It's Arthur Byrnes versus Debra Snow in the Holly Hill City Commission District 1 race
HOLLY HILL — The city's District 1 voters will choose between Debra Snow and Arthur Byrnes in the nonpartisan Aug. 20 Holly Hill City Commission race. While that's a primary race day in other Volusia County cities, it's the general election for Holly Hill.
Snow is running for elected office for the first time, while Byrnes has served on the Holly Hill City Commission for a total of 22 years.
Snow is originally from Alabama, and she has lived in several large cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tucson, Charlotte and Atlanta. She moved to Holly Hill 10 years ago, moved back to Atlanta for a while to care for someone fighting cancer, and then returned to Holly Hill two years ago.
Byrnes has lived in Holly Hill since he was 11 years old. His grandfather used to manage a motel on Ridgewood Avenue.
District 1 runs between Mason Avenue and Sixth Street, and extends to the western edge of Nova Road.
Here's a little more about the two candidates vying to serve District 1 for the next four years.
Meet Arthur Byrnes
Age: 68
Occupation: Semi-retired real estate photographer and medical courier.
Political experience: He was the Holly Hill City Commission District 1 representative from 1987 through 2005. Byrnes served on the Holly Hill City Commission again from 2014 through 2018.
What are your top three priorities?
1. "Public safety. I want to make sure the police and fire departments are properly funded and managed."
2. "Infrastructure. Make sure roads and sidewalks are not neglected."
3. "Listen to the residents. Find out what they want in their neighborhoods. I want to be a good representative to make sure people's problems are heard by City Hall."
Three more questions:
Why are you running? "I think that it's important to have someone who understands government, has served on committees and boards, and can be a good representative to the people."
What's your dream for Holly Hill? "My dream for Holly Hill is to see us as a city with lower taxes, easy access for businesses, and full access for the citizens."
What is something about your community you treasure and aim to protect? "I treasure our parks in Holly Hill. Some of them are tucked away, and I want them to remain as parks ... so we continue to have a part of Holly Hill that's natural."
Meet Debra Snow
Age: 66
Occupation: Real estate agent
Political experience: First run for an elected position. She has served on the Holly Hill Firefighters Pension Fund Board.
What are your top three priorities?
1. Fully educate employees of the Holly Hill Police Department on what they can and can't do in the course of their jobs.
2. Increase the effectiveness of the education students are receiving at Holly Hill School, and improve the children's reading and math scores.
3. Improve code enforcement in Holly Hill.
Three more questions:
What is a life accomplishment that illuminates the kind of officeholder you would be? "I've had a successful career in the printing and packaging industry, and I always looked ahead. How can I make something better for customers? How can I be innovative?"
What is something about your community you treasure and aim to protect? "The people in this community. So many have a long history of generations with this city. You can't buy that. Places like Atlanta are so transient."
What is something you would seek to change if you're elected? "The ability of people to get involved in the city. We need to create a better pathway to get young people on the City Commission. I want to see 30- and 40-year-olds. If we don't get younger people involved, we can't complain about their apathy."
You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Holly Hill City Commission District 1 candidates square off Aug. 20
