It didn’t take long for Dade City to fill its city commissioner vacancy.
After interviewing five candidates, the city commission selected Lisa Simon and swore in the fairly new town resident on May 23.
Simon, who moved to Dade City from Jacksonville in 2021, fills the Group 4 position vacated by Knute Nathe.
Nathe, a Dade City native, resigned to serve as a Pasco County Judge on April 13, and his term was set to end in April 2024.
Nathe also was mayor pro tem.
Simon, a former preschool teacher and a real estate agent, joins Mayor Jim Shive and commissioners Normita Woodard, Scott Black and Ann Cosentino on the panel.
“I would like to thank her family because this can also be a time-consuming position,” Shive told the packed city commission meeting room. “We are thankful and grateful for her stepping up and helping her community.”
Simon has been attending city commission meetings regularly, since she and her husband of 39 years moved to Dade City.
“I decided to put my money where my mouth is and I couldn’t be more excited to get started,” Simon said. “It’s a little daunting, but I am really ready to get to work.”
Others who were interviewed for the city commission seat were Clyde Carter, Jere Ferguson, Michael Stout and Steve Van Gordon.
In joining the commission, Simon expressed her appreciation for the support of her family, friends and the city, as well as her fellow commissioners.
Before moving to town, she and her husband looked all over for a new home. They decided on Dade City because they fell in love with its small-town feel.
“And then we pull up and come into town seeing all the signs that said, ‘Keep Dade City Rural’ and we’re like, ‘Uh oh. What have we done?’” Simon said. “But I started going to meetings and getting involved and just met some great people. What I learned from them is that they were concerned that the city was moving in the right direction and making sure that growth in Dade City was done the right way.”
In her first meeting after being sworn in, the New Orleans native, mother of five and soon-to-be grandma of five was able to partake in a handful of votes.
Those actions included approving:
- Renovation plans for Polly Touchton Park
- A name change from Garvin Place Road to Finnerty Way
- A unanimous promotion of commissioner Woodard to the position of mayor pro tem
Published June 07, 2023
