Sameka Atkins News Today

There are more than 80 official meetings where minutes have either not been recorded or approved, dating back to 2019.

Most MLK events across Polk were canceled in 2021 because of COVID-19. “This year, people are a little more relaxed without being as scared."

HAINES CITY — In a showdown reminiscent of 2017, incumbent Anne Huffman will face challenger Kenneth Kipp in a runoff election on May 4 for a seat on the Haines City Commission.  Huffman defeated Kipp, then the incumbent, for the position four years ago. Like this year, the two competed against additional candidates in an initial election before heading to a runoff when they both failed to secure the 50% plus one threshold needed to secure the commission seat.  After the election, Huffman...

3 incumbents lose their seats in Polk municipal elections Tuesday Three incumbents lost their seats in Tuesdays municipal election involving six cities in Polk. In Bartow, incumbent Commissioner James Clements was ousted in the election for at-large Seat 1, grabbing only 24.07% of the vote compared with 52.75% for the winner, Tanya Tucker. Sal Carter took 16.39% of the vote and Charlie Bittinger 6.8%. In Dundee, Commissioner Rukhsana Harper received 35.96% of the vote, losing to Mary Richardso...

Lake Alfred The town of Lake Alfred had two seats up for grabs on the ballot — City Commission Seats 3 and 4. Three candidates were on the list for the two at-large seats, including Nancy Z. Daley. Daley took one of the seats with 42.93% of the vote. She has served on the Lake Alfred City Commission for 10 years including four terms as mayor and four terms as vice mayor. The other seat was taken by Mac Fuller, who will replace Charles Lake, who did not seek reelection. Fuller earned 35.54%...

Commission seat results  Lakeland held a special election to fill the remainder of the term for the Southeast Lakeland seat vacated by Franklin, who was elected to represent District 15 in the U.S. House of Representatives in November.  None of the four candidates broke the 50% threshold needed to secure the seat, and the top two vote-getters, Musick and Terrell, will advance to a May 4 runoff to compete for the seat. Terrell received 39.74% of the vote and Musick 33.65%.  Candidate Steven ...

Six cities in Polk County will hold municipal elections Tuesday. Voters in Bartow, Dundee, Haines City, Lake Alfred, Lake Wales and Lakeland will cast ballots to decide city commission races. Two elections are on the ballot in Lake Wales and one in each of the other cities. Residents of Lake Alfred and Lake Wales will also vote on proposed amendments to their cities’ charters. Lakeland is holding a special election to fill an opening created when former City Commissioner Scott Franklin was el...