- Named Best Florida Newspaper In Its Class -
VOL 25 No. 4
September 18, 2024
It’s a family thing
JASON SCHAFFER | SUN
The LaPensee Bowling Tournament costume contest winner is Just for Fun Rentals, portraying The Addams Family. From left, Lilly Mann (Wednesday), Mike Lineman (Lurch; with Thing, as himself), Olivia Mann (Morticia), Jake Mann (Gomez), Jonah Johnson (Pugsley) and Chris Mann (Fester). Page 17.
Seymour, Short seek mayor’s job
2024-25 budget passes first hearing
The forum video is archived at the Anna Maria Island Sun's Facebook page.
Holmes Beach commissioners passed the first reading of the city’s proposed 2024-25 fiscal year budget.
JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
ANNA MARIA – Brian Seymour and Mark Short both want to succeed Dan Murphy as Anna Maria’s next mayor, with the winner to be determined in the upcoming election. On Sept. 12, they participated in a candidate forum hosted by The Anna Maria Island Sun at city hall.
OPENING REMARKS
Seymour thanked Murphy for his 10-year tenure as mayor, including during the three years Seymour served as a commissioner. Seymour spent the first 38 years of his life in the Washinton D.C. area and 20 years working for Marriott hotels and resorts at many levels, from banquets to general manager.
“I decided after 20 years in the corporate world I was going to go find a new life. I couldn’t have been luckier to find this little city of Anna Maria. I own three businesses (City Pier Seymour Grill, Anna Maria General Store and Pine Avenue Bait and Tackle) and I’m eager to get back involved in city government and help the city continue to move forward,” Seymour said. Short and his wife, Pat, Short bought their Anna Maria home almost 13 years ago. They’ve been married 40 years and have three daughters and four granddaughters. In 2017, Short retired as a partner and CPA after 38 years with the Ernst & Young accounting and consultancy firm. Three months later, he joined The Center of Anna Maria
SEE MAYOR, PAGE 18
BY KRISTIN SWAIN SUN STAFF WRITER | kswain@amisun.com
HOLMES BEACH – The city’s proposed 2024-25 budget is over halfway to the finish line to be in place for the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year. Commissioners held the first of two public hearings for the proposed budget during a Sept. 11 special meeting. Commissioner Terry Schaefer said the budget that commissioners approved during that meeting was the sixth version. Currently, the budget proposes a total of $13,916,590 in operating revenues and expenses along with $11,317,006 in total carryover and reserves, including $7,157,500 in general unassigned reserves, the money that the city holds for emergency situations. The total budget,
THREE PARKING lots close, one remains open in Bradenton Beach. Page 21
3
Anna Maria Island, Florida
The Island’s award-winning weekly newspaper
including reserves, is $25,233,595, a difference of $111,639 over the approved 2023-24 fiscal year budget. Titsworth said that some of the reserves, particularly the stormwater reserves, are for projects planned for the current fiscal year that are carrying over to the upcoming fiscal year. One of the items that changed between the July budget workshops and the current proposed budget was a line item of $307,000 in the public works department budget. The monies were previously set aside for the purchase of an algae harvester, along with training for employees and disposal fees. In the updated budget, Titsworth noted that the harvester would now only be purchased if it could be funded by a grant. “It’s a placeholder,” Titsworth answered after commission candidate Carol Whitmore expressed concerns about the purchase. Whitmore said she believes the purchase is a duplication of services since
SEE BUDGET, PAGE 4
ANNA MARIA, HOLMES BEACH
pursue drainage solutions. 5, 9
ISLAND PLAYERS season opens with
Crimes of the Heart. 13
www.amisun.com