Royal Palm Beach residents will vote in a contested mayoral race and one contested council race on Tuesday, March 11.
When the qualifying period closed Tuesday, Nov. 12, two incumbent council members were returned to the dais without opposition, joined by one newcomer.
Councilman Richard Valuntas will keep the Group 2 seat and Councilwoman Jan Rodusky will keep the Group 4 seat after no challengers came forward to run against them.
In addition, Royal Palm Beach Planning & Zoning Commissioner Adam Miller was unchallenged in his bid for the vacant Group 1 seat and will join the dais for a one-year term.
Three candidates filed paperwork to run for mayor, while three also filed to run for the vacant Group 3 seat. Both are special elections for one-year terms.
Mayor Jeff Hmara, a longtime councilman appointed mayor last month to fill the vacancy created by the unexpected death of Mayor Fred Pinto, is running to keep the top job, challenged by longtime Councilwoman Selena Samios, as well as political newcomer Justin Plaza.
The race for Group 3 includes Steve Avila, who challenged Pinto for mayor last year, along with Pinto’s widow Donielle Pinto, and Sylvia Sharps, who ran unsuccessfully for a Palm Beach County Commission seat in 2022.
MILLER TO JOIN COUNCIL
Adam Miller has served as a planning and zoning commissioner for the past six years. He works for the School District of Palm Beach County as chief of performance accountability. Miller previously served as a school principal and director of educational technology for the district.
“I have been on the Planning & Zoning Commission, and I enjoy volunteering and giving back,” Miller said. “I also enjoy making sure that our village keeps that small-town feel. I really love what the council has been doing, financially and outreach. It made sense to me to take the next step when a seat opened up.”
From a position on the council, Miller wants to support local educators. “Working with the school district, I see the value of our teachers, and I would like to do more to recognize teachers in Royal Palm Beach, and perhaps incentivize more to live and work in Royal Palm Beach,” he said.
Miller has been a Royal Palm Beach resident since 2003. He currently lives in the PortoSol neighborhood. He is married to Tsiri Miller, principal at Western Academy Charter School. They have two daughters.
MAYOR’S SEAT
Jeff Hmara, who was first elected to the council in 2012, was appointed mayor about a month after Pinto passed away. He is running to continue the work he has been doing.
“There is an opportunity to be able to influence decisions and work being done in the community that is enhanced by being mayor,” he explained. “I have a number of ideas that I believe would lift this community from being a really good place to live to a really great place to live.”
One key focus would be on working with the county and other agencies on the current countywide transportation plan.
“Traffic congestion gets worse every single day,” he said. “Solving issues requires relationships in order to provide solutions. We need to put together a coordinated, integrated transportation system. It’s not going to get better without a dramatically different approach.”
He also wants to work on ideas that have not gotten traction before, such as providing more help for local schools.
“The village can have more significant impact by virtue of engaging with schools more frequently and with greater depth,” Hmara said, adding that he is looking for a commitment to assist at the classroom level.
He is also looking forward to the expansion of the recreation center, which will provide more space and programming for senior activities.
Selena Samios was first elected to the council in 2016.
“I am running for mayor to bring clear, results-driven leadership to Royal Palm Beach,” she said. “Our residents deserve straight answers and real solutions to the issues that impact our daily lives, not endless talk without action. I am committed to making sure that every voice is heard, every concern addressed and every opportunity for improvement pursued. Together, we can build a future for Royal Palm Beach that we can all be proud of.”
In her current campaign, Samios said that she will continue with the themes that she has run on since her first campaign for office.
“As mayor, I will continue to focus on our senior population, local businesses and transparency,” she said. “I will preserve our village’s unique character by continuing to fight to reduce traffic congestion and manage growth responsibly.”
Justin Plaza is making his first bid for local office with a focus on a unique online platform he developed to enhance public participation in community governance called the 60|40 Platform, which he said allows residents a “vote after the vote.”
“It is a way for all residents to make a statement and make a change at their convenience,” he said. “I am going to try to implement a fully democratic system.”
Through the program, residents would interact with a council member, who would be responsible for putting items supported by the community up for a vote.
“At heart, I’m a problem solver,” Plaza said. “I am at the point in my life that I want to give back.”
Aside from a focus on community engagement, Plaza wants to look deeply into the village budget to find changes to how the village operates. He has a particular interest in how the village does bidding and contract negotiations, where he has a great deal of experience.
“I love the town. I don’t want to change that. I just want more engagement with residents,” Plaza said.
Plaza has been a Royal Palm Beach resident since 2016. He lives in the Madison Green neighborhood. Voters can learn more about Plaza’s 60|40 Platform at his web site, which can be found at www.rpbmayor.com.
GROUP 3 SEAT
Steve Avila got 40 percent of the vote in his race for mayor against Pinto earlier this year. It was his first attempt at a local elected office.
“A lot of people have been hesitant in electing me straight to mayor, but it is a whole different ball game running for a council seat,” he said. “I was very encouraged to get 40 percent as a newcomer. That motivated me to continue on with the coalition that I built.”
Avila’s focus will remain on his previous campaign themes of term limits, fighting overdevelopment and government transparency.
“I received so much support this past election cycle. I had so many people vote for the first time. I heard from so many people who want change that I decided to throw my hat in for this council seat,” he said.
Avila grew up in the community and graduated at the top of his class at Royal Palm Beach High School in 2007 before attending Dartmouth College. He lived in China for five years, returning home in 2020, and he is part owner of a company that does college admissions consulting.
Donielle Pinto said that she is running to continue the good work that her husband did for the village over the course of his 21 years in office.
“My goal is to assist in continuing the passion of service to our citizens and the village that my husband was devoted to, especially for Royal Palm Beach being an even safer and wonderful place for entire families to live and thrive in,” she said.
As a councilwoman, Pinto said that she would focus on safeguarding the village while listening to citizens and local business owners.
“I admired my husband for purposely going to our local grocery stores to be accessible to our citizens in order to hear from them because most of the time they can’t make the council meetings,” she said, adding that she would like to develop more programs to support village residents in need, such as seniors, widows, widowers and those who are homeless.
Pinto grew up in California, where she frequently worked on political campaigns and causes. She moved to Florida in 1991 and has been a resident of Royal Palm Beach for 12 years, currently living in the Victoria Grove neighborhood.
Two years after running unsuccessfully for the Palm Beach County Commission, Sylvia Sharps said that her goal in seeking public office remains the same.
“I just want to want be a representative for the people and fulfill my goal to be an effective servant leader,” Sharps said. “Royal Palm Beach is a beautiful place to live. We are so blessed that we do not have a lot of the issues that other municipalities have.”
Her focus on the council would be dealing with traffic woes, bringing more employment and more senior programs.
“We have become lightly crowded, and traffic has become pretty bad. I would like to see what we can do regarding traffic,” Sharps said. “We need more employment for young people and more for them to do when they are not in school, as well as doing more for our senior citizens. I would like to develop some commissions or boards for seniors to give some of their experiences to help us make decisions.”
The Town-Crier and the Village of Royal Palm Beach will host a candidate forum in advance of the election on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, at 7 p.m.
