Two new faces will soon frequent Alachua’s City Hall.
Walter Welch and Jacob Fletcher beat incumbent Mayor Gib Coerper and Vice Mayor Ed Potts, respectively, in Tuesday’s election.
Their victories are the latest in a series of changes to the city’s personnel, spurred on by a rapid period of local development.
Mayor
Welch won by a margin of just 21 votes, ending Coerper’s nearly 15-year tenure as mayor.
City commissioners selected the mayor from among themselves until 2010, when a city charter amendment gave that power to citizens. Welch’s victory makes him the second mayor to be elected in Alachua since the city’s founding in 1905.
While Coerper narrowly garnered more in-person votes, mail-in-ballots pushed Welch over the finish line, leading to his 639 (50.8%) to 618 (49.2%) vote victory.
City Commission, Seat 2
Political newcomer Jacob Fletcher beat incumbent Vice Mayor Potts 785 votes (60.5%) to 513 (39.5%).
At 29, Fletcher was the youngest candidate on the ballot this election cycle.
A data engineer by trade, he first became involved with city government in his role as president of the Florida Speleological Society opposing the developments proposed near the Mill Creek Cave System.
He credited voter interaction as the key to his campaign’s success. “Alachua is a very, very big area, and so the concerns throughout the city are very diverse,” he said.
Potts, who served one term on the commission, called his opponent’s campaign “outstanding.”
“We chatted this morning about things we had that were common interests,” Potts said, confident that they “would be advanced regardless of who won.”
He added that the pair agreed to “just let the voters decide” and avoid bringing the divisiveness seen at a national stage to their local community.
“The two incumbents we defeated are great men,” Fletcher said. “They have a long history of service, community involvement and philanthropy in Alachua. I have no doubt that they'll continue to make meaningful contributions to our community.”
Changes in City Hall
Voters’ decision for new representation on the City Commission came amid a slew of other staffing changes.
Three planners resigned from the city’s Planning and Community Development Office earlier this year, followed by the resignation of public information officer Kyler Burk in the spring.
City commissioners voted not to investigate the planners’ motives for leaving or to contract temporary help to fill their vacancies in decisions on Feb. 24 and March 24, respectively.
Welch, Fletcher and Potts expressed concern over the planners’ resignations during a candidate forum held by the League of Women Voters ahead of the city’s election. Coerper did not attend.
The three candidates each emphasized a need for increased transparency, with Welch stating, “we need to do better with communication.”
Fletcher has been a vocal critic of the city’s rapid development and decision not to investigate the planners’ resignations.
“A lot of the stuff that has threatened and affected [the Mill Creek Cave System] threatens this entire city,” he said at a March 18 demonstration outside of City Hall. “The citizens of the city need to come first and not these developers.”
He emphasized that priority in a phone interview with WUFT shortly after election results were announced. “We need to really address how we're approaching planners,” he said. “I do not want our city facing liability because we're eager to develop.”
The mayor and commissioner-elect will be sworn in at the regular City Commission meeting April 21 at 6 p.m.