By: Coral Springs Talk
By: Sharon Aron Baron
With a black ribbon next to his name, the seat for Mayor Skip Campbell was left empty at Wednesday’s commission meeting.
Led by Vice Mayor Lou Cimaglia, the meeting proceeded without Campbell at the helm, and soon, will go on without Cimaglia when recently elected commissioner Joshua Simmons is sworn in on November 27.
After Campbell’s untimely death, several former mayors – and a couple of city commissioner have expressed interest in running for his seat.
The commission will vote when to hold the special election for a new mayor on November 28. City Attorney John Hearn suggested an election date of March 12, which would coincide with five other cities holding their municipal elections. With that date in mind, the qualifying period for interested candidates would begin on January 2, and last a week.
Candidates who have expressed an interest in running include former Coral Springs mayors: Scott Brook 2006-2010, Roy Gold 2010-2012 and Vincent Boccard 2012-2014. Former Mayor Roy Gold said he didn’t mind that there may be other former mayors interested in running again.
“I think the bigger the field, the more choices people have.”
At Wednesday’s meeting, Gold said he was there because he wanted to learn more about the process and procedures before he took any steps. “I love Coral Springs and always worked hard,” adding that he wants people elected that care and who will benefit the city.
Vince Boccard said although he’s no longer mayor, he never really left. “People still think I’m the mayor. I really loved what I did and miss it.”
Boccard said his family is behind him and he’s putting a team together. He wants to reunite the city and take a good hard look at the tax increases and give the residents a rollback. But first, he said he needs to get his facts. “From the outside, it’s not as easy as it looks from the inside.”
Other interested candidates include City Commissioners Dan Daley and Joy Carter.
Because of Skip Campbell, Carter said she believes in “servant leadership”. She had always planned to run for mayor once Campbell’s term was over, however, those plans changed unexpectedly.
“I don’t believe that I could ever fill his shoes, but I would try to fill as much of them as I could.”
Author Profile
- Editor of Talk Media and writer for Coral Springs Talk. CST was created in 2012 to provide News, Views, and Entertainment for the residents of Coral Springs and the rest of South Florida.
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4 comments
Wow -a slate of experienced, qualified candidates – hopefully they work amongst themselves to narrow down the playing field so that someone is able to get a majority vote.
I wonder if the interest in the Mayor’s seat has anything to do with the fact that Representative Jared Moskowitz is term limited by 2020? It would seem like a helpful platform to build more name recognition and raise money.
Sharon,
What ever happened to my original Comment??
Francis
Wait one second folks.
Is there no other Coral Springs resident that loves the City?
Some of these people are the ones responsible for the the 10 MILLION DOLLARS charged on the City’s Credit Card and the increased Mil rate/taxes and. When you questioned their reasoning for the increase at budget time you got the same canned answer “that our mill rate is one of the lowest compared to our sister cities”. They never could tell you what were their policy plans to curtail spending or enhance efficiency.
For two plus years some of these folks have not paid any interest in the city affairs based on their confession in your reporting and now they are thinking about jumping on the band wagon. For what?
Your reporting also did not state if anyone in the group will pick up the mantle for Skip Campbell and build on the important issues he was working on. Why?
My suggestion to the ones already there. You have your plate full so get down to the business at hand. Make sure that our tax dollar is spent effectively and if you are still hell bent on getting that title of Mayor against your name, resign TODAY so that someone who is not interested in a name can step up and focus on instituting constructive policies.
Francis