Ocala special election to fill mayor and District 3 seats

OCALA, Fla. — The city of Ocala is holding a special election Tuesday to elect a new mayor and fill the city council seat for District 3.

Mayoral elections occur every two years, as outlined in the city’s charter, while elections for city council members occur every four years.

Ocala Mayor Ben Marciano will face off against 20-year-old candidate Zackary ‘Arbor’ Feliciano in the special election.

District 3 council member Jay Musleh has served since 2012 and will face two challengers: retired Air Force officer Mark Clark and community advocate TamBoura Jenkins.

While District seats 1 and 5 are up for re-election, council members Barry Mansfield and James Hilty Sr. are running unchallenged and will remain the representatives for District 1 and 5.   

Marciano said he’s proud of what he’s accomplished in the past two years and hopes to continue.   

Since one of the mayor’s responsibilities is to oversee the police department, he said reducing crime in Ocala was a major focus during his first term.

“We actually reduced crime by 5% with 5% growth,” he said, adding that the city has had no murders in the past 15 months.

One initiative he introduced to help with that crime reduction was a community policing program, which allowed Marciano to work alongside the community to solve crimes.

Another big focus of his was improving the mental and physical health of his community.

“We are one of the most unhealthy cities in the state of Florida,” he said.

One way he aimed to address that issue was by introducing a digital platform called Healthy Ocala, giving the community an easy way to find all the mental health resources.

“People had no idea where to go to find help. We have thousands of people using that platform every month, so I’m really excited about that,” Marciano said.

Another big initiative he took part in was opening two new homeless shelters and addressing addiction issues in the community.

Now, he’s working to support Ocala’s growing population.

“Right now, we’ve experienced a lot of growth issues. People are complaining about the growth. I think growth is good, but it’s got to be good growth. There’s a lot more things for people to do now, a lot more high-paying jobs. We had a lot of affordable housing issues, but now, because we have been able to build apartments, people are lowering the rates, so people can get into affordable housing. But right now, we need to look at infrastructure and how can we support this growth? So that’s going to be a major focus of mine. Looking at our roadways, looking at the infrastructure, and how can we make it so that there’s not some of the congestion issues that I’m hearing from our citizens?” he explained.

Spectrum News reached out to his opponent but has not received a response.

Based on his campaign website, Feliciano is focusing his campaign on a more affordable Ocala.

Among his top priorities are housing reform and land conservation, which he aims to address by reducing suburban sprawl.

Feliciano said his focus is to maintain Ocala’s “idyllic natural beauty, strong culture and affordability,” despite the growth in its population.

On the affordability note, Feliciano also focused his campaign on making health care accessible to residents, adding that “nobody should have to choose between their health and finances.”

Other priorities outlined on his website deal with homelessness, ending the city’s agreement with ICE and raising property taxes on corporations that have 1,500 employees or more to help small businesses.

The mayor’s position does not have a vote on the city council but does have veto power and oversees the police department. A mayor’s salary is capped at $550 a month.

City council members oversee the city manager, attorney, clerk and auditor and make other community decisions. They earn $250 a month.

Polling places will close at 7 p.m.