The sector of candidates has grown to 4 within the 2025 Marathon Metropolis Council race with the official submitting of present Vice Mayor Jeff Smith and newcomer Gerrit Hale.
Jeff Smith
Smith instructed the Weekly his second marketing campaign was a case of “unfinished enterprise” that started in 2022, when he was elected with the third-most votes in a nine-candidate subject.
“Once we ran three years in the past, there have been three main points: One was the Boatworks subject, the opposite was the FOLKs lawsuit over our sewer system, and the opposite was BPAS (the Constructing Allow Allocation System),” he mentioned. “I believe we’ve completed job as a council addressing all of these. BPAS will nonetheless go on, and we’re addressing our infrastructure wants by placing within the deep effectively.”
Smith mentioned he was desperate to see important capital initiatives together with the Quay, Seven Mile Marina and Marathon Group Park skate park by means of to completion – a number of of which have been ongoing since earlier than even his first marketing campaign.
And whereas Marathon’s management of trip rental points faces heavy opposition from statutory restrictions and lobbying by rental corporations on the state stage, he mentioned he’s been happy with the progress made regionally by means of code enforcement and rental monitoring software program.
“We did what was in our wheelhouse,” he mentioned. “Yearly we try to get some traction (on the state stage), and I don’t suppose we’re having a lot success with the lobbying efforts of AirBNB and VRBO, however that doesn’t imply you surrender the battle.”
With new constructing permits awaiting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature, Smith mentioned along with navigating the brand new building, his focus would stay on stemming the conversion of Marathon’s reasonably priced housing inventory.
“That’s most likely extra vital than whether or not you’re going to get 80 permits a 12 months for the subsequent 10 years,” he mentioned. “That’s a really small piece, however should you proceed to transform your present housing inventory to an alternate use, there’s numerous work that must be completed there.”
Gerrit Hale
Hale is a retired inventory dealer, actual property developer, authorities guide and actual property appraiser who has been visiting the Keys since he bought his residence in 2021, finally turning into a full-time resident in 2023. He’s a present member of the Rotary Membership of Marathon and a brand new volunteer on the Marathon Group Theatre.
“The factor about this group is that it jogs my memory, to a level, of the place I grew up,” he mentioned. “It was a small, coastal seashore city the place all people is aware of your identify, and that’s the sensation you get right here.”
After incomes a bachelor’s diploma in economics from the College of Maryland and a grasp’s in worldwide enterprise and strategic planning from Johns Hopkins, Hale mentioned, he first stepped within the political ring in Nevada, working for the county assessor place. Later, he served on a nonprofit board within the D.C. space, tasked with managing a public-private partnership to revamp a dilapidated Glen Echo amusement park.
“We had a $20 million authorities funding to revitalize the park and produce it again round, and we did a very nice job,” he mentioned. “It’s an incredible place for households and children, and it felt good that I used to be capable of be part of that – and safe the encircling communities when folks present up, as a result of once they have occasions there, it’s 30,000 folks.
“Sitting on that board had been fairly high-level folks – the superintendent of expertise for the varsity district, the pinnacle of the water division. I discovered so much from being round these folks – when to speak and when to hear.”
Whereas he mentioned it was too early within the marketing campaign to zero in on particular key targets, Hale mentioned he needs to take a more in-depth have a look at beautifying Marathon’s U.S. 1 hall and smoothing out town’s allowing points.
“If I had been elected, if that’s not shifting in a constructive route, I’d attempt to transfer it right into a constructive and cooperative space,” he instructed the Weekly. “In case you’re a public servant, you’re serving the folks that put you there, and it’s important to have a look at them and deal with them like prospects.”
The 2025 metropolis council subject to date contains incumbents Smith and Robyn Nonetheless, Hale and Debbie Struyf. The council might see as much as three new faces in November, as seats presently held by Nonetheless, Smith and Mayor Lynn Landry are up for re-election. Although he has but to formally file paperwork, Landry privately confirmed his intent to run to the Weekly.