- January 18, 2025
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Do you know who you're voting for on Nov. 8?
On Wednesday, Oct. 12, Citizens for Ormond Beach held a candidates forum where candidates running for Ormond Beach City Commission races in the general election discussed their views on local issues. In attendance at the forum, held at the Ormond Beach Senior Center, were mayoral candidates Rob Bridger and Bill Partington — who is the incumbent — and Zone 4 candidates Harold Briley and Brian Nave. The forum, moderated by Liz Myers, also included candidates running for Volusia County Council District 4 and at-large candidate Doug Pettit.
Bridger filed to run for the mayoral seat on May 27. He is a U.S. Navy veteran and past three-term homeowners association president for The Trails subdivision. Bridger has lived in Ormond Beach since 1989 and worked for the state for 35 years in management and administration of health and human services programs. This is his third time running for mayor.
"We are being over-developed," Bridger said. "Over-developed to the extent that our small city quality of life is going to be threatened. We've already outpaced our infrastructure. Our water supply will ultimately be threatened, and I'm running for mayor to preserve our small city quality of life for our children, grandchildren, and your children and your grandchildren."
Partington, who filed for reelection in June 2021, is seeking a fourth term in office. Partington, an assistant public defender and division chief for Florida's Seventh Judicial Circuit Public Defender's Office, has been serving on the commission since 2003, initially as the representative for Zone 4. The lifelong Ormond resident has been mayor since 2016.
"We have a lot of positive things happening," Partington said. "I just want to continue the success of our city and keep it moving forward."
Briley filed for candidacy on Dec. 16, 2021. He is a real estate agent with Adams Cameron and Co. Realtors, and has been involved at the city level for almost 35 years, 21 of which account for his time on the Ormond Beach Planning Board. A lifelong resident, this is his second time running for Zone 4 representative on the commission; in 2016, he ran against incumbent Rob Littleton.
"I love this city," Briley said. "I want to protect this great city. I love our residents and I ask for your support."
Nave filed to run on Dec. 2, 2021. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Nave has lived in Ormond Beach since 1989, and is the president of an engineering company. He has previously served on the city's Quality of Life board, and currently serves on the Leisure Services board and the Board of Adjustment and Appeals. This is his second time running for City Commission; he ran in 1999 against Fred Costello to represent Zone 3.
"I believe the timing is right where we want business people to make reasonable decisions in government instead of professional politicians," Nave said. "And that's why the logical choice is me."
The candidates were asked questions on impact fees, affordable housing, the church's demolition at 56 N. Beach St. and other issues. Here is what they had to say.
Question: The city is looking to increase its impact fees. It appears that the city last updated its municipal service impact fees in 1996. In some land uses, they're looking to increase the fees by over 400% over the current fees. What should the city keep in mind when going through this process?
Bridger
Bridger mentioned that the city paid $99,000 in consulting fees for a study to assess the impact fee issue, and repeated that they haven't been increased since 1996.
"So basically, developers have been getting pretty much a free ride since that time, because there is an urban myth out there that growth and development pays for itself," Bridger said. "It does not. We as taxpayers pay for growth and development."
Moving forward, the City Commission needs to take a serious look at increasing impact fees, he said.
Partington
Impact fees are controlled by state statute, which require a study in order to be raised, Partington said. Any fees the city paid for this purpose were done to comply with state law and that will allow the fees to be imposed to be legal and not subjected to challenge, he explained.
"Impact fees should help pay for growth, but let's be honest, we all know they don't," he said. "And it's because of all the restrictions that are put on them by the legislature — You can only use them in certain areas, there's only certain amounts that you're allowed to ultimately charge. In fairness, they have been adjusted in the past, they will be going up, but that's not going to solve the problem of the infrastructure needs."
A change needs to happen at the state level to allow those fees to be used in ways that will make a difference in improving infrastructure, Partington said.
Nave
Impact fees are only a small part of the situation, Nave said. The city is fighting problems that have been around for 10 years, and what should have been happening is these impact fees should have been adjusted in the past. But as others said, Nave explained impact fees don't pay for all infrastructure needs.
"So the key is to actually develop a relationship with the surrounding counties and surrounding cities, so that we can work together to make sure that the roads go where they're supposed to go, and the flow goes where it's supposed to go," Nave said. "Because you can only use impact fees so close and the real problems are further away than that."
He suggested mitigating the impacts of new development by requiring developers to provide modes of alternate transportation, such as more walking and bike trails, to keep cars off the roads.
Briley
When you look at the impact fees, they were reduced or eliminated many years ago to try to spur economic development during the great recession, Briley said. Impact fees play a great role in helping with infrastructure, though they don't cover it all.
"I think what we need to do is we need to work with the state and the county, because if you notice where most of these developments are — whether it be commercial, residential — they front county and state roads, and those are the roads that are impacting us."
Briley said the city needs to work closer with county and state governments when it comes to thoroughfare roads.
Question: The demolition of the Union Church on Beach Street has left a parking lot on prime, riverfront land. If elected, what do you see on that piece of property?
Partington
Partington was one of two commissioner who voted against the demolition of the church. He was disappointed with the outcome, as he wished to give the public time to find a way to save the building, if possible. However, when it comes to the property's future, he believed a community center could be an option, if properly designed.
"There's a couple other pieces of property that we need to fall into place in order to make it work correctly, but I envision that happening someday, if that's the will of the commission and the will of our residents," Partington said. "I think it could be a beautiful riverfront community center that would serve all our residents for many years to come and be a true asset to the city of Ormond Beach."
Bridger
The demolition of the Union Church was a "travesty" that occurred, Bridger said. He spoke to people who were interested in putting a bid on the property and knows of other religious congregations who were interested. He said he's not seeing the parking lot being well-utilized when he drives by, and that the property needs to be more than just a parking lot.
"There's the old song (lyrics), 'they paved paradise and put up a parking lot' —well, that's exactly what the city has done," Bridger said. "Now, I'm not going to pretend to have the answer as to what should go there. When I'm elected, I want to get input from the citizens."
Briley
Briley said he had been in favor of giving citizens the opportunity to discuss the fate of the church and thought it was a shame the structure was torn down without further public debate. That being said, he also believed the property's best use isn't a parking lot, and doesn't believe many people use it to access downtown businesses.
"The city bought that church with the idea that would be a community center," Briley said. "It is correct to say that other parcels would have to be acquired for that to happen, because I don't think the site itself can accommodate a functioning community center and have enough parking. So, I would like investigate other uses for that site other than a parking lot."
Nave
Nave also didn't want to see the church demolished and felt like it could have been fixed, though he acknowledged that the city's estimates to do so were expensive. A community center on that property would be nice, but Nave also said that the city is in need of an emergency operations center. Perhaps, he suggested, the city could make a swap with a developer for that property with one elsewhere in the city.
"Maybe we just don't do the same old thing and try to buy more property and try to buy more space and try to put the same old thing up there, trying to just do the same thing over and over and over again," he said. "Maybe we need some fresh ideas. Maybe we need some new ideas."
Question: What are your priorities for the city budget?
Bridger
First, he would look at going to the rollback rate. He believes the city could have lowered its tax rate for this fiscal year, and that he would like to prioritize pensions and salaries for law enforcement to help with employee retention
"So we would prioritize that and prioritize funding for our aging infrastructure, particularly our stormwater and sewer systems, which are in serious need of attention," Bridger said.
Partington
Ormond Beach is in a great shape from a budget perspective, Partington said, mentioning its budget team's award for financial accounting and city manager Joyce Shanahan's background in government accounting. He said he was proud that the tax rate has gone down each year since he's been mayor. In 2016, the millage rate was set at 4.2843; the commission recently approved a millage rate of 3.7610 mills.
"Cities, counties and states are just as affected by inflation as each of us in our own homes," Partington said. "They buy gas, they buy electricity, they buy vehicles, and so to be able to still find our government, pay our employees well, and be competitive, and only do it with a very, very slight adjustment, I think that is amazing in and of itself, and so I'm proud of that."
Nave
For the most part, the city does a great job budgeting, but Nave said one of the reasons he decided to run was that he saw a couple of projects come through the advisory boards he serves on that didn't make sense to him, and he "didn't really have a voice to stop them."
Inflation does affect cities, but residents, unlike cities, don't get pay raises to deal with the issue. Residents are faced with cutting back.
"I think the city should do the same thing," he said. "I think it's very important to be fiscally responsible. I will never vote to raise the tax — Write that down right now— and I think the city needs to learn to cut back and tight times and the citizens are just going to have to accept the fact that maybe the city services are reduced a little bit."
Briley
Briley said he's a supporter of going to rollback when possible. He mentioned that the city's reserves are the "rainy day" funds to use in times of economic uncertainty. Briley also spoke about the need to retain employees. He does want to look at the city budget to see if there are areas where there is wasteful spending.
The city also prides itself on its parks and recreation and he would make that a priority.
"That would be a lot of my focus is making sure we have enough money to maintain our parks, maintain our recreation facilities, because I've seen times in the city where that money was not spent," he said.
Question: Many people say they are for affordable workforce housing, and there is a need for it here in the city, but many people also do not want it in their neighborhoods. How would you promote more affordable housing in the city of Ormond Beach?
Partington
Workforce housing is a difficult subject because it's a cost subject and a development subject, he said. If you're going to build affordable housing, you have to build more houses, and the cost can be as "tremendous" as the need, Partington said. There's also a negative perception with affordable housing.
"You have to fight that stigma or that stereotype and help people understand affordable housing is for policemen, firemen, teachers, nurses, pretty much anybody that's at that beginner level of their career trying to find a place to live," Partington said. "And my answer to it is through zoning and planning, and also finding appropriate places throughout the city where tiny homes could be considered and allowed."
Bridger
Bridger agreed with Partington and said that the concerns with regards to zoning and planning are areas where the city can begin to address affordable housing. The city needs to have that dialogue with developers as they come forward with new proposals.
"We need to be having that candid discussion: 'OK, with this project, where you're wanting to put X number of homes, how many of those homes can be affordable? How many of those will be able to be accessed by our firefighters and our police and our city employees?'" Bridger said. "So again, that's the development discussion that I think we need to be having around the table to look at how we can incorporate affordable housing into our community so that it works for everyone and becomes a win-win for everyone."
Briley
A lot of the issue is dependent on planning and zoning, Briley said, and he believes he could identify areas where perhaps some of the aging manufactured home parks can be revamped to allow tiny home communities. He spoke about an affordable housing project that came before the Planning Board a few years ago, and he denied because of its location west of I-95, an area not serviced by Votran.
"These are things we have to look at," Briley said. "I'm fully in favor of finding solutions for workforce and affordable housing because it is needed."
Nave
Nave agreed that affordable housing needs to be put in the right location. He acknowledged that many people don't want these developments next to their neighborhoods and that's because of the stigma surrounding affordable housing. He said these developments should be placed out by I-95 as that is where new development will be going in the future. Transportation also has to be considered.
"If we're gonna have affordable housing, and we're gonna have it in the right spot, we need to get the right people in the right places right now to make these decisions so 10 years from now, we're not in the same situation where we don't have affordable housing," Nave said. "So again, put the housing where the people who are living there can use it ... and make it easy for them to get to the workforce to the world."
Question: In a recent parks and recreation survey, the number one improvement citizens wanted was trails. How do you develop and promote safe recreational trails for citizens?
Nave
We need to work out traffic solutions that don't rely on cars, and bikes and walking paths align perfectly with this need, Nave said. He suggested the city require developers to build new trails into their development proposals, with some sort of incentive, such as a reduced impact fee.
He mentioned The Forest Hills Trail that begins at the western end of Scottsdale Drive and proceeds along Misner's Creek to West Granada Boulevard.
"There's a perfect example of what we want running through the city," Nave said.
Briley
Briley agreed with Nave. He also mentioned the city's trail master plan completed a few years ago, and that he would be interested in revisiting that study.
"I do think trails are great," Briley said.
Bridger
He would like to bring developers, environmentalists and the community together, and he said this would certainly be an issue they could work together on, particularly with incorporating trails in new communities.
"I think we can certainly do better with it in terms of our Planning Board and working again, with the developers, with the environmentalists and with our citizens who have plans for trails that are interconnected and connect our neighborhoods and provide places for children to ride their bicycles, to learn how to ride their bicycle so they're not out there on the street," he said.
Partington
The city has a "tremendous" trail system, Partington said. He mentioned an area of opportunity could be an area near the canal off Division that runs to Granada, as well as continuing the Forest Hills Trail further south to Hand Avenue.
He also mentioned the city's recent purchase, in partnership with the county and St. Johns River Water Management District, of 19 acres near Riverbend Park for conservation.
"You have tremendous opportunity for a fantastic trail system through there, that would be in addition to the Riverbend Park," he said. "And so I would like to see that I think our residents would love that as well."
Question: In 2019, the city commissioned a feasibility study to relocate the police station from its current downtown location. Should this be pursued further?
Partington
He said the decision to revisit will be up to the next commission. The idea behind the relocation study was that the police department, fire department and public works division needed a building to respond from during storms that is not in an area susceptible to storm surge. The police station, located at 170 W. Granada Blvd., is located in a low-lying area.
"If we did have a direct hit from a hurricane, that storm surge could be devastating, and instead of responding to our community, helping our residents weather a storm, we would have to be responding to our police department and and saving them from that storm surge," Partington said. "So ideally, you would have a police headquarters training area for fire, and storage area for public works, where an EOC — emergency operation center — could also be housed, somewhere west of I-95 or close to I-95 and a higher area, and that I think would serve our residents in a more favorable way."
Cost would have to be weighed as well, he added.
Bridger
Bridger said he was opposed to the relocation of the police station because he has spoken with officers that feel like they don't need a new building.
"That building is only 20-something-years old," he said. "It's a state of the art building. It is centrally-located to serve our city, our central city, our beachside residents, and our residents on the west side. ... And the police officers that I've spoken with feel like, instead of spending that money and putting it into the developers' pockets to build a new building, what we need to be doing is addressing their salary and benefits and pension plans because that's what they need to retain our stable police force."
Briley
The current police station, while remodeled about 20-25 years ago, is about 50 years old, he said. Based on the conversations he's had with officers, it seems like they are "busting at the seams" for a police station servicing a town of 40,000 people.
He would be in favor of building an EOC facility similar to the county's, and keeping the current police station as a substation in the downtown.
"I think we're a big enough city now that we can move the main police station out west and modify the EOC so that we could also use it for public works in the event of a natural disaster," Briley said.
Nave
He is not a big proponent of building "beautiful castles" as government buildings, so he wouldn't be in favor of moving the entire police station, but does think the substation idea has merit as he thinks it's important to maintain a presence in the center of town.
Nave mentioned a previous plan to build an EOC on Airport Road near Pathways Elementary and said the city should revisit the concept.
"The idea for me would be to spread out our police services, not give them a brand new main building, but go to more substations where the police are spread out where they need to be," Nave said."
