Photo: Adrienne Bresnahan / Moment / Getty Images
The Royal Palm Beach mayoral election is in our Election Spotlight this morning.
After longtime Mayor Fred Pinto passed away last fall, the Village Council appointed Jeff Hmara into the mayoral seat until the election. Now Hmara wants voters to put him in that seat to complete the remaining year of Pinto's term.
The retired U.S. Army colonel has worked in executive positions with federal agencies such as the FAA, NOAA and TSA.
Why he believes he's the best choice.
"The experience that I brought from my previous life and activities that I was involved in within the government. I do understand government. I understand how it works. I understand how it sometimes fails and what we can do to do a better job. So I bring that experience as well as the 12 years of experience on (the) Council where I've been actively involved in (the) Transporation Planning Agency, Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council..."
Hmara was first elected to the council in 2012 and has served as vice mayor four times.
Candidate Justin K. Plaza started a successful IT company at the age of 19 and has been operating it for over two decades.
He is pitching what he calls the "60-40 Platform" to give residents more of a say in shaping the future of Royal Palm Beach.
"I'm trying to release a platform that engages the entire community. As you know, they'll knock down a forest, put up 60-70 houses. Nobody wants it yet it still gets approved. So I'm going to develop a platform around that that gives every community member a voice as the things come on line and as they're focused on and hopefully they don't happen."
Vice Mayor Selena Samios has been on the Council for eight years and worked in the sports and entertainment field, including positions with the Marlins and Panthers and is currently the Executvie Director of the Palm Beach County Women's Chamber of Commerce.
Samios touts her priorities on the Council.
"I have fought not to have so many multi-family home units, but single family homes. I've also fought for our green spaces to make sure that when developers come in that they just can't buy out of the portion where they want to alleviate either wetlands or environmental areas throughout the village."
You can hear from all three candidates on several issues.
The municipal elections are one week from today, on March 11.