Candidates match up for Maitland City Council election

In March, Maitland will elect one new City Council member, and his name will be Mike. He’ll also be a former member of the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission. Whether that man will be Mike Dabby or Mike Thomas will be decided in the general election on March 15.

The two men qualified to run for Maitland City Council Seat 1 on Dec. 18, kicking off campaign season in the city. Someone who won’t be campaigning is Councilwoman Joy Goff-Marcil. She came out unopposed in election qualifying, and was automatically reelected to serve another three-year term after first being elected to Council in 2013.

Goff-Marcil said it felt like Christmas came early for her last month when she learned she wouldn’t have to campaign to earn back her seat. She said she looks forward to continuing to work to protect Maitland’s neighborhoods and its natural resources, while also advancing downtown development.

“I love Maitland,” she said. “It’s a great place to live, and [I] just want to continue to help keep it that way.”

Dabby and Thomas both also cite the preservation of the Maitland community that they love as a reason they’re running for City Council. One of the men will replace outgoing Councilman Ivan Valdes, as he terms out after serving five years on the dais.

Dabby enters the race touting more than two decades of volunteer service on Maitland city boards, and the title of city Volunteer of the Year for his service in 2014. Twelve of those years he’s spent as a member of the Planning & Zoning Commission. He’s balanced that with a near-30-year career as a real estate appraiser and land specialist.

“I’d like to continue to provide the city with my expertise,” Dabby said. “…We’ve got a lot of challenges in front of us, and I think I’m the best man for the job.”

Developing a financially sustainable and desirable downtown, investing in Maitland’s west side, and protecting the city’s neighborhood character are some of Dabby’s top concerns. Having been a familiar face at city board meetings for more than two decades, Dabby said, he won’t face a learning curve if elected.

“I’m always listening to what’s going on. I will be prepared to step into City Council shoes on day one,” he said. “… As far as knowing what’s going on in the community … I’m ready on day one.”

Thomas also enters the election as a member of Maitland’s Planning & Zoning Commission for the past year, but with a background that varies from newspaper reporter and columnist, to public policy advisor.

Thomas worked as a reporter at the Orlando Sentinel for nearly three decades investigating and writing stories and, later, opinion columns on everything from politics to the environment and education. After leaving the newspaper in 2011, he’s served as a communications manager for Orange County Public Schools, a top policy advisor to Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs, and in the communication department of former Gov. Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education.

His background in research and policy making on a variety of subjects, he said, would allow him to provide a valuable point of view on City Council if elected.

Thomas said Maitland needs to work on meshing its old with its new to make it the best it can be. That means, he said, protecting the city’s neighborhoods and high-caliber schools while building a quality, pedestrian-friendly downtown corridor.

“Development has to be an amenity for the residential part of Maitland,” Thomas said. “It has to be something that adds to the value of the existing communities.”

Residents have just over a month left to register to vote in the March election. The final day to register to be qualified to vote in the election is Feb. 15