The Board of County Commission District 5 seat is sought by incumbent Holly Davis and first-time candidate for District 5 Paul Grogan.
Commissioner Davis was elected to the BOCC on the Republican ticket in 2020 and became chairwoman for 2024.
Grogan, who identifies as an NPA candidate (No Party Affiliation), ran for the BOCC in 2022 in District 2; he was overwhelmingly defeated by Diana Finegan 78 percent to 22 percent with almost 73,000 total votes cast.
Since being elected, Davis has chaired the Tourist Development Commission (TDC) as well as two other organizations and is a member of six additional community and county groups. Her focus has been on economic growth, specifically promoting higher paying jobs, and protecting the environment – no small tasks here in the county.
Out of the starting gate, Davis – who is technology oriented – took up the process of Strategic Planning, a method neglected by past commissions, and which is sorely needed as the county rapidly becomes a bedroom community of Tampa Bay. This tool sets priorities and goals and identifies resources and allocation in a dashboard on the county’s website. It is a rather transparent tool that shows the status and percentage of achievement of individual action items.
She has also had the political courage to help break the county’s generational poverty through Prosperity Citrus and to help identify a workable solution to the Inverness IV conundrum – a nightmare of hazardous dirt roads, which has been punted by the developer and is now an issue in Tallahassee in the Attorney General’s office.
Grogan is a little tougher to flesh out. He identifies himself as a Merchant Marine Officer as well as owner of several businesses in the county. His website says he is a first mate on an ocean-going vessel providing engineering support for wind turbine construction off the northeast coast of New England. His political platform is to support responsible development and local autonomy in the county. There is little mention of how this is to occur.
Both candidates were asked to visit the Chronicle’s editorial board so that we could ask questions to make a recommendation for the general election.
Davis showed up and discussed her term in office. She said she is proud of her efforts concerning the citizen-led strategic planning process which identifies priorities as noted on the Dashboard and which, she said, will save taxpayer dollars.
If reelected, she wants to continue focusing on the strategic plan and prioritize the environmental architecture here in the county. We need, she said, to “save granddaddy oak trees.”
Grogan did not respond to our invitation, so we did not have the opportunity to chat with him. In some ways, he remains a ghost and a hard target to pin down. If he indeed is on an ocean-going vessel it will be difficult to perform the requirements that each commissioner faces on a daily basis.
This is not a job that can be phoned in.
Davis has been transparent and has attentively listened to citizens speak during commission meetings. She has attended numerous events and committee assignments outside the commission. She has focused on her platform with laser-like intent to achieve the goals she set out in 2020.
Unlike many politicians, Davis will give an answer that clarifies her position without the answer straddling the gates so that a person is more confused after the discussion than before.
That’s why we recommend Holly Davis for reelection to the Board of County Commissioners, District 5.
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