In Alachua County, eight county and city-level offices face competitive primary or general elections this fall.
Our newsroom reached out to all 20 candidates in those contested races and asked if they would help us inform voters about the issues they care about, what motivated them to run and which agenda items they seek to pass if elected.
Florida's primary election is Aug. 20.
The deadline to change your voter registration for the general election is Oct. 7.
The general election is Nov. 5.
Scroll below to learn more about some of the candidates running for Alachua County Commission District 3.
Anna Prizzia
Anna Prizzia is the incumbent county commissioner. She is a Democrat.
What are the three most pressing problems happening in your district or jurisdiction?
Development pressure is a big issue for my district. We need to balance the need for open space, parks, traffic issues and the rapid increase in development projects.
Another big issue is the backlog of infrastructure projects, resulting in deteriorating roads and failing stormwater facilities.
Climate change is a big issue for not just my district, but our world. The impacts of increased storm frequency and intensity, heat and other climate related challenges is critical to address.
Your suggested solution for top problem:
Ensuring we have a robust comprehensive plan and codes for development projects is the best tool we have for addressing this issue. In addition to ensuring we have strong buffer, open space and tree protections, we must rework community engagement processes to better listen to our neighbors and residents regarding development projects.
Investing in parks and public spaces is another important solution. Protecting West End Golf Course from development and purchasing it as a park for the western part of our county, making improvements to Jonesville Park and Veteran's Park and also exploring other areas for parks within the western part of our county has been a major focus in my first term. I worked to ensure we had a Parks Master Plan and a Pedestrian and Bike Master Plan that include community input so that we can have a roust and transparent set of tools for decision making as we invest our Wild Spaces, Public Places dollars for parks.
Finally, we need to protect the land that is on the frontline for development - our farms. I introduced an agricultural lands protection program to buy agricultural easements from our local farmers so they can get some of the value of their land for their families while protecting our farms from sprawl and ensuring food security for future generations.
Your suggested solution for problem two:
In addition to more than doubling the amount of our property tax dollars going to roads during my first term, I also worked to expand our infrastructure surtax to address the terrible condition of our roads - while in office our commission has expanded the funding for road repaving and maintenance from approximately 3M to almost 25M per year. We have also invested in upgrading our stormwater infrastructure, including pines, pumps, and cleaning stormwater ponds and swales. Continuing to make these investments and focusing on our infrastructure and assets is the best solution for this problem.
Your suggested solution for problem three:
When I started the Office of Sustainability at UF, this was a major focus of my work and I can bring this skills and experience to help as we undertake this process. We must use a data-driven approach to developing a climate action plan. With a robust vulnerability and flooding analysis and a carbon footprint analysis developed during my first term, we have a strong foundation for planning. We now need to use this information to develop targeted strategies to handle areas most at risk and I have pushed for a meaningful community engagement process to get feedback on this plan as it is developed. We need to focus on extreme temperatures and the increased intensity and frequency of storms. We must have robust emergency management systems, investments in infrastructure to mitigate flash flooding and heat, support for our farmers and natural resources managers to address changes, and a focus on public health needs for our communities.
It's been two years since the infrastructure surtax was passed. How do you feel the county is progressing with road repairs?
It has taken us a while to get started because we needed to ensure we had a project list that was based on a roust set of data and not just politics, and we have had challenges with accessing materials and contractors to do the work, but things are now underway for several major roads, and I am excited about the progress we will make this year and beyond. In addition to the surtax, I voted for us to more than double the amount of property tax dollars we put toward road maintenance and have been a strong advocate for upgrading crosswalks and other safety measures to protect bikers and pedestrians.
What are the environmental issues you believe the county should address?
In addition to addressing Climate change, which is our most pressing environmental issue, we need to focus on water quality and water quantity. We are seeing our springs deteriorate and our rivers having reduced flows. I have worked to push stronger regulations for water pollution and water use and to update our codes to ensure developers are also being responsible with water use. We also need to work with farmers to develop positive relationships and trust with our farmers by supporting them. As a commissioner I have been working to push our institutions to buy local food and working on ways to ensure that healthy, local food is accessible to everyone in our community. Through these programs, we can incentivize regenerative practices, and we can begin to build relationships that will allow us to work with Extension and others to develop partnerships with farms to test the most effective strategies for water quality/quantity protection, climate-friendly practices, and other benefits.
Since declaring gun violence a public health crisis, how do you feel the county has managed gun violence? What steps would you take as county commissioner to further prevent gun violence?
The county has focused on developing partnerships with our Sheriffs Office, the State Attorney, local law enforcement, the City of Gainesville, local community organizations and churches, and Santa Fe College to address the Gun Violence issues. This is a great start, and collaboration and coordination are key to reducing gun violence. As a commissioner I have pushed for us to look at the causes and perpetrators of the crime. A majority of the gun crimes are being committed by people who have already been convicted before. I believe that we need to have a robust plan for how we are going to handle violent offenders when they return to our community after serving their time. We need to have services and support for these individuals to find productive paths to restart their lives and robust mentorship and monitoring for them so that they can succeed instead of re-offending. We also need to continue to promote responsible gun ownership. The vast majority of these crimes are being perpetrated by guns stolen from lawful gun owners. We need gun owners to use gun safes, lock boxes, and trigger locks in order to deter theft. I think we also need to have a coordinated program for the organizations that are working to address youth mental health and violence in our community. By providing training, technical support, and coordinated data collection, we can support a community-driven approach that can be evaluated and adapted as we learn. Finally, we need to focus on opportunities for our young people, and collaborate with the Children's Trust and other groups to invest in them so they have places to go, things to do, and jobs that allow them to provide for themselves and their families.
Jenn Garrett
Jenn Garrett is a Republican running for District 3.
What are the three most pressing problems happening in your district or jurisdiction?
Our county faces several pressing challenges including deteriorating roads/increased traffic, development/housing challenges and rising crime levels over the last 5-10 years.
Your suggested solution for top problem:
Roads
Maintaining and Improving our roads is one of the primary functions of local government. During my tenure at a cultural resource management firm, a significant portion of my responsibilities involved working with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to ensure compliance with federal Section 106 regulations. This hands-on experience provided me with invaluable insights into the development of state road projects and the profound impact that FDOT initiatives can exert on local communities. A recent Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization (MTPO) meeting revealed that our County risks losing over 6 million dollars of FDOT funding because of mismanagement. As a county commissioner, I will ensure we have a strong relationship with FDOT to maximize the funding available to complete our road projects.
Your suggested solution for problem two:
Development/housing
Recent estimates indicate that more than 700 people are moving to our state
every day. This rapid growth has directly impacted Alachua County, contributing
significantly to the rise in housing costs, especially over the past four years.
While high demand plays a role, our county's practices further inflate housing
prices compared to neighboring areas.
Our county's process for developing and approving new housing developments is
notably slower than in other counties across the state, compounded by high
permitting fees. These delays—sometimes taking twice as long as in other
counties—result in increased upfront costs for developers and builders. This
scenario hurts our community in two significant ways:
1. Barrier to Local Developers: Fewer local developers possess the financial
resources needed to complete projects, limiting their participation.
2. Increased Housing Costs: Developers who can navigate these hurdles often
pass the additional costs on to homebuyers and renters, driving up housing prices
county-wide.
To address this, I propose working closely with our county planning department
to streamline the development process and make it more accessible to our local construction community. By reducing bureaucratic delays and allowing for some design flexibility in our code, we can help bring development costs down, resulting in better projects with more affordable housing options. Additionally, fostering a thriving local developer community can help maintain a distinct local character in our housing, avoiding the prevalence of "cookie-cutter" developments.
Your suggested solution for problem three:
Crime
I recently went on a night time ride-along with a deputy with Alachua County Sheriff's Office. The experience opened my eyes to the fact that we have a problem with gang and drug related crimes in our community. This crime culture is entangling our most vulnerable youth. Just last month a 13 year old and 14 year old- middle school aged-children- were arrested for fatally shooting a man while they were buying a bag of weed. In the 23 years I’ve lived in Alachua County, the murder rate has gone from roughly one a year to almost one a week in 2022. This is not the community I chose to raise my kids in. Our deputies are on the front lines of dealing with this issue and I am grateful for their service to our community. They deserve our support and as a commissioner, I will support law enforcement and I will continue to participate in ride-alongs. It is important to me to have an open dialogue with the Sheriff and deputies to make sure that I know what is going on in our communities.
Last fall, against the recommendation of our Sheriff, our county commission voted to allow unlimited free phone calls to inmates in our jail. As a result the volume of calls increased dramatically, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to taxpayers. Staff at the jail report that the inmates are now running their criminal enterprises from inside the jail. When this newly created problem was brought to the attention of the county commission a few months later, the commission doubled down and stopped the use of recording software on jail phones- software that had prevented homicides in our community. I cannot understand why our county commission would grant these unlimited phone privileges to inmates at the cost of public safety and tax dollars. This is an example of the commission creating problems, not solving them. As a county commissioner I will work closely with the Sheriff's office to make sure they have the resources they need to keep our community safe.
Editor's note: According to state data, murder rates in Alachua County have increased in the last 20 years from 8.8 for every 100,000 people in 2003 to 16.2 for every 100,000 people in 2022.
It's been two years since the infrastructure surtax was passed. How do you feel the county is progressing with road repairs?
The progress has been painfully slow. NW 23rd Avenue, a stretch of road my family jokingly refers to as the “Buchholz Baja” was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023. Construction has only just begun this summer. County Road 337 and South CR 241 in Newberry are deteriorated, dangerous roads that are not scheduled to be repaired in the next 5 years. Our county, like most, uses software to rank the order of road repair projects based on number of trips (cars on the road) and the current condition of the road. However, our county is one of the only communities in the nation that takes that list, the most efficient way to fix roads, and gives 40% preference to those roads that are located in areas they deem of historic disadvantage. While some may think this is a good way to right the wrongs of the past, the result is that the worst roads get even more deteriorated and cost exponentially more to repair. We need to make the most of our road dollars and fix the roads in the most efficient, cost effective order.
I want to make the public aware that in October of 2021, the county commission quietly passed a new road tax initiative referred to as a Municipal Service Benefit Unit (MSBU) also known as “Special Assessment Districts”. These tax overlay districts were immediately required for the general maintenance and capital improvement of roads in new developments. However, the commission may choose to use these overlay districts in neighborhoods that were built decades ago. For instance, if residents in Haile need their cul de sac repaired, the county commission can impose an overlay tax district on their neighborhood to cover the costs. This tax was not approved by voters and will be in addition to our already high property taxes in our county.
Editor's note: According to county public works director Ramon Gavarrete, the county voted to place automatic Special Assessment Districts only on new subdivisions to pay for "future capital maintenance," with the costs spread out over 30 years. For older subdivisions, a Special Assessment District has to be requested by the majority of homeowners in the neighborhood and approved by the county, and the cost is usually spread out over 10 years. This procedure has been in place for years, according to Gavarrete.
What are the environmental issues you believe the county should address?
Our county has long been a champion of environmental protection, and I deeply appreciate our nature parks, springs, and wetlands. Alachua County Forever, the public conservation management group, has a mission "to acquire, improve, and manage environmentally significant lands that protect water resources, wildlife habitats, and natural areas suitable for resource-based recreation." To date, Alachua County Forever has acquired 33,703.02 acres of public conservation land at a cost of $118,053,701.93.
Currently, only 70% of these lands are accessible to the public. Before allocating additional funds to acquire more conservation lands, we need a clear plan to increase public access to these areas. The Alachua County Forever plan, approved by the county commission in 2023, aims to protect 50% of the county's land and water by 2050 at an estimated cost of one billion dollars in today's dollars.
As a county, we must consider the feasibility of this goal—not just the cost of land acquisition, but also the expenses of maintenance and public access. Additionally, we must evaluate the impact of having half of our county’s land off the tax rolls and designated for conservation. How can we realistically balance the needs of our residents with our environmental goals? With 50% of the land in conservation, combined with publicly owned lands like GRU, government offices, and UF, will there be a sufficient tax base to support the community? Have other counties embarked on such an ambitious conservation plan? What are the potential unintended consequences (inflation of land values, limited potential for economic development in the future)? We must fully understand the potential risks in order to develop a sustainable strategy that balances environmental protection with the economic needs of our community.
Since declaring gun violence a public health crisis, how do you feel the county has managed gun violence? What steps would you take as county commissioner to further prevent gun violence?
Based on a thorough review of gun violence in our community and extensive conversations with law enforcement, it's clear that the gun violence we experience is closely tied to drug gangs in our poorest neighborhoods. Our Sheriff's office has the right approach by increasing the number of deputies and maintaining a strong community presence. Tragically, the majority of gun violence is committed by youths under 25, often under 20.
As a County Commissioner, I will focus on addressing the root causes that draw our young people to a life of drugs and violence. I will support the Sheriff's office in their efforts to eliminate drug dealers from our community. Additionally, I will collaborate with the school board and local non-profits to intervene with at-risk youth and provide them with hope for a better life.
As a community we need to support these at-risk youth at all ages and we have several successful programs like the Children’s Trust and the Early Learning Coalition that provide funding to support organizations with the focus of strengthening families. There seems to be a void in the middle school-years, a critical time for at-risk youth. We need strong middle school sports and extracurricular programs to keep kids engaged in school and out of trouble. Our community has a rich tradition of elite athletics, and I've already spoken with some of these athletes about using their influence to reach these kids before they choose a life of crime and violence. We must have a strong partnership with our schools to be sure that we have the extra curricular activities available to all children that will keep them away from the lure of gangs.
This is a complex issue, but we have an extraordinary network of nonprofits and successful athletes that most communities don't have. By leveraging our strengths alongside law enforcement, we can save these kids and, ultimately, our community. Let's work together to ensure a brighter future for all.
