Plant City experienced the start of new beginnings Monday evening.
A record number of viewers tuned in to the live streamed city commission meeting to watch as Rick Lott was once again voted in as mayor. Lott then asked Nate Kilton to remain his vice mayor for another year. All of the commissioners chose to remain in their roles as representatives to a variety of organizational assignments including sitting on boards like the Council of Governments, the Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Ridge League of Cities and the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.
They also reappointed William Thomas Jr. to the Hillsborough County Community Action Board. Thomas has served on the board since March 1, 2016. Commissioners Mike Sparkman and Bill Dodson also recently ran unopposed and won their respective elections. They were sworn in with their family members this week.
With so many projects in the works and the prospect of change on the horizon, the veteran leaders at the dais bring uniformity to the board as they plan for the future of the city. It’s a fact both praised and criticized throughout the community. Some are thankful for the consistency the rarely changing leadership brings to the community and the assurance that offers for the business community as companies decide whether or not to call Plant City home. Others are eager for a change, any change, as some of the commissioners have remained in their seats for decades.
Those at the virtual dais chose to take the moment to reflect on what the opportunity to lead and serve means to them.
“I’m truly honored by the faith that the commission has put into me again to serve in this capacity,” Lott said. “I take it seriously and I am truly honored and humbled for your belief that I have the ability to once again work with the commission in this capacity and be the face of the commission and I thank you again for allowing me to. I have said many, many times that I have served on a lot of boards, a lot of committees, but this is the finest board I have ever sat on or ever worked with and I give a lot of credit to our founding fathers that designed our city to where every commissioner, instead of just being in a district where they only serve one section of their city, that each and every one of us serve every inch of this city. It’s not just the mayor, it’s every single commissioner works as one body and it allows us to make decisions that’s good for the entire city and not just for the section that a commissioner may represent in other cities.”
Dodson and Sparkman both thanked the commission for their continued support and sat back to briefly consider what they’ve seen over their years at the dais. Sparkman said he’s now been sworn in 10 different times as a commissioner and when he finishes he’ll be right at 30 years of service for the board, making him the longest serving commissioner in Plant City history.
It was City Manager Bill McDaniel, however, that truly set the theme for the evening as he announced another undertaking was about to emerge once more. The city has attempted three times to bring the Midtown District to life. Each time, something came up that caused the project to be shelved. Bids for attempt number four were sought and four responses came in.
Three groups from Florida — Green Mills Group out of Fort Lauderdale, Housing Trust Group in Coconut Grove and Mosaic Development in St. Petersburg — as well as DevMar Development from Birmingham, Michigan all submitted “outstanding proposals,” according to McDaniel.
McDaniel said he is working with commissioners now to set a date for viewing the proposals. His preference is to be able to go over them in a meeting back at City Hall, but he said he will stick to the live-streamed meetings if he must.