Photo: Village of Royal Palm Beach
With the Palm Beach County municipal elections coming in eight days, our Election Spotlight is on one of two races in the Village of Royal Palm Beach.
The mayoral race was necessitated by the untimely death of longtime Mayor Fred Pinto last year. We'll focus on that race tomorrow.
This morning, we'll hear from the three candidates running for the open Group 3 seat on the Village Council.
Steve Avila ran for mayor last year in what he called a 'David versus Goliath battle." He says he captured 40 percent of the vote against Pinto, who spent 20 years on the Council, eight as mayor. So why isn't he running for that seat again?
"I felt that there were candidates that were much more experienced this time around who would be better suited for mayor."
The college admissions consultant says Royal Palm Beach needs term limits.
"There's always been this feeling that every two years Royal Palm Beach has a referendum on term limits...if you like a candidate, then you vote for them. But that entrenches incumbents because no one is going to want to run against them and they have the money of developers and they have the money of special interests."
Also a candidate in this race, the widow of the late Mayor Fred Pinto. Donielle Pinto she wants to serve on the Council to finish some of the projects that her husband began.
"He had so much ambition and he had some foresight for what he believed the Village could thrive and build into. As you know, we have the new Village Hall and that took some time to just assess and plan and just to...it took all he had to just finish the first phase of the reconstruction."
Pinto owns a traveling caregiver business and wants the Village to do more to help those who need mental health services.
Sylvia Sharps ran twice unsuccessfully for the County Commission.
She's an ordained minister, founder of a nonprofit that assists seniors and domestic violence victims and previously worked for the campaigns of several state and federal politicians including former Florida Congresswoman Corrine Brown.
She trademarked the title of "The Peopletician" because public servants should serve the people and not themselves.
Sharps talks about one of her biggest concerns that she'd like to help fix in the community.
"Oh my God, traffic has gotten so bad! It is a struggle. People take Royal Palm Beach Boulevard as a shortcut and that started when we got the influx of people moving into Florida. The 441 extension would be a great project to finish. I would love to be a part of making sure that happens."
There have been attempts for years to extend U.S. 441 from Okeechobee Boulevard to Northlake Boulevard, but the City of West Palm Beach has fought it, citing environmental concerns.
Other candidates also voice concerns about traffic, and other issues within the Village of Royal Palm Beach.