Four candidates have already turned in paperwork to run for two seats on the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors in the upcoming election season, with a little more than two weeks left to qualify for the ballot.
In Seat 2, incumbent Supervisor Keith Jordano has drawn two opponents as of Wednesday, May 29.
Kirk Allen Ljongquist of 94th Terrace North and Stian Oksavik of 79th Court North have both filed to challenge Jordano, who has also turned in paperwork to seek a second term.
In Seat 4, Natalia Melian Torres of East Pleasure Drive is the only candidate to file so far. The seat is currently held by Supervisor Betty Argue, who is wrapping up her second four-year term on the board.
Candidates have until noon on Friday, June 14 to qualify for the ballot. If more than two candidates qualify for a race, it will appear on the Tuesday, Aug. 20 primary election ballot. The top two vote-getters will advance to the November general election, unless a candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote and is elected outright. Races that only draw two candidates will skip the primary ballot and be on the general election ballot in November.
Jordano, who has lived in The Acreage since 1998 and owns an insurance agency, is seeking his second term after several earlier runs for the board.
“I think the district wants a conservative, middle-of-the-road candidate,” Jordano said this week. “I want to protect the community we all love.”
Ljongquist, who has owned property in The Acreage since 1989, said he is frustrated with the increasing demands of recently arriving residents and with the growth of bureaucracy, assessments and expenditures within ITID.
“The district’s job is to maintain roads, swales and drainage,” said Ljongquist, who owns a construction business. “I don’t feel they’re doing that. They’re just spending money on stuff we don’t need.”
Jordano said that as the board’s treasurer, he sees where every dollar goes and does his best to make sure it’s well and properly spent, and that he is happy that the board was able to pass a budget for fiscal year 2025 without an assessment increase for most property owners.
“I think it shows residents that we’re trying to be fiscally responsible,” he said.
Oksavik, who works remotely in the area of computer networks for a telecom company, has lived in the area since 2014.
Making his first run for office, Oksavik said he has three reasons for getting in the race — to help better manage tax dollars, to encourage more milling and paving of roads where residents want it, and to support the district’s big-rig truckers in their fight to park their semis at their homes.
“You get that tax bill every year and [district] assessments go up and up,” Oksavik said Wednesday. “I want to help everyone keep spending under control.”
One way to save long-term is by milling more roads, he said. “For all the money [the supervisors] spend, how many times can you grade a road?” he asked.
Melian has lived in The Acreage since 2018 and owns a trucking business with her husband. She has been a leader in the “Save Our Truckers” movement but said her activism on that issue had little to do with her choice to enter the race. Instead, Melian said it was her six years of managing the dollars and cents of the family business.
“I think the board could use the money better,” she said Wednesday. “I don’t think they’re focusing on the right things… They’re using too much money where it could be saved.”
Though this is Melian’s first run for office, she has appeared at rallies, before the ITID supervisors and the Palm Beach County Commission numerous times regarding the truck-parking issue.
Argue, who has not yet filed for re-election, could not be reached for comment. She moved to The Acreage in 2011, and in 2016 unseated longtime Supervisor Michelle Damone to take her seat on the board. She automatically returned to the board in 2020 when her only opponent, former Supervisor Carol Jacobs, withdrew from the race. Argue has served multiple stints as ITID president.
