Supervisor-Elect Richard Vassalotti II will have to wait until December’s Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors meeting to be sworn in as the group’s newest member after defeating Seat 2 incumbent Supervisor Keith Jordano in the Tuesday, Nov. 5 election.
Though the ITID board held its monthly meeting Wednesday, Nov. 13, Florida’s election results were not expected to be certified before Friday, Nov. 15. Under Florida law, they must be certified by Nov. 19.
Two-time incumbent Supervisor Betty Argue retained Seat 4, defeating political newcomer Natalia Melian-Torres in a race separated by only 752 votes, according to unofficial results from the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections.
The major item on Wednesday’s agenda was a request by staff to update the district’s insurance requirements for contractors and vendors doing business with ITID. The focus was on making sure there is adequate insurance coverage related to sexual misconduct and/or molestation, accidents involving liquor, and also for incidents involving the loss or misuse of protected information in cyberspace.
Vassalotti, a retired Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue captain, said he was not surprised by the election outcome, even though this was his first foray into politics.
“I was getting such a great response from the community — such a positive vibe,” he said. “People know my service to the community through 30 years in fire-rescue and in youth sports. They believe in me, and they trust me.”
Vassalotti led a six-way primary in August with 40.03 percent of the vote. Jordano finished second with 22.49 percent.
In the general election, Vassalotti polled 12,939 votes (54.28 percent), while Jordano, who was seeking a second term in office, got 10,897 votes (45.72 percent).
Vassalotti ran ahead of Jordano on election day, in early voting and vote by mail. His strongest showing was among early voters, where he out-polled Jordano 8,097 to 6,284.
“I’m disappointed but not devastated,” Jordano said. “I made up a lot of ground [after the primary], and I still believe I was the best candidate.”
Jordano blamed much of his loss on an aggressive anti-incumbent web, social media and direct mail campaign funded by a Tallahassee political action committee known as Building Florida’s Future.
Argue has estimated some $200,000 was spent by area developers and others in an effort to unseat her and Jordano.
“Between the e-mail and hate mail and social media stuff… there was no way to overcome that hurdle,” Jordano said. “I believe I ran a clean campaign, and I’d rather do that than fight dirty.”
Argue did manage to overcome the negative ads, though she said the onslaught made the race closer than it otherwise would have been.
“I’m not surprised because of the amount of money spent attacking me and Keith,” she said. “But people know and trust me, and they know what I stand for. They know I’m fighting to preserve our community.”
Overall, Argue took 12,341 votes (51.57 percent) to Melian’s 11,589 votes (48.43 percent).
“I’m extremely happy that I won because it shows that deep pockets have no place in Indian Trail elections,” Argue said.
Melian outpolled Argue on election day (2,359 votes to 1,993 votes) but Argue had established a formidable lead in early voting (7,339 to 7,115) and especially vote by mail (3,009 to 2,115), giving her a 1,118-vote cushion going into Nov. 5.
“I didn’t want to lose, of course, but I feel good,” said Melian, who has been a leader in the county’s “Save Our Trucker” movement. “I feel grateful. I did great on election day.”
Melian said she was frustrated by the negative ads and mailers pushed by Building Florida’s Future and suggested they might have cost her votes.
“There was a lot of misinformation out there,” said Melian, who is a youthful 27. “I’m not 15, for instance. I’m not in high school… Or they called me the ‘trucker lady,’ and said I wanted to turn the district into a truck stop.”
Melian, who does own a trucking business with her husband, called the campaign “a learning experience.” And though she said she has made no decisions about her future, she added that the loss has not discouraged her. “If anything, it’s motivated me,” she said.
