- September 7, 2024
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The Ormond Beach mayoral race won't be on the primary elections ballot, but the community still got a chance to learn about candidates Susan Persis and Jason Leslie at the Citizens For Ormond Beach forum on Wednesday, July 17.
Held at the Ormond Beach Senior Center, the candidates forum also featured those running for Volusia County Council Chair, Volusia County School Board Member District 4 and Zone 3, all races which will be on the August ballot.
Persis is currently the Zone 3 representative on the Ormond Beach City Commission. She has been in office since 2018 and is a retired teacher, assistant principal and principal. Persis was reelected in 2020 and 2022 without opposition.
"I'm running for mayor of my hometown because I want to continue my lifelong passion to serve the public," Persis said. "My six years on the commission — two years serving as deputy mayor — and my experience of working with people and creating win-win situations has prepared me well to be your mayor."
Leslie is a local businessman with 20 years of entrepreneurship experience. He's been visiting the Ormond Beach area for two decades and moved to town about six years ago. Leslie owns commercial property, which he rents, as well as has an e-commerce business.
"One of the reasons why I want to run for mayor is because some of the issues that we face here in this community are actually issues I faced in the community I came from," Leslie said. "Back in 2012, I had four feet of water in my house due to Hurricane Sandy. I advocated for everybody in the community to try to help get back up to speed."
Question: What do you believe is the primary problem in Ormond Beach and what would you do to solve it?
Persis said two things come to mind: Traffic and homelessness. There is a traffic issue on Granada Boulevard, but it is a state road, she said. Currently, FDOT is narrowing the lanes in the downtown district to reduce speeding and increase safety. She attributed a lot of the traffic to the apartments that have been built around the city limits.
"I hate to say problems because Ormond Beach is running so well," Persis said.
Leslie said the fuel farm proposed by Belvedere Terminals at 874 Hull Road is one of the biggest issues residents are concerned about.
"I know that's in the county, but they still are concerned because they're worried about the property values and some of the impacts that are involved with it," Leslie said.
People are also worried about traffic and development, both issues he's also concerned about, he added.
Question: What is your position on Home Rule and would you advocate to strengthen it?
Leslie said that communities should be allowed to govern their own backyards.
"So I would advocate to continue to keep Ormond Beach the way it is and not having our government in Tallahassee tell us what we should and shouldn't do," Leslie said.
Persis agreed and said that she believes locals know what they want and what is best for the city.
"And so to have someone in Tallahassee tell us what we can or can't build, I have issue with that," she said.
Question: What would you do to improve communication between the city of Ormond Beach and the residents?
Persis said that communication has improved since the city hired a public information officer. The city's website is also in the process of being updated. All of the commissioners and mayors are always available for residents to contact, she said.
"They know we can be reached at any time, and I'm very proud that, anytime there is an issue in the city, it gets completed quickly," Persis said.
Talking to residents and being transparent is the answer, Leslie said. If he's elected, he said he will hold town halls to have one-on-one conversations with citizens.
"Help and guide them to understand how local government works and what they can do ... and let their voices be heard and we can work together to seek resolve," Leslie said.
Question: Does the allocation of $10 million of state funds for the relocation of Belvedere Terminals' proposed fuel farm solve the problem?
Leslie said no and cited the fact that Belvedere Terminals has not been communicating with Volusia County staff, despite the allocation of state funds. When prompted by the moderator, Leslie said the solution would be to first speak with the company.
"We have to try to find a way to get communication out of them to find what is they need to fill the gap," Leslie said.
Persis said the allocation for a relocation does solve the problem. The city has already refused to provide utilities to the unincorporated property and it has spent about $325,000 in legal funds fighting the project.
"This is a battle we had to fight," Persis said. "Our citizens' safety comes first.
Question: What do you propose to do to improve affordable housing in our community?
Persis said there is affordable housing, also known as workforce housing, in the community — but the waiting lists are long. Workforce housing is for veterans, seniors, retirees, and workers such as first responders and teachers.
"It's expensive to buy a house, it's expensive to rent an apartment," Persis said. "So we do need to have places where they can go and afford to live on their own."
Leslie said the people workforce housing needs to support are workers who cannot afford to live in the city they're employed in.
"We can actually help the local business owners by getting them help and you can also help the people that want to help them by giving them a place to live," he said.
Question: What actions would you take, if elected, to mitigate the effects of climate change and/or reduce our contribution to it?
Leslie said one has to work with a lot of different agencies — national and state — to make a difference, without "pointing fingers" regarding what each agency is supposed to be responsible for.
"We need to work with these agencies to make sure we mitigate all these problems," Leslie said.
Part of the city budget goes to drainage projects and repairing the city's drainage system to ensure Ormond Beach is prepared for storms, Persis said.
"The other thing that the city is doing is that we are going to construct another reuse reservoir to store reclaim water, so that will help also," Persis said.
