Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Voters elect all-LGBT City Commission
Wilton Manors is only the second in the country, the first being Palm Springs, Calif.
Wilton Manors, the unofficial LGBT capital of South Florida, has an all-LGBT City Commission after Tuesday’s election.
It’s the first Florida city with an all-LGBT city commission — and it’s only the second in the country. The other is Palm Springs, Calif.
Before the election, the Victory Fund, a national organization that works to increase the number of elected lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender elected officials, urged Wilton Manors voters to make history with their votes.
“LGBTQ people are severely under-represented at every level of government, so to have an all-LGBTQ city commission and an LGBTQ mayor in Wilton Manors would be an exciting moment, especially given the strong LGBTQ community there,” Sean Meloy, the organization’s political director, said in a pre-election statement. “Representation matters.”
Data from the 2010 U.S. Census showed that Wilton Manors has the second-highest percentage of gay couples — behind Provincetown, Mass. — in the country.
The last straight member of the commission, Scott Newton, lost his bid for re-election Tuesday.
He finished third in a four-candidate race to fill two spots on the commission, which has four commissioners and a mayor.
Commissioner Justin Flippen, who is gay, was elected mayor. The outgoing mayor, Gary Resnick, who is also gay, ran for a commission seat and won.
Newcomer Paul Rolli, who is also gay, won the second commission seat.
Two other LGBT commissioners, Julie Carson and Tom Green, were in the middle of their terms and continue in office.
Shari McCartney, a former member of the Oakland Park City Commission, lost her campaign Tuesday to become the first openly lesbian member of the Broward County Commission.
The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council reported that an LGBT candidate, Michelle Sylvester, was elected to the board of the Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation District.
Tuesday’s election will also give Florida more openly gay and lesbian state legislators — three of 160 — than it’s had before.
Jennifer Webb, a Gulfport Democrat, became the first open lesbian elected to the state House of Representatives.
State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, the state’s first openly gay Latino legislator, won a second term on Tuesday.
State Rep. Shevrin Jones, DWest Park, who became the state’s first openly gay black legislator when he came out in August, didn’t have any opposition in his re-election bid.