The race to sit on the Islamorada village council saw only two contests not long ago. That’s since changed, however, with three local residents recently stepping in to the race.
Now, all village council seats will see a challenge this November.
Among the candidates who have entered the race is Cheryl Meads, former councilwoman and current at-large member of the South Florida Water Management District governing board. Meads stepped away from the dais early in the year when she was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to serve on the board. Meads had been on the dais since 2016. Chris Sante is currently filling out the rest of her term, but he’s not running for reelection.
“I love this community, and this is my home,” she said. “I serve with the pleasure of nothing to personally gain but the gratification to give back. I stand up during difficult issues, and it’s my desire to be transparent and treat everyone fairly.”
Asked if she would still remain on the SFWMD if elected to the dais, she said, “yes, I will continue to serve on the SFWMD Governing Board.”
Meads is vying for seat 2 against Mark Gregg, who’s a former councilman, mayor and vice mayor. He’s a current member of the Local Planning Agency and he’s served on the achievable housing committee.
“I’m going to campaign hard and keep it above the board and do the best I can,” Gregg said in response to the game plan now that the race is contested. “Hopefully the best person will win, which I think that will be me.”
In the seat 3 race, Joseph “Buddy” Pinder is challenging Jenny Bell-Thomson. Henry Rosenthal also entered the race recently to challenge incumbent and current Vice Mayor Ken Davis in seat 4. The Weekly reached out to Pinder and Rosenthal for comment but didn’t get a response by press time.
Bell-Thomson said the biggest change now is the money raising, which she didn’t need to do before.
“’I’ve been working this last week getting everything together,” she said. “I’m almost finished with my new Facebook page, and the signs ready to go.”
Bell-Thomson added that she welcomes Pinder’s challenge. “It’s good for the voters. Everybody needs the choice,” she said.
Commenting on the challenge for seat 4, Davis said he’s busted his tail the last two years, and “the people of Islamorada know and see it.”
The race for seat 1 will see a contest between Frank Lavin and Pete Bacheler, while seat 5 has Larry Zettwoch squaring off against David Webb.
