At left in green, DeLand City Commission hopeful Harper Hill at the 2019 Mayor’s Golf Tournament. At right, Richard Paiva stands alongside son Charles Paiva in the DeLand City Commission Chambers. Charles, who has collectively served almost 20 years in City Commission Seat 2, has chosen not to seek re-election in the upcoming Aug. 20 vote. Now, Paiva Sr. will compete against opponent Harper Hill for the position.
As DeLand residents head to the polls on Aug. 20 for the Volusia County primary election, voters will be faced with a choice between two candidates for DeLand City Commission Seat 2.
All City Commission races are citywide and nonpartisan, and both candidates for City Commission Seat 2 are registered as Republicans.
Richard Paiva — father of current and vacating DeLand City Commissioner and Vice Mayor Charles Paiva, and Harper Hill — of Harper Hill & Associates Allstate Insurance Agency and current DeLand Planning Board vice chairperson, will face off for DeLand City Commission Seat 2.
Dan Reed, current commissioner, was re-elected without opposition to Seat 4.
Hill has $1,475 in his campaign war chest, and Paiva $750, mostly from donations from the candidates to themselves.
In preparation for the Aug. 20 vote, Beacon staff spoke with both candidates during their campaigns for a seat that has been held by Charles Paiva for a combined total of almost 20 years — since first being elected in 2001.
Paiva the Elder
“We sometimes joke that Charles has found himself on the City Commission in every possible way you can get on the City Commission. He was elected opposed, he was elected unopposed, and he was appointed,” Paiva, the senior, said.
“He was approaching this election … and he was ambivalent. Getting close to filing and qualifying, I said, ‘If you don’t think you’re going to run, then I would be interested in running,’” Paiva, the senior, said of his entry into the race.
Paiva has lived in DeLand for 68 years and described a long and varied career that includes marketing and advertising experience; the development of social support programming with the YMCA and serving as an executive director for DeLand’s Neighborhood Center, as well as entrepreneurship and business ownership alongside his son Charles, and political campaign consulting for local and statewide government candidates.
“I’ve always been content — as far as politics go — to serve the role that I did … and that role has usually been as a political consultant or political campaign manager. I’ve done it on a volunteer basis, I’ve done it on a paid basis,” Paiva said. “I’ve been very active in politics, but my primary motivation [for running for DeLand City Commission] is because I want good people to be in the decision making-positions. For me, for my family, for my friends here in DeLand.”
Hill
Hill is a Stetson University graduate who settled into DeLand following his education. “I’ve been in DeLand since 1999 … I love this town and have served in many capacities, from the Chamber to the economic development board,” Hill said.
“I think I have the leadership skills, certainly, to do the job. The biggest part of that leadership is listening to folks and finding out what the needs are in the community and maintaining our vibrant city. It’s a huge responsibility, but I think that it’s something that I’m certainly ready for. I have the business experience, I have the service experience for our community, and I definitely think I’m the best candidate for the job,” Hill said.
Similar concerns
Each candidate addressed similar concerns regarding the continued growth and development that DeLand is experiencing, noting this as one of the biggest “issues” and “challenges” that residents of DeLand will face in the short and long term.
“I’m currently sitting on the Planning Board [of the City of DeLand],” Hill said. “The growth that’s happening in our area, and making sure that that’s responsible growth is a top priority for me.”
“Growth is inevitable in our area, just because of where we’re located, but making sure we do it in the right way is the biggest challenge that we have,” Hill said. “The biggest challenge, moving forward, I think for this city, for the Planning Board and for the commission is how do we rein in the growth that’s happening and make sure we do it in a responsible way, where we have infrastructure in place for the growth.”
Paiva echoed Hill’s sentiment of a concern for properly managed growth and credited the work of past and existing municipal leaders (including his son).
“Most people who live here or are considering moving here — they consider DeLand to be a great little city, as I do. But I often tell people, we didn’t get here by accident, we got here because of inspired leadership,” Paiva said. “And I’m not just referring to our elected officials here in DeLand. I’m referring to the city staff, I’m referring to the business community, I’m referring to the community service organizations, the churches.”
Differences
Paiva points to his age as being both representative of the population of DeLand, a large chunk of which is over 50, and a benefit in time and knowledge.
“The thing about being older … you try to say, ‘What are the advantages?’ … Sometimes I say there could be wisdom in these white whiskers. Some people think when you’re older, you have more of life’s experiences and so forth, which you do,” Paiva said. “The other thing is: I’m retired. … I will devote my full time and my full attention to serving the citizens of DeLand.”
“The reason I decided to run was I noticed that Charles Paiva was no longer running … and I wanted to put my name in the hat for City Commission … We’re able to make some decisions from a Planning Board aspect, but those are just recommendations to the City Commission, so having a seat on the City Commission will enable me to further make sure we have responsible growth in our City for planning and years to come,” Hill said, in relation to his decision to pursue Commission Seat 2.
Open dialogue?
“We’ve had great conversations about our passion for the city. We’ve talked to each other about why we’re both running … I think that’s a good thing, that candidates are able to do that. Not everybody is able to do that. I think we both have the best interests of the city in mind when we’re running, and that’s the most important thing,” Hill said.
“That in itself may be a little unusual, for opponents to want to meet and to discuss the nature of the race,” Paiva said of meeting with his fellow candidate.
Another, perhaps unusual factor of the race is when Hill officially filed for candidacy. It is recorded that Hill “threw his hat in the ring” at 11:45 a.m., on the final day of qualification, with a noon deadline.
Hill has referred to Charles Paiva as a friend, something Paiva, the younger, bristled at in a public letter sent to both The Beacon and The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
“I recently read Harper Hill’s Facebook page announcement about him running for the DeLand City Commission, Seat 2 and it left me frustrated,” Paiva, the younger, stated in his public letter. “I also find it difficult to understand, if we were truly friends, why Harper Hill decided to run against my father, Richard “Charlie” Paiva, for seat 2. My father qualified to run for my seat a week before Harper Hill did. And Hill was very aware that he would be opposing my father.”
“That kind of catches me off guard,” Hill said. “I spoke with Charles the same day that I filed, as well as two weeks later. I find it convenient that he wants to state that now, in an editorial.”
Hill told The Beacon he would remove the language of “friend” from his social media posts.
For his part, Paiva the elder believes Hill is not as representative of the city as a whole. He pointed to the prevalence of DeLand Rotary members (of which there are four chapters in the city) on the City Commission.
“When you talk about diversity, I think Kevin Reid was a Rotary president. I think Chris Cloudman was a Rotary president. Harper Hill was a Rotary president, so how many former Rotary presidents do we need on the DeLand City Commission?” Paiva said.
“I think that the public and the voters will be concerned about what type of business experience somebody is bringing to the table. I think they’re going to be concerned about what type of service they’ve already done for the community, how involved they’ve been in the community and how they positively impact the community,” Hill said. “I’m certainly not running as the perfect candidate. I’m running as the best, most qualified candidate for the position.”
I read with interest Mr. Paiva’s objection to a prevalence of Rotarians serve on the city commission. The motto of of every Rotarian is “Service Above Self.” We proudly live our lives by the four way test: 1: Is it the truth 2: Is it fair to all concerned? 3: Will it build goodwill and better friendships? 4: Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
How can a person who pledges to live their life accordingly possibly be bad for any community?
I was a Rotarian, my son Charles was a Rotarian, and my grandfather was a Rotarian. I believe that Rotary is one of the finest community service organizations in existence. To be clear, I did not say, and I have never said, that Rotary and/or Rotarians are bad for our community. The Beacon reporter observed, in a question to me, that the DeLand City Commission is not very diverse. Which is true. It is currently comprised of four white men, under the age of 50, and one African American woman. The reporter’s question was along the lines of, “How do you feel about the lack of diversity on the commission?” The reporter prefaced my quote with her comment, “He pointed to the prevalence of DeLand Rotary members on the City Commission.” Those are her words — not mine. I did, however, say that two of our five current commissioners are former Rotary presidents. And I said that my opponent was also a former Rotary president. So, in response to the reporter’s question, which was about diversity. I posed the legitimate question, “How many former Rotary Club Presidents do we need on the DeLand City Commission?” An ideal representative commission would be comprised of a cross section of DeLand. That is a mix of genders, races, ages, etc. For example, 40% of the citizens of DeLand are over 50 years old. All of the current commissioners, however, are under 50. And my opponent is 43. So, if he is elected, 40% of DeLand will not have a voice on the city commission. Applying that to Rotary, 40% of the members (two out of five) of the current commission are former Rotary presidents. Forty percent of our population, equals 16,400 citizens. I am fairly certain that there are not 16,400 Rotary club members in DeLand. Rotary is also not the only community service organization in DeLand. So, what about the Lion’s Club, Kiwanis, the Salvation Army, etc.? They also do good work. If diversity is beneficial, then perhaps they deserve to have a club member on the city commission? Anyhow, I stand by my basic point — about diversity. The Rotary perspective is already sufficiently represented on the DeLand City Commission. If the goal is having diverse representation, electing another white, male, former Rotary president, under 50 years old, is not going to achieve that objective.