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Wilton Manors is a small city with an outsized identity. The decisions its next mayor and commissioners make about development, affordability, infrastructure and the future of Wilton Drive will help determine whether the Island City remains both a welcoming community and a financially sustainable one.
For mayor, The County endorses Paul Rolli. For the two available City Commission seats, we endorse Scott Newton and Angel Burgos.
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The mayoral contest includes Julie Carson, Jerry Fisichelli and current Commissioner Paul Rolli.
Carson is a former Wilton Manors commissioner who left office in 2020, after losing the race for mayor to Scott Newton.
Our choice is Paul Rolli.
Rolli offers the combination of experience and forward-looking pragmatism that Wilton Manors needs. His priorities include fiscal responsibility, public safety, infrastructure, responsible development, support for local businesses and maintaining the inclusive character that has made Wilton Manors distinctive.
Important is Rolli's recognition that preserving Wilton Manors cannot mean freezing it in place.
The city faces real questions about aging properties, housing affordability, utility costs and its commercial tax base. Rolli has called for updating development regulations, attracting responsible investment, expanding workforce housing and pursuing infrastructure improvements while protecting the city's character.
That balance — preservation without stagnation — is what Wilton Manors needs from its next mayor.
The County endorses PAUL ROLLI for Mayor of Wilton Manors.
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Four candidates — Angel Burgos, Don D'Arminio, Manish Kalra and outgoing Mayor Scott Newton — are competing for two at-large Commission seats.
Voters may select two. Our choices are Scott Newton and Angel Burgos.
Newton brings something particularly valuable to the next Commission: institutional experience. After serving as mayor, he is seeking to remain in city government as a commissioner. His priorities include infrastructure, community cohesion and thoughtful redevelopment of aging commercial areas.
Experience alone, however, should not define the next Commission.
That is why our second choice is Angel Burgos.
Burgos represents an opportunity to add a new voice with professional public-sector experience. A senior administrator at Florida International University with a master's degree in public administration, Burgos has focused his campaign on economic development, making Wilton Manors friendlier to businesses and breaking through what he describes as years of development stagnation.
We do not agree that every old building needs replacing or that development should become an end unto itself. Wilton Manors must be careful not to sacrifice the character that made people want to live, visit and invest there in the first place.
But refusing to evolve carries risks of its own.
The combination of Newton and Burgos offers voters an appealing balance: experience and renewal, institutional knowledge and a new perspective.
Others running are Don D'Arminio and Manish Kalra. D'Arminio is an incumbent commissioner in the city who was first elected in 2022. Kalra is an underdog candidate with great ideas, but we hope to see his continued involvement, some expereience on a city board, and a run in the future. Wilton Manors will need younger leaders to guide its future.
Wilton Manors voters elect their commissioners at large, and the two candidates receiving the support necessary to fill the available seats will serve four-year terms. The mayor will serve a two-year term.
With Rolli as mayor and Newton and Burgos on the Commission, we believe Wilton Manors would have a leadership team capable of respecting what the city has built while preparing it for what comes next.
For Wilton Manors Mayor, The County endorses PAUL ROLLI.
For Wilton Manors City Commission, The County endorses SCOTT NEWTON and ANGEL BURGOS.
