AVON PARK — Even though the Avon Park City Council voted 4-1 to continue its police chief search, a budget crunch anticipated after Amendment 1 passed last month has prompted city officials to consider merging the police and fire chief positions. ...more

February 13, 2008

AVON PARK — The police chief search committee has thinned out its field of applicants, leaving 14 candidates out of the 61 who sent their resumes to then-city manager C.B. Shirey to seek Avon Park's top police job. Highlands Today confirmed that the field includes at least four applicants from Highlands County and at least two from the Fort Meade area. City officials provided a list of the 14 candidates with titles for the last positions they held, but more details on the candidates were not released. Interim City Manager Sarah Adelt said the committee originally trimmed the field to 15 candidates, but one of them removed himself from consideration after he was hired elsewhere. Eight of the 14 candidates last held high-ranking positions in local police departments, with three of them being current or former police chiefs. Adelt said that all 14 entries on the "short list" have law enforcement experience. Adelt said she's hoping the committee will narrow it to "no more than five candidates, hopefully three" within the next two weeks. ...more

February 5, 2008

AVON PARK — The Avon Park City Council hired an attorney that will begin acting as the city's code enforcement magistrate by March. Avon Park Fire Department Chief Terry Feickert said that the code enforcement office already has 10 cases lined up for C. Parke Sutherland, a Bartow-based attorney who became the special magistrate. The new magistrate could dole out daily fines to people with dilapidated homes and other major offenders, an action the city previously couldn't do by taking offending property owners to court. "It just gives us a little more teeth," Feickert said. ...more

January 30, 2008

AVON PARK — Two weeks after Sarah Adelt, who continues as the city clerk, took over as the interim city manager, it doesn't seem all that different in Avon Park City Hall despite the change in city managers. The double doors still open to Sarah Adelt's desk, and she's juggling the phone speaking to a city council member while plugging numbers into her computer's planner. Despite shuffling some tasks around "the transition's going very well," she emphasized. ...more

January 15, 2008

AVON PARK — C.B. Shirey stepped down as Avon Park's city manager to become the Avon Park Executive Airport's first dedicated airport manager. According to the text of a resolution unanimously passed by the city council on Wednesday, Shirey will continue to "provide his service and expertise and allow a smooth transition to (the interim) city manager" for the next 60 days. City Clerk Sarah Adelt will assume Shirey's old duties until the city hires his replacement. Even though three of the five council members criticized Shirey's performance as a city manager in his evaluation last month, the council agreed that Shirey should take on the smaller role. Council members were a bit concerned at first about whether Adelt could run the city in the meantime. ...more

January 3, 2008

AVON PARK — If the size of a candidate's bank account is a clue in who's going to win the election, then Mayor Sharon Schuler is way ahead in the mayoral race, while James Rahenkamp has a comfortable lead in the race for Doug Eason's open council seat. According to campaign treasurer's reports submitted Oct. 19 to the city, Schuler didn't need to use a dime of her own money to raise $1,335 in her campaign. Rahenkamp, meanwhile, plunked $200 of his own money and collected more than $820 from a handful of big-dollar donators in his council bid. On the expenses, Schuler spent $1,119, almost double the amount spent by Gonzalo Lezama, the next-biggest spender for the mayoral race. Rahenkamp has held on to most of his contributions, spending a mere $428.81 as of Oct. 12. Notably, Schuler was the only candidate to use campaign mailers. Even though Paul Miller bought business cards, none of the other six candidates spent money on any other form of advertising, using their funds only for filing fees and campaign signs. Several of the other candidates bankrolled their campaigns using mostly their own money. Mayoral contestants Ed Dickerson and Gordon Marshall relied only on their own wallets to raise $641.87 and $300, respectively. ...more

October 30, 2007

AVON PARK — Early voting for Avon Park's mayor and for one council seat begins Monday, making it the first time in the city's history that it is holding early voting for local offices. Voters will pick between four mayoral candidates and four contestants for Councilman Doug Eason's seat, which he is vacating. Mayor Sharon Schuler is up against RCMA Technology Director Ed Dickerson, Local Advocacy Council Chairman Gonzalo Lezama and former Mayor Gordon Marshall. ...more

October 28, 2007

AVON PARK — Outgoing Avon Park Police Chief Frank Mercurio said at a press conference late Wednesday morning that he will turn in his badge Friday, Sept. 28. As he announced his resignation, he also accused the city of "railroading" him at July's budget meeting. ...more

September 19, 2007