- April 26, 2024
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Races are shaping up more than a year before the election.
Wayne Grant
News Editor
The Ormond Beach City Commission has remained unchanged since 2010, but it will have a different look after next year’s election. In a recent flurry of announcements, it’s clear that a new person will be sitting in the mayor’s seat at the dais, as well as the seat for Zone 4 commissioner.
Mayor Ed Kelley has announced he will challenge Doug Daniels, who plans to run again for the District 4 seat on the Volusia County Council; and City Commissioner Bill Partington, who represents Zone 4, announced last week he will run for Kelley’s vacated mayor seat.
Harold Briley, a Realtor with Adams Cameron and member of the Planning Board, announced recently that he will run for Partington’s vacated seat.
And there’s plenty of time for more candidates, as the election is more than a year away.
Kelley was elected mayor in 2010 and re-elected in 2012 and 2014. He served two terms as a commissioner in the 1990s, and was elected commissioner for Zone 3 in 2005.
In a recent interview, Kelley said he hopes to increase communication and cooperation between the county and the cities.
“Volusia County is poised for great things to happen, if we can get the cities and the county working together,” he said. “In the past we’ve had divisiveness and sniping.”
District 4 includes Ormond Beach, Holly Hill and part of Daytona Beach, and Kelly promises to
make the county more responsive to their needs. For example, he said it took nearly five years to work out the agreement that gave Ormond Beach control over North U.S. 1.
“It should not take that long, if we work together,” he said.
Kelley has worked on countywide issues as chairman of Volusia Council of Governments. That organization had been replaced with the Volusia County Roundtable, and he is the elected chairman.
“We’ve discussed the issues of homelessness, water, transportation and beautification. All of those affect us,” he said.
Kelley retired in 2001 after a 30-year career with Hawaiian Tropic of Ormond Beach. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Belmont College in Nashville.
County Councilman Doug Daniels
Doug Daniels said in a written statement that he knocked on almost every door in his last election, and he plans to knock on them again.
Daniels, 62, is a long time Daytona Beach business attorney who entered politics for the first time in 2012, winning his District 4 county council seat
“No one has done more for their district or for the county,” he said.
Daniels points to his work on developing Andy Romano Park; supporting jobs projects such as the Trader Joes distribution center and the proposed LPGA interchange development; saving Holly Hill’s river redevelopment and dog park; and giving Ormond Beach development and beautification control over U.S. 1
Daniels plans to pursue economic development, improved human services, environmental protection and a strong code of ethics for senior county staff and elected officials.
Daniels, who lives in Ormond Beach, graduated from Florida State University College of Law. He is a business transaction and business litigation attorney with an office in Daytona Beach.
He was born and raised in Havana, a small town outside of Tallahassee.
Commissioner Bill Partington
Bill Partington has served on the City Commission for Zone 4 since 2003. He has also been elected deputy mayor by the commission and is currently president of the Volusia League of Cities.
Partington was raised in Ormond Beach and graduated from local schools. He later earned a law degree from Loyola School of Law in New Orleans.
Growing up in Ormond Beach, Partington said there was nothing west of Nova Road. Since then, quality neighborhoods have developed.
“We’ve had a tradition of good growth and smart growth,” he said. “That made Ormond a great city and I want to continue that.”
If elected mayor, he said he wants to keep taxes low while delivering services to residents. He also wants to see Ormond Crossings and North U.S. 1 are developed in a way that keeps the city beautiful and economically vibrant.
Partington currently serves as an assistant public defender and division chief for the Felony Trial Division for Florida's Seventh Judicial Circuit. Previously, he ran a solo private law practice in Ormond Beach, and has served as an assistant public defender and assistant state attorney.
Harold Briley
Harold Briley, longtime member of the Planning Board, plans to run for the Zone 4 seat. Briley, 42, was raised in Ormond Beach. After graduating from Seabreeze High School in 1990, he was a messenger in the Florida House of Representatives for Rep. Dick Graham.
Briley has served on the city’s Planning Board since 2011, which is appointed by the City Commission. Previously, he served on the board from 1996 to 2006.
A Realtor for Adams Cameron and Co., Briley is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. He serves on Ormond Beach MainStreet, and in the 1990s, he was on the Downtown Restoration Task Force, a precursor to MainStreet.
Briley is happy with city leadership in recent years.
“I’m excited about the direction of the city and I want to keep Ormond Beach a special place to live,” he said. “We have a great commission and our city staff is second to none.”
In 2001 and 2002, he served on the Land Development Code Rewrite Committee.
After years of serving on boards and committees, Briley sees the City Commission as the next step for community service.
“I really love Ormond Beach,” he said.
