On April 15, longtime resident, hotel owner and current councilwoman Deb Gillis filed her paperwork for reelection to Islamorada seat 3 in the November election.
Gillis owns and runs Key Lantern Inn and Blue Fin Inn at MM 82.1, bayside. She served on the village council for eight years until she termed out in 2018. She served as mayor and vice mayor during her stint.
When she wasn’t on the council, Gillis spent time on the Local Planning Agency, including time as chairwoman.
In 2024, Gillis was elected back to the council after securing 2,274 votes to challenger Mary Barley’s 1,639 votes. Gillis also serves as vice chair on the Monroe County Tourism Development Council’s District Four Advisory Committee.
“I enjoy what I do, and I like doing things for my community,” she told Keys Weekly in a recent interview.
In addition to her knowledge of past issues and council decisions, Gillis said she brings common sense and calm to the council. Overall, she said, council members are working cohesively during meetings, allowing the necessary work to get done.
“The important thing is getting things done as they come up. As for things we have to do, I think we’re working hard on trying to figure out how to use the properties that the village owns.”
Gillis alluded to lands the village has owned for several years, such as the Machado property. In late January, the village issued a request for qualifications seeking proposals from qualified and experienced contractors of affordable/workforce housing on the project site, which has four vacant lots totaling 2.42 acres at 88500 Overseas Highway. The village will consider two proposals at the May 12 meeting.
Council members also are working to update the comprehensive plan with the firm Able City East. Gillis said the comprehensive plan is the blueprint for the village. It provides the residential and business community, as well as the village council, staff and other advisory boards a tool to guide decision-making and development.
“It’s a long and hard process; the preliminary results that just came out have over 200 pages of things to review and it covers everything,” she said. “It will have public hearings, LPA input, and then it needs to have council hearings. Eventually the state has to review it.”
Gillis is the fourth member of the five-person council to file for re-election ahead of a qualifying period beginning at noon on Aug. 4 and ending at noon on Aug. 11. Mayor Don Horton was the first to file in late January, followed by Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney on March 3 and councilwoman Anna Richards on March 9. Council seats currently have two-year terms. However, a charter review committee this year is recommending a question on the November ballot to extend terms to three years, and stagger them so all five seats aren’t up at the same time. If it secures approval from council to hit the ballot, and voters approve, the change wouldn’t take effect until the following election.
