth said he would rather use modern engineering, active pumping solutions and active erosion control.
“Learn from the Katrina situation, learn from New Orleans (on) how they’re handling erosion control and how they’re handling flooding issues post-Katrina and other areas that have been affected by storms and flooding,” Roth said.
Titsworth, the city’s mayor since 2018, has a deep connection to Holmes Beach. The city was named after her grandfather.
Like Roth, Titsworth said mitigating threats from increased storms is one of the top three issues she wants to tackle if re-elected.
However, the top two are to protect home rule and resiliency. Home rule is the right for local governments to make decisions or laws for their communities without needing state approval, according to the Florida League of Cities.
“It’s been a battle ever since I’ve been mayor,” Titsworth said. “But with the attacks that (were) happening against the city with the parking garage and the consolidation, it was just trying to educate people on what that really means.”
Consolidating the three island cities’ governments would alter how the island operates.
“If they go for consolidation, that destroys our charters,” Titsworth said. “Right now, the charters, it’s a referendum. It’s up to the people. Well, if state leaders decide to consolidate and do away with charters, then that leaves the voters out of it.”
Stormwater mitigation is a concern, too. Titsworth said she would improve stormwater infrastructure, upsize some pipes and continue protecting lower-lying areas against increased rain events with casual flooding.
Campaign contributions: Roth has raised nearly $6,900, while Titsworth has raised about $8,300 in campaign contributions.
Choosing city commissioners
In addition to selecting a mayor, Holmes Beach residents can pick two city commissioners from four candidates.
They are current commissioner Dan Diggins, city planning commissioner Steve Oelfke, Anna Maria Island Real Estate Corp. owner and agent Bill Romberger and longtime local politician Carol Whitmore.
Diggins said the top issue is the new bridges and how best to use those lanes. He also said he’s concerned about bikers and pedestrians on the island, so focusing on how best to protect them is a priority.
Oelfke said having a good relationship with Manatee County and preventing consolidation are top issues for the city commission.
Whitmore, a former county commissioner who started in politics on the Holmes Beach City Commission in the 1990s. She also served as the mayor from 1998 to 2006.
Whitmore said the biggest issues are getting communication open between the cities against outside governmental entities; dealing with the heavy tourist influx while keeping the quality of life for residents; and seeing what needs tweaking from the resolutions and ordinances the city has implemented since she left.
Besides herself, Whitmore also supports Diggins to snag one of the two seats up for grabs.
“He is a good commissioner,” Whitmore said in a text.
Campaign contributions: Diggins has raised $800, Oelfke has raised over $5,100, Romberger has raised $300 and Whitmore has raised over $7,100 in campaign contributions.
