- May 12, 2026
A third candidate has entered the race for Ormond Beach City Commission Zone 4.
Newly appointed Planning Board member Amber Bobak filed to run for the seat on Thursday, May 7. Bobak has lived in Ormond Beach since she was 12 years old and works for Cains Electric in town as a front desk office administrator.
Bobak said she had been thinking about running for office for a couple of months. Traffic, development and preserving the environment are some issues she said are impacting Ormond Beach the most today.
As is divisiveness.
"There's so many people I feel like are on both sides that aren't feeling heard," Bobak said. "I just like to listen to everybody and see where we could find middle ground."
She started attending City Commission meetings last year after she learned that her neighborhood would be getting a new Circle K gas station at 699 S. Nova Road. Bobak appealed the city's site plan approval for the project and asked for a review of zoning districts near residential areas to prevent this from happening in the future.
Bobak was unanimously appointed to the Planning Board after a nomination by Mayor Jason Leslie in February.
Since her appointment, Bobak said she's had conversations with the planning director about environmental ideas and policies for the city.
"He told me that while those are all great ideas, and I'm on an advisory board, most of those would be a commission position decision," Bobak said. "So I said, 'why not? Let's try it.'"
If elected, Bobak said she'd like to see the city implement a program similar to Brevard County's Environmentally Endangered Lands program, which like Volusia Forever, preserves environmentally sensitive lands. Rather than property taxes, Bobak would like to explore using mitigation credits to purchase isolated wetlands and help Tomoka State Park with water quality and erosion initiatives.
In regard to ongoing developments, Bobak said she's been monitoring the new Yoon Way townhomes proposal, as well as Avalon Park and Ormond Crossings. In Zone 4, issues like traffic and road construction at Hand Avenue and Division Avenue are also ones to watch, she said.
"I think the commission overall is doing a good job," Bobak said. "... I do think that we need to stand up a little bit more environmentally and have a little bit more of a backbone and push back a little bit more than we currently do."
Bobak is currently running against incumbent City Commissioner Harold Briley, who filed in March, and Barry du Moulin, a retired inspector for the U.S. Coast Guard who filed in January.
All three have served on the city's Planning Board at one time.
