AVON PARK — The Avon Park City Council decided to form a seven-member committee to recommend a new police chief from the 61 applications the city received. In creating the committee, the council decided to fill the police chief's position before they found a new city manager, using the committee's recommendations to help interim City Manager Sarah Adelt pick out Frank Mercurio's successor. The city has not begun advertising for the city manager's position. ...more

January 16, 2008

AVON PARK — It has been more than a year since then-mayor Tom Macklin brought up an ordinance to penalize landlords for renting to illegal immigrants. Though it failed in June 2006, it mobilized several businesses and most of the Hispanic community, and for better or worse, it changed many residents' views of their city and the actions of City Hall, even to this day. "They're (the customers) more careful now, because they know they're after them," said Angel Del Valle, who worked at the Broken Spoke Flea Market during the unfolding controversy last year. He now owns the store, and had several Hispanic customers browsing the shelves when interviewed Wednesday afternoon. "They try not to be too obvious." Though Macklin was the mayor of Avon Park for six years, most people only remember him for his final months, when he brought the Illegal Immigration Relief Act to the council chambers. He earned a large group of detractors, but also earned the support of those like James Geer, who wrote in a 2006 letter to the editor that "the federal government is not doing its job." ...more

November 4, 2007

AVON PARK — The police chief's position was frozen until the council voted unanimously to thaw it Monday, but also tacked a residency requirement so that Frank Mercurio's successor must live within 10 driving miles of the city limit. ...more

October 10, 2007

AVON PARK — The race for Avon Park's city council and mayoral seats already has gotten testy, but not because of any differences between the candidates. ...more

September 12, 2007