HOLMES BEACH – City Commission candidates Steve Oelfke, Jessica Patel, Terry Schaefer and Carol Soustek participated in a candidate forum hosted by The Anna Maria Island Sun on Sept. 24.
Oelfke, Schaefer and Soustek currently serve on the city commission and seek additional two-year terms in office. Patel, a first-time candidate, seeks to unseat one of the incumbents.
The top three vote-getters in the city election that concludes on Tuesday, Nov. 4 will claim commission seats. In-person voting will occur at the Island Branch Library in Holmes Beach on Nov. 4; there will be no in-person early voting for the city election. Vote-by-mail ballots will be mailed out in early October.
During the forum, the candidates shared their views on several city issues, including the city’s hurricane recovery efforts, the city budget, property taxes, drainage and flooding and stormwater fees. The forum video can be viewed at The Anna Maria Island Sun Facebook page and on YouTube.
The candidates
Oelfke, a nursing home administrator, said he and his wife moved to Holmes Beach in 2011 after growing up in the Maitland/ Winter Springs area of Orlando. Their two children attended Anna Maria Elementary and Oelfke served on the Holmes Beach Planning Commission before being appointed to the city commission earlier this year when Pat Morton resigned.
Patel and her husband met many years ago in Bradenton Beach and after time spent living in New York and California, they and their two children became Holmes Beach residents in 2020. Patel is the vice-president of the Anna Maria Elementary PTO board and the vice-chair of the School Advisory Committee. Patel, a University of Florida graduate, works for a non-profit organization.
Schaefer, a retired bank executive, has served as city commissioner for the past six years. He grew up in St. Louis and met his wife at the University of Missouri. They have been Holmes Beach residents for 19 years and have two children and five granddaughters.
Soustek was appointed to the city commission in 2014 and has remained a commissioner since then. She first visited the Island as a child while living in Tampa and later made Holmes Beach her home. She was an Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring volunteer for more than 30 years.
“When you are a commissioner, you have to make decisions up here that affect a lot of lives, so we take that job very seriously,” Soustek said.
Hurricane preparedness, recovery
The candidates were asked what the city did well in its response to the 2024 hurricanes and what might be done better the next time.
Schaefer said before the 2024 hurricanes struck, the city completed the creation of a 600-page emergency management document that helped guide the city’s hurricane response.
“What can we do better? That is being studied right now,” he said.
Soustek said four or five years ago, Mayor Judy Titsworth told the commission she wanted to improve the city’s hurricane preparedness and those efforts included lining up emergency contractors to assist with the recovery efforts.
“We were prepared. Nobody’s prepared for 5 feet of water in their houses,” Soustek said.
Oelfke wasn’t in office when the hurricanes struck.
“I think the police did a great job. I think the city pulling in a group from Texas to help give guidance was great,” he said.
Regarding the city’s contracted debris hauler, Oelfke said, “The vendor we relied on struggled. They gave us a good rate, but they struggled to deliver as well as we would have liked.”
After noting the city now has agreements in place with multiple debris removal companies, Oelfke said, “That’s an area of improvement.”
Patel said the first responders did a great job.
“Outside of that, it was a disaster,” she said. “The contractors were a total mess. There were a lot of problems and the community was not proud of us. People were really disappointed and really upset, myself included.”
Budget, taxes
The candidates were asked about the city’s $22 million 2025-26 fiscal year budget, retaining the 1.99 property tax millage rate and the city’s expenditure of taxpayer dollars.
“Nobody wants to raise taxes,” Soustek said. “This year, city hall understood the fragileness of our community and they cut back on projects they planned to do. A lot of things were cut so we could keep our millage the same.”
She noted the property taxes levied by the city make up a small portion of a property owner’s tax bill, but that small portion plays a key role in funding the city’s operations.
“Go home and look at your tax bill. Look at the amount of money the city gets compared to some other things,” Soustek said.
Oelfke said he doesn’t mind his own taxes increasing slightly but as a commissioner he feels a “huge responsibility” to keep property taxes low and ensure the tax revenues received are spent efficiently.
“I believe the people in this community need to feel heard and there’s a feeling that they don’t feel heard,” he said.
Patel said she doesn’t understand why the tentative millage rate was initially set at the higher 2.1812 mills rate and later lowered to the existing 1.99 rate after additional cost savings were identified.
“There’s always places in a budget that can be trimmed,” she said. “ Only after the fact – after the community was furious – did they say maybe we should take a look at the budget. That shows that we’re not talking to the community before making big decisions.”
Schaefer praised the mayor and the department heads for the comprehensive approach they took when crafting the new budget.
“I think a lot of people misunderstood when we set the maximum millage,” he said of the maximum millage rate adopted in July that could be, and was, lowered before the final budget was adopted in September.
Stormwater improvements, fees
Earlier this summer, Oelfke and Soustek and Commissioner Carol Whitmore opposed increasing the annual stormwater fee from $2.95 per 100 square feet of property to $4.95. Schaefer and Commissioner Dan Diggins supported the proposed increase.
During the forum, Oelke said he wasn’t comfortable increasing the stormwater fee when so many residents are still dealing with hurricane recovery expenses, but he said the fee will need to be increased in the future to make the necessary stormwater and drainage improvements.
Soustek expressed a similar view.
Patel said, “I shouldn’t have to drive through a no wake zone to take my kid to school. It’s a big problem. I feel like we’re playing this game of throw it at the fridge and see what sticks and nothing’s yet worked.”
She suggested looking at how other coastal cities address drainage and flooding issues.
Schaefer said the before 2024 hurricanes struck, the city asked a consultant to conduct a comprehensive drainage and stormwater system study. He said the consultant and city staff identified the $21 million worth of stormwater and drainage projects that should be pursued in the next five years and the stormwater fee revenues provide the money the city needs to receive the matching grants that help fund those projects.
All four candidates agreed that the existing square footage-based stormwater fee calculation method should be revised in a manner that factors in total lot coverage and impervious surface coverage.
“It’s not OK that some of our water issues are related to new development or new homes that maximize every square inch allowed on a lot. Those are the ones that should carry more of the burden,” Oelfke said.
Additional forum coverage will appear in The Sun before the Nov. 4 election.
