The election for Seat 5 on the Lake Wales City Commission offers voters a distinct contrast: Eugene Fultz is a former four-term mayor, and Terri Awesome Miller is making her first run for office.
The seat is open because Robin Gibson, who has held it since 2016, opted not to seek another term on the five-person commission.
Candidates are required to live in the Seat 5 district, the southern section of Lake Wales, but voting takes place citywide. The Supervisor of Elections Office offers walk-in voting starting March 23 at its Bartow and Winter Haven offices. The conventional election day is April 7.
Here are overviews of the two candidates:
Eugene Fultz
Fultz served as Lake Wales’ mayor from 2014 to 2022. He chose not to run again because he was traveling often to his native Arkansas, where family members faced serious health issues.
Fultz, 76, is retired from both the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs, having worked as a utility systems engineer. A minister with Parkview Christian Life Center in Haines City, he said that he has lived in Lake Wales for 25 years.
Fultz points to his experience on the Lake Wales Economic Development Council and the Lake Wales Charter Schools Board of Trustees. He has also served as chair of the Polk Regional Water Cooperative, vice chair of the Polk Transportation Authority and a member of the Polk County Sheriff’s Advisory Committee.
“So, with all of that under my belt, and understanding how government works, I say that I’ve got the experience that can lead the city into a positive direction and not have to do a learning curve,” Fultz said. “I can actually start doing the job.”
Fultz said he would strive to ensure that Lake Wales maintains its particular identity.
“The unique identity that we’re seeking is to not be known as a suburb of Orlando, but develop our own area where we will draw people because of what we have to offer here in Lake Wales,” he said.
Lake Wales, with a current population of about 18,000, is in the midst of an unprecedent growth cycle. The City Commission has approved some major housing developments in recent years, and others are on the way. At commission meetings, some residents have expressed fears that the city is growing too fast.
“Potential growth and development are very vital for small cities, and we are seeking to grow, and we’re going to grow,” Fultz said. “We actually need to grow in order to drive economic development, diversification, job creation and improve quality of life. Strategic growth prevents population decline and economic stagnation. It enhances our tax revenues for infrastructure improvements and builds sustainable, resilient communities.”
The citrus industry once provided the leading economic force in Lake Wales, With the decline of that industry, owners of citrus groves have been selling large properties to developers.
“The citrus industry is going down, and a lot of that citrus property was in the county, and the city annexed it,” Fultz said. “And by the city annexing that property, we have a say as to what goes on it. If we had not done that, the county could have put anything they wanted to on that property, and it would have been pretty much right in the city of Lake Wales.”
Fultz said he is generally aligned with the approach the current commissioners have taken on development proposals. He offered full support for Lake Wales Envisioned, a set of guidelines for residential growth that encourages traditional neighborhood designs.
“We want to develop a quality city, where we can live, work and play,” Fultz said. “And one of the biggest things we’re looking at here is economic development. We have to have that going on in order to get jobs in here that pay a living wage. Because if we don’t have the jobs that pay that living wage, then we are falling behind the curve on trying to develop our own identity.”
Fultz expressed confidence in Lake Wales’ ability to meet its future water needs. The city is part of the Polk Regional Water Cooperative but not yet a participating member of the Southeast Wellfield and Water Production Facility project. That is a novel endeavor that involves drilling deep into the Floridan Aquifer, treating the brackish water and then piping it throughout Polk County.
Lake Wales’ demand for water remains well below its permitted supply, Fultz said. He is pleased that membership in the PRWC gives the city an “on ramp” to apply for water from the Southeast Wellfield, if that becomes necessary.
Terri Awesome Miller
Miller, making her first run for office, is a Lake Wales High graduate who said she has spent the majority of her life in the city. “Awesome,” an acronym for “Always working energetically so others may evolve,” is her legal middle name and will appear on the ballot.
Miller, 58, said that she would not have run against Gibson. When she learned he would not run again, she decided to pursue the opportunity to serve “the city that I love.”
After working 20 years for Florida’s Natural Growers in Lake Wales, the final six as a network security administrator, Miller owned retail businesses, including two downtown on Park Avenue. The pandemic forced the closure of a vintage resale business she operated.
Miller now runs a consulting business, Awesome Solutions LLC, which advises people on estate downsizing and digital marketing, among other services.
As examples of her community service, Miller cited her involvement with Rotary International, the Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce and the city’s youth recreation programs.
Miller said that Lake Wales has had a special character going back to the influence of Edward Bok, creator of Bok Tower Gardens in the 1920s. She quoted Bok’s famous admonition, “Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it.”
“I’m emphasizing what is already great in Lake Wales,” Miller said. “I believe Lake Wales is already a fantastic town, so I want more of that. Quality of life activities — and I know it’s a broad stroke, because my quality of life is different from someone else — but I believe that they intersect. So really finding the positives of where they intersect and doing more of that.”
Though she has never held elected office, Miller believes that her business background would equip her well as a city commissioner. She said that only one current commissioner, Keith Thompson, has owned a business. (Gibson, who is leaving, operates his own law firm.)
Miller said that her knowledge of systems and technology would help the city “bridge gaps,” especially as artificial intelligence becomes ever more prominent in public life.
“What I would say is you can’t get a different result doing the same old thing,” Miller said. “So, I know that he’s (Fultz) been a commissioner. I know that he was the mayor for quite a few years, and he has experience, but I don’t know that he has fresh, new ideas.”
Miller also noted that if Fultz were elected, four of the five commissioners would be ministers.
Addressing Lake Wales’ surge in development, Miller urged some caution.
“I believe growth is good, managed growth is better and smart growth is the best,” she said. “So, I believe working more closely with the developers and the builders is going to be key. I think holding them responsible for what they say they’re going to do is even more important.”
Before returning to Lake Wales, Miller lived in the Riverview area of Hillsborough County, and she said it offers examples of poor planning that Lake Wales must avoid.
Miller said she has set a challenge for herself to walk all the roads in Lake Wales.
“I’ve started that,” she said. “I document that on my Facebook page, and I want to know what it’s like in the areas of Lake Wales, especially the ones I don’t know, so I can get to know the lay of the land, essentially, but what the different things (are) that they might be facing in different communities. And Lake Wales has annexed a lot and built subdivisions that I’m not familiar with, so I’d like to familiarize myself with those.”
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Miller faces former mayor Fultz for open seat in Lake Wales
Reporting by Gary White, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
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