Stuart has a new mayor.
As the vice mayor elected by the city commissioners in December, Sean Reed automatically became mayor April 30 with the resignation of Mayor Christopher Collins from the Stuart City Commission. Collins quit to run for Martin County Commission, which is required by the city Charter.
In less than two years, Reed has gone from commissioner to vice mayor to mayor. He was elected in August 2024 to his first term on the commission. Collins’ run for the County Commission was expected and prompted concern at least by Stuart Commissioner Campbell Rich that Reed lacked the experience necessary to be mayor.
“I just don’t think the city would be well-served with Commissioner Reed potentially becoming mayor in a mere 90 days,” Rich said in December.
With a new city manager expected to start in 2026 and for the sake of tradition — which would make Stuart Commissioner Eula Clarke vice mayor — Rich hoped the motion in December to appoint Reed vice mayor would fail. Reed has never served on any advisory boards like the Local Planning Agency or Community Redevelopment Board, Rich added.
He stands by his December comments, Rich said May 4.
But Collins said Reed’s ascension to mayor is occurring only three months short of his two years on the dais, and Rich became mayor after two years as a commissioner when Mayor Becky Bruner was unseated in 2024.
“Same scenario,” Collins said.
The loss of Collins opens a vacancy on the City Commission, which can be filled by a special election or a majority vote by the remaining four commissioners, according to the city Charter.
It would be a waste of tax dollars to hold a special election because the August election is soon, Reed said. He favors appointing someone and that person might come from someone serving on an advisory board, he said.
But before it is filled, matters could go unresolved since any 2-2 vote would die on the dais, though the chair could call for a reconsideration of the motion or a renewal.
“That’s definitely a big, big, big assumption that’s being made, Reed said, “because I’m a dissenting vote for a lot of things and I vote no against every board member I sit up there with.”
Declining to say whether it will be that big of an issue, Reed said, “we’ll cross that bridge as it happens.”
Reed looks forward to being mayor, he said.
He already ran one meeting when Collins was absent, he said, and received compliments from city employees about how he did.
Is he prepared to be mayor?
“I know my stuff,” Reed told TCPalm.
“Do you go to schooling to become an elected official? Reed said.
He knows of no school that teaches that or he would go, he said.
The mayor runs meetings, he added. “It’s not that challenging, in my opinion, to run a board meeting.”
But he also expressed some uncertainty about his preparedness.
“I don’t think anyone prepares for a position like that,” he said.
Keith Burbank is a watchdog reporter for TCPalm, usually covering Martin County. He can be reached at keith.burbank@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: City commission in Florida shaken by departure of mayor
Reporting by Keith Burbank, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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