Sebastian, Vero Beach election winners plotting their vision for new city council terms
Tuesday's election is behind them, and the winners in the Sebastian and Vero Beach city council races already are looking ahead to tackling their priorities in their new terms.
Sebastian voters returned three incumbents to office: Fred Jones, Chris Nunn and Bob McPartlan. In Vero Beach, voters reelected John Cotugno and elected newcomer Taylor Dingle, the youngest person ever to serve on the council.
Overall voter turnout was 21.3%, according to the Supervisor of Elections Office.
Full results: Get all the results from Vero Beach, Sebastian city council elections
"We have a new city manager, a new city attorney and we are hiring a new community development manager," said Jones, who currently serves as mayor. "It's not going to be easy and there is a lot to be done, but we are ready."
Work to be done
For example, a proposed storm water master plan is expected to be presented to the City Council in December, Jones said.
"It's a big document," he said. "We are going to be poring over it for the next month until it's ready."
Heavy flooding after rain has plagued residents, and the new plan aims to mitigate the problem. The runoff ultimately washes pollutants into the Indian River Lagoon.
The City Council already has begun working on septic-to-sewer conversions, but it faces an uphill battle.
"We are already working directly with the County Commission. They are going to have to lead the way since they are the service provider," said Jones. "But we're talking to (state) Rep. Toby Overdorf (R-Palm City), who sponsored the bill (requiring conversions), and the people we need to speak with in order to figure out how to get this done."
Jones has an idea for how to further protect the lagoon.
"My big push is trying to restore oyster mats so they can aid in filtering the water coming into the lagoon," said Jones. "We're going to get some biodegradable substrate, rather than the plastics that we have used, before so the oysters can adhere and continue to grow. One oyster can filter 50 gallons of water per day."
Nunn wants to address an issue Sebastian has yet to deal with: affordable housing.
"Sebastian needs to be for every person, whether that is working class or wealthy," he said. "School teachers and firefighters need to be able to live here as well. To do that we need to come together as one community."
"There is definitely a need for affordable housing," Jones agreed. "We are looking into offering incentives to developers so that they come in and create attainable housing."
Swearing in of the reelected councilmembers as well as mayoral selection will be 6 p.m. Nov. 15 at City Hall.
In Vero Beach, the youngest council member ever
Vero Beach voters indicated they wanted new ideas with the election of Taylor Dingle. At 27, Dingle becomes the youngest ever elected to the City Council.
Dingle will be sworn into office Nov. 22. He turns 28 the next day.
“It’s a new day in Vero Beach,” said Dingle.
Dingle sees his election as a passing of the torch to a new generation. He spent time Election Day texting supporters, mostly his age, to go to the polls.
He also has a team of people — some his age, some younger — ready to be appointed to city boards and commissions. He hopes to bring in people who have the qualifications and background to serve, he said.
He wants to encourage younger people to get involved in the city, including trying to push for afternoon City Council meetings. He also wants later meetings to accommodate working people when the council discusses hot topics such as the Three Corners and Twin Pairs.
“So we have more voices and more ideas,” he said.
The City Council has made a “noble effort” to get younger people involved over the years, he said. And there’s a number of variables that have to be taken into consideration, including city staff who have to attend late meetings after beginning their day at 7 a.m., he said.
While the city likely always will have an older demographic, Dingle said, more families and younger people are moving here.
“Vero Beach is changing in a way,” said Dingle, who moved to Vero Beach in 2017. “We’re seeing a lot of newer people coming in, and younger people.”
But Dingle wants to be known for more than being the youngest on the dais. He wants to focus on his actions, not his age.
Of immediate concern is moving forward with the Three Corners project at 17th Street and Indian River Boulevard, the site of the former city power plant. Developer proposals are due in mid-December. Voters last year approved a master plan for the project that includes building a hotel, marina, restaurants and shops on the 38 acres.
Both Mayor John Cotugno, who voters returned Tuesday to his second term, and Dingle said they wanted to see the project move forward.
Cotugno said voters seemed to like his willingness to talk to people, even if their ideas were different from his own. He wants to continue that practice of being accessible and working with residents.
Dingle said people he talked with also are anxious to get shovels in the ground at Three Corners.
Development of downtown Vero Beach and discussion over whether to request the Twin Pairs be narrowed to accommodate a parking lane also is something that also needs to be addressed, Cotugno and Dingle said.
For Cotugno, the revitalization of downtown is a “pet project” and a priority, he said. Community workshops to get people involved and solicit input will be needed quickly. The issue of changing zoning and density in the downtown will be decided by referendum, he said.
More: Sebastian voters reelect Jones, Nunn, McPartlan to City Council seats
More: Vero Beach voters return John Cotugno to City Council, elect Taylor Dingle
Dingle opposes narrowing the Twin Pairs, a feeling he says was validated by the informal poll taken while knocking on doors during the campaign. Out of the more than 2,000 doors he knocked on, few supported narrowing the road, he said.
“The people have spoken,” he said. Most said they opposed the idea, something he plans to bring up during any future discussions of the issue.
How did Election Day go?
"I think this election went very well," said county Supervisor of Elections Leslie Swan. "Especially since we were debuting our electric poll books and on-demand printers."
"We were a beta-test county for the new software program. We got into it early and worked out any problems we thought we might have. I feel like we're a step ahead of a lot of other counties using this software for the upcoming 2024 election cycle because that is going to be a very, very different election."
Colleen Wixon is the education reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers. Contact her at Colleen.Wixon@TCPalm.com.
Nick Slater is TCPalm’s Indian River County Watchdog reporter. You can reach him at Nick.Slater@tcpalm.com and 224-830-2875.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: City council winners in Sebastian, Vero Beach plan for new terms in office
