Venice City Council to choose from 3 applicants to fill Seat 1 vacancy at Tuesday meeting
VENICE – Three people applied to fill the Venice City Council Seat 1, which was vacated when Joan Farrell resigned this spring. The new member will be chosen and sworn in at the end of Tuesday's meeting.
The seat opened when Farrell suddenly resigned her position April 11, two days after the council's decision against a citizen appeal to reject the site plan for a shopping center in Northeast Venice.
Mitzie Fiedler has applied. She held the seat for two terms until she was upended by Farrell in the 2023 election that also saw Ron Smith win the race for Seat 2. Christopher Derbak and Lloyd Weed have also applied.
Technically two other people with Venice mailing addresses applied, too, but both lived in unincorporated Sarasota County.
The six current council members – Mayor Nick Pachota, Vice Mayor Jim Boldt, and council members Rachel Frank, Kevin Engleke, Rick Howard and Smith – will all cast votes on the appointment to the seat.
As outlined in the City Charter, the seat will be awarded to a person who receives a plurality of votes – essentially at least three votes – which would occur if the second place winner received two votes.
If two candidates receive three votes each, the winner would be decided by drawing lots and sworn in at the end of the meeting and fill out the remainder of the term, which runs through November 2026.
The council could have appointed that person to fill the entire term, or until a set date followed by a special election, but on a 4-1 vote with Smith in dissent the board opted to have Farrell's successor finish the term.
That decision was based in part on the fact that last November, nearly 68% of voters approved a city charter amendment that will end the practice of odd-year elections and extend the terms of council members from three to four years.
On May 6, Frank Mowery, president of the Venice Area Democratic Club, sent an email blast criticizing the appointment plan and urging recipients to write council members to express their displeasure.
Though the council board is nonpartisan, in recent years both the local Democratic and Republican parties have backed candidates. The resignation of Farrell leaves Smith as the only Democrat on the board.
Mower wrote: 'The Republican council members intend to appoint a pro-development candidate, thus increasing their majority instead of holding a special election to fill a seat vacated by a duly elected Democrat.'
He later added, 'We must request that at a minimum they require candidates to speak of their qualifications and goals as a member of City Council.'
Derbak, a Golden Beach Association board member who has frequently attended council meetings following the 2024 hurricane season, has lived in the city since Sept. 19, 2023.
A veteran who served as an Air Force and Coast Guard Special Operations officer for more than two decades – including presidential protection, counterterrorism, hurricane and earthquake response – wrote that his leadership experience and background would make him a solid candidate.
'I want to bring a collaborative, mission-driven mindset to the Council; one that prioritizes structured growth, public safety, and a deepened culture of service so that Venice remains a vibrant, resilient, and well-managed city for generations to come,' he wrote in his application.
Fiedler, a one time non-party affiliate council member who became a Republican before the 2023 election, noted in a cover letter for her application that during her six-year tenure on council, 'I worked tirelessly to advance our city's interests while maintaining fiscal responsibility and championing transparent governance.'
Weed, who has lived in Venice for 54 years, and is the chief financial officer of Southern Springs & Stamping, currently serves as chairman of the Venice Citizen Advisory Board and has served on the boards of a variety of local nonprofits, as well as Venice Christian School.
Weed wrote in his application that his is 'very protective of this paradise that we live in,' and that after his tenure on the citizen's advisory board he is ready to serve on the City Council.
The board meets at 9 a.m. in chambers at Venice City Hall, 401 W. Venice Ave.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Three people apply for Seat 1 vacancy on the Venice City Council
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