Name: Deb Denys

Town of residence: New Smyrna Beach

Background, education, etc.: County Council 8 years; Florida Communities Trust Board Member; Embry-Riddle Industrial Advisory Board, Past Chairs of: Indian River Lagoon Council, Early Learning Coalition, Central Florida Metropolitan Planning Organization, River to Sea Transportation Planning Organization FOCUS award Florida Planning and Zoning Association. For promoting sound planning principles

What made you decide to run for office? Need for leadership! Meeting and serving on projects, I was made aware of opportunities not yet realized for Volusia. I look forward to collaborating because Volusia’s Best Days are yet ahead!

What do you want to accomplish in office? My aim is to lead Volusia County toward a bright future marked by economic vitality through expanding existing aerospace and aviation supply chain and recruiting outside businesses, strengthening our infrastructure, and active community engagement. Ensuring transparency by assuring issues are placed on the agenda.

Why should people vote for you and not your opponent(s)? Proven leadership. Ability to collaborate and achieve successful outcomes by meeting and working with partners and concerned citizens. Protecting and preserving our natural resources continues to be in the forefront of my active engagement.

How you will handle it when your personal views differ from what your constituents want? Listen and research issues. Depends on the issue and balance between short-term and long-term impacts and fiscal challenges.

Taxation: Broaden tax base by focusing on economic development, generating additional revenue without raising taxes. Balance ensuring public services while minimizing financial burden on our citizens.

Growth management: Growth management requires cross-jurisdictional collaboration and coordination, promoting a cohesive strategy. Leadership and the ability to combine strategic planning and community involvement.

Water: Aggressively implement water quality plans such as Mosquito Lagoon Reasonable Assurance Plan and Springs’ Basin Management Action Plan, which contain science and cost-based projects.

SunRail: Would not support expansion in Volusia. I have raised questions about the long-term costs to the county, especially ongoing funding for maintenance and operations.

Transportation: Requires regional approach and funding. I support continuous investment in the county’s transportation infrastructure. This includes maintaining and upgrading roads, bridges, and public transportation systems.

Public safety: I support and place a high priority on public safety in Volusia County. The safety and well-being of our citizens is crucial.

Economic development: By creating a resilient and diverse economy through expansion and attracting various segments like manufacturing, technology, healthcare, aviation and aerospace economic fluctuations will be minimized.

Name: Randy Dye

Town of residence: DeLand

Background, education, etc.: Live in DeLand, own two auto dealerships. Served on boards for the Boys & Girls Clubs, Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce, Museum of Arts & Sciences, CEO Business Alliance and TeamVolusia. Appointed by Governor to the Daytona State College Board of Trustees. This is my first time running for office.

What made you decide to run for office? As a longtime businessman who has served our community in a variety of roles, I viewed my decision to run as an extension of my community service. I also saw it as an opportunity to help improve Volusia County, provide leadership and apply a business mindset to addressing our challenges.

What do you want to accomplish in office? I want to provide effective, stable leadership that ends the political chaos and restores trust and transparency in government. I want to put more emphasis on addressing our infrastructure backlog, managing growth and focusing on government’s core responsibilities. I also want a greater focus on jobs creation and economic diversification.

Why should people vote for you and not your opponent(s)? Many people feel let down by government and politics, including me. I’ve never run for office before, though I have a long history of serving our community. I represent new leadership that’s solution-based, respectful and not motivated by politics, and I would bring my business experience to solving problems.

How you will handle it when your personal views differ from what your constituents want? Residents should set the agenda for government, not the other way around. I’m not about substituting my judgment for the public’s judgment. However, you can’t make everyone happy with every decision and every vote. My votes will be dictated by what’s good for Volusia’s future and our quality of life.

Taxation: When it comes to budget and taxation, I’m a fiscal conservative, and that’s the way I will govern if elected.

Growth management: Need more collaboration between the county and cities; growth plans must be updated, and we need to stick by them instead of bending the rules!

Water: Protecting water quality and recharge areas and addressing flooding are very high priorities. Decisions on how to do that must be based on factual data.

SunRail: Lousy deal for taxpayers! We’re obviously stuck with it now, so the focus needs to be on operating it as efficiently as possible.

Transportation: Our transportation infrastructure is 20 years or more behind the times. The county should refocus its resources to address these deficiencies and other core responsibilities.

Public safety: Public safety is my top priority. A community can have great resources and amenities, but none of it matters if you’re not safe.

Economic development: Economic development is critical to our community’s fiscal well-being. Attracting the right kind of jobs starts with good, stable government and effective leadership.

Name: Don Burnette

Town of residence: Port Orange

Background, education, etc.: Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration, Master’s in Business Administration, Currently works as a loan officer for The Mortgage Firm, Mayor of Port Orange

What made you decide to run for office? My experience serving as mayor of Port Orange shows how hard work, collaboration and cooperation can positively impact our community as a whole. Leadership needs to bring people together rather than perpetuate a culture of sparring as to benefit everyone!

What do you want to accomplish in office? We need to address transportation and infrastructure woes, put more of our land into permanent preservation, and address the chronic problems with ambulance transport.

Why should people vote for you and not your opponent(s)? Experience matters! My service as mayor of Port Orange gives me knowledge of how to get things done in government, which is not an easy task for anyone who has never done it. We’ve had good people elected to this position in the past that lack the experience to coordinate and move things forward. We don’t have the luxury of electing someone who requires a learning curve to know the issues!

How you will handle it when your personal views differ from what your constituents want? This happens in a free society. It is OK to discuss our differences and come to a better understanding of each other. Most importantly, having an open mind allows you to react to new information without being boxed into a previous position. Having the courage of your convictions is important, but always being willing to discuss how you arrived at them is both vital and respectful.

Taxation: You must construct a budget that makes sense to serve our citizens’ needs. Wanting to go to rollback is disingenuous when new construction raises spending by $45 million, which is a 12% increase.

Growth management: We need to get our cities and the county working together to add to our conservation corridor. We cannot continue to approve projects that add density to current zoning!

Water: Stop dumping treated wastewater into our sensitive waterways, and manage it much like our reclaim program in Port Orange through expansion or reclaim lakes in our conservation recharge areas

SunRail: We need economic development that centers around SunRail to manage the cost of it.  Expanded service in the overall system is needed to attract ridership and make it more effective.

Transportation: Infrastructure is vital to quality of life! We need better planning, allocation of resources, and partnerships with the state, the TPO and cities to improve this.

Public safety: Fix the chronic problems with our emergency ambulance transport system!

Economic development: Empower local small businesses who employ most of the people who live and work in our county, and partner with all of our Chambers of Commerce!

Name: Jeff Brower

Town of residence: DeLeon Springs

Background, education, etc.: Graduate of Mainland High School 1972, B.S. Agriculture UF 1979, Volusia County lifeguard 1970-1979, EMT Daytona Beach Community College 1974, Sales and marketing manager Ferntrust Inc. 10 years, owner Organic by Design landscape company, owner Grandmother’s Farm, married to Terri, 38 years and we have 9 children and 12 grandchildren.

What made you decide to run for office? I helped lead the effort to stop the sales tax increase in 2019 and, after we won that countywide battle, realized Volusia residents needed a strong voice to protect their lifestyle and give them real representation regardless of their ability to donate to local campaigns.

What do you want to accomplish in office? We need sustainable and responsible growth. Our current development pattern is ruining our quality of life, flooding existing neighborhoods, and creating the need to increase taxes. Continue to provide tax relief, the progress made to improve all emergency services, the progress we have made to improve water quality and responsible growth.

Why should people vote for you and not your opponent(s)? I have kept my word to the public and will not sell them out. My highest goal is to protect their constitutional rights and quality of life. This vote represents a clear choice between developer-financed candidates and me, your voice to protect your quality of life and everything that makes Volusia County a great place to live, work and play.

How you will handle it when your personal views differ from what your constituents want? I meet regularly with constituents and do at least monthly Town Halls. I have always found it easy to come to agreement with our common goals. When we talk about local matters, there is already great agreement that our growth pattern is negatively affecting our quality of life.

Taxation: Our taxes are too high. That is why I have worked every year to roll back property taxes, and this year we are on track to not only hold the line but provide a property-tax cut.

Growth management: Growth is not being managed wisely. I will continue to say no to zoning changes, promote and establish Low Impact Development, and require developers to pay for their own infrastructure.

Water: We are pumping water out of the aquifer faster than it can be replenished. As chair of this council and the Indian River Lagoon Council, I will continue our progress to improve water.

SunRail: We need to make this tremendous expense benefit our county by providing excellent service and controlling costs. As chair of the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission, this council can do that.

Transportation: We must improve infrastructure before any new development is approved. The establishment of VoRide by this council is a huge advancement in public transportation.

Public safety: This is a core responsibility. I led the way for increased pay so we keep well-trained personnel, provided work stations for EMS personnel, and increased firefighters from two to three per station.

Economic development: We need good high-paying jobs. This is why I worked with staff and community leaders to land Boeing. Building a safe and vibrant community improves success for local businesses and new business.