UPDATE: No additional candidates filed for Indian Trail seats by the noon deadline on June 12.
Over the past week, several candidates have come forward to run for seats on the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors, setting up contested elections for all three available positions. More candidates may still come forward before the qualifying deadline on Friday, June 12.
Incumbent Supervisor Patricia Farrell filed Tuesday, June 9 to defend Seat 3, which she has held since her election in 2022.
Also seeking Seat 3 are former ITID Supervisor Carol Jacobs and Acreage resident Jack Lloyd Bell.
Farrell said Wednesday that there was no strategy in waiting until the final week — just the busyness of life. “I knew I was running,” she said. “I made the decision within the last year.”
Farrell, who is the board’s vice president, said she feels good about what the current five-member board has accomplished.
“I think we’ve come together as a board,” she said. “I think we’ve all — well, almost all — have worked together.”
With three candidates now in the race, that sets up an Aug. 18 primary election for Seat 3. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getters will advance to the Nov. 3 ballot.
As of 5 p.m. on Wednesday only two candidates were in the hunt for each of the remaining two seats.
Two-term incumbent Supervisor Michael Johnson is being challenged by another former ITID supervisor, Christopher Karch, for Seat 5.
In the race for Seat 1, Acreage residents Kirk Ljongquist and Jay Sweet have both qualified for the ballot. Seat 1 is being vacated by ITID President Elizabeth Accomando, who is instead running for the District 6 seat on the Palm Beach County Commission.
Ljongquist, who owns a construction business, ran in a crowded six-way race for Seat 2 in 2024 but did not make it past the primary election.
“I didn’t really want to run,” Ljongquist said, “but I didn’t want to be the one just sitting there and doing nothing.”
Sweet, a licensed land surveyor and certified urban planner, has been an Acreage resident since 1983. He told the Town-Crier previously that he also has concerns about budgeting and expenditures.
Ljongquist, a frequent speaker during the board’s public comment time, has expressed frustration with the amount of tax dollars spent, especially related to road construction and culverts.
More broadly, Ljongquist said the district is losing sight of its rural/agricultural roots and sense of connection. “There’s no sense of community anymore,” he said.
Farrell said she wants to revive that sense of community as well by supporting events that “build morale and make this a truly great place to live.”
Part of that will be leaning into the district’s equestrian ethos with improvements to Nicole Hornstein Equestrian Park and Hamlin House. She said she’d also like to see more and better use of the diamonds at Acreage Community Park North for baseball and softball.
Farrell said among the biggest challenges in the coming four years will be managing growth and development pressure in and around the district. “I understand that growth is here,” she said. “We have to manage it in a way that best suits the needs of our residents.”
Unless additional candidates file by the deadline, voters will not weigh in on the Seat 1 and Seat 5 races until November. All three seats are for four-year terms.
