- April 19, 2024
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Ormond Beach City Commissioner Susan Persis will be running for mayor in the 2024 elections.
Persis, who has represented Zone 3 on the commission since 2018, filed to run for mayor on March 6 after current Mayor Bill Partington told her he would be running for the Florida House.
"I'm just proud to say that I serve the people of Ormond Beach, and as mayor, I will continue to work collegially with all city commissioners, our residents and the business community to make our beautiful and vibrant city even better," Persis said.
As a graduate of Seabreeze High School with almost 40 years of experience in education — as a teacher, assistant principal and principal — and now having been on the commission for about five years, she said feels like she's ready to serve the citizens as their mayor.
"I feel like my years of experience in training as a principal provide me the administrative and personal skills I use every day in my role as a commissioner, and those important skills are to be a good active listener," Persis. "I know there are always at least two sides to every issue and how important it is to understand all points of view before taking a position."
Persis was reelected to represent Zone 3 in 2020 and 2022, both times without opposition. No one to date has filed to run against her in the mayoral race, though the election is over a year away.
If elected as mayor, she will be the first female mayor in Ormond Beach history.
"When I was growing up, we really didn't have all the options that young women have today, or women have today," Persis said. "And so, I would love to be that."
Her husband, School Board member Carl Persis, served as mayor from 2000-2002.
Growth is one of the important issues the city is facing now, Susan Persis said. While growth within the city limits has been less than 2% a year in recent times, Persis said, residents are experiencing the negative impacts of "explosive growth" in Daytona Beach and nearby unincorporated areas of Volusia County. Elected officials throughout the county need to work together to minimize these impacts, she said.
"I feel that every project should be designed to achieve a balance of greenspace, water retention, noise abatement, landscaping, tree preservation for sure, and with the number of units not exceeding the density for the neighboring area," she said.
