- December 4, 2025
A new candidate has entered the race to represent Ormond Beach City Commission Zone 1.
Melissa Burt DeVriese, president of local company Security First Insurance, filed to run for the open seat on Thursday, Oct. 9. A native of Ormond Beach, DeVriese has worked for Security First since 2009, becoming president in 2020. The company was started by her father, former State Sen. Locke Burt, in 2005.
"I'm really excited about the opportunity to help Ormond," DeVriese said. "I feel like Ormond has a lot of great things to offer. I really want to be part of the future of Ormond and making sure it continues to be a great place to live and work."
DeVriese, a Seabreeze High School grad and licensed attorney, has been involved in the community for most of her life. Her first job was as a lifeguard for Volusia County Beaches, and she's served on a variety of nonprofit and business group boards, including the Junior League of Daytona Beach, the Volusia Young Professionals Group, Team Volusia, the Museum of Arts and Sciences, the Ormond Memorial Art Museum, the Civic League of the Halifax Area and Easterseals of Northeast Central Florida, where she served as chair. DeVriese is currently on the board of Easterseals Florida.
Running for office when Zone 1 is now an open seat, as incumbent Lori Tolland is running for mayor, seemed like a "good opportunity to give back," DeVriese said.
"I'm invested and committed to this community as a lifetime resident of Ormond Beach, Florida," she said.
If elected, DeVriese said she'd like to see continued economic development to spark job growth, support of cultural and recreational facilities and that the city keep a high level of services for its residents while having a balanced budget.
"I feel like the most important thing Ormond can do is to make sure we continue to maintain a high quality of living ... in an economically reasonable fashion," she said. "We need to be good stewards of the taxpayers money and make sure that we're providing the services that they care about and that Ormond is a safe and nice place to live and work."
DeVriese is the second candidate so far to file for Zone 1. Registered nurse Coleen McMahon filed in August.
