The Alachua County Democratic Party held its fourth and final candidate forum Wednesday ahead of the Aug. 18 primary elections.
The two-hour panel, held at the United Church of Gainesville, featured five candidates who addressed a variety of issues, ranging from GRU to housing and the environment.
The panel featured two candidates for mayor, Harvey Ward and Evan Moon; two candidates for District 3 commissioner, Dejeon Cain and Casey Willits; and one candidate for District 2 commissioner, Nathan Crabbe.
Harvey Ward
Ward, who has served as the mayor of Gainesville since January 2023, said he hopes to expand the progress Gainesville has seen on crime, homelessness and affordable housing.
Ward said under his leadership, Gainesville crime has lowered significantly, 800 affordable homes have been built and homelessness in areas like Bo Diddley Plaza has decreased.
“There’s a lot more that needs to be done, but I feel like I have the relationships with the folks in Gainesville who can help us get this work done,” Ward said. “I am committed to finishing this job.”
One of Ward’s biggest priorities is to continue investing in East Gainesville, where he believes the city is beginning to make good on decades of unkept promises, he said.
The city has recently built infrastructure in the east side, he said, including the new urgent care center on Hawthorne Road, and it’s planning large renovations to Citizens Field and the Northeast Eighth Avenue and Waldo Road area.
The city has set aside money to build $250 million worth of additional projects among the city, county and federal government, he added.
The incumbent expressed his disagreement with Florida’s proposed property tax bill that will be on the ballot in November.
If passed, the bill would give Florida homeowners a $250,000 tax reduction on property taxes not going toward public schools. It would also take money away from several prominent social programs, like Children’s Trust of Alachua County, which would lose nearly a quarter of its funding, he said.
Evan Moon
Moon, a mayoral candidate, said he’s running due to the state of tumult he sees Gainesville in. He wants to further support the working poor, find a fairground for events such as the Hoggetowne Medieval Festival and improve the city bus system.
In 2027, the fair will be held at the Gainesville raceway. It was previously held at the Alachua County Fairgrounds for 30 years.
“We must ensure new housing is affordable, actually affordable,” Moon said. “I’d like to see 40% of new housing affordable.”
Gainesville’s current inclusionary zoning policy requires new residential developments set aside at least 10% of units for affordable housing.
Moon said he also hopes to reach a resolution on Citizens Field that is respectful to taxpayers.
On June 17, the Alachua County School Board rejected a potential agreement with the city commission to renovate the field, opting to explore other options before making a decision.
Casey Willits
Willits, the current commissioner for District 3, has served since January 2023. Prior to his term, Willits worked as an executive director for an LGBTQ+ organization and as a public sector worker at UF.
The incumbent said his biggest priorities are affordable and accessible housing, efficient transportation and improving Gainesville’s parks.
Willits said he hopes the city continues to evaluate how it allocates its resources toward the environment. He urged the commission to pour more into conservation projects throughout the city. One initiative Willits mentioned, the tree mitigation fund, collected 62% of its funding from District 3, but only 2% of the funds were spent there, he said.
Gainesville’s tree mitigation fund collects money from developers who cut down trees and uses the funds for environmental projects.
Willits urged citizens to vote not just on Aug. 18, but also in November on the proposed property tax bill. The ballot initiative would shift taxes to young working people, renters and minority communities, he said.
“So much of what they think is going to be magically cut are what we most like about our city, what we’ve achieved,” Willits said. “It’s decades of building a community, one brick, one budget at a time.”
Dejeon Cain
Cain, a Gainesville resident who has served as chair for the Alachua County Affordable Housing Board and the Gainesville’s Equal Opportunity Office, said he’s focused on making Gainesville equally developed in all areas and returning control of GRU to the city.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law in 2023 transferring control of the utility to a five-person authority board composed of members appointed by the governor. The city commission has since criticized the board for rates rising or staying the same despite claims they’ve decreased.
Cain said his experience working for several boards in the city shows his commitment to Gainesville and his qualifications to find solutions for it.
The candidate, who owns Fortitude Security, a North Central Florida security firm, is committed to public safety and commended some of the work done in the past three years to curb gun violence and fatal car crashes.
Cain wants to continue such initiatives and focus further on Gainesville’s youth, he added.
“We got to keep the young people engaged,” Cain said. “We cannot forget about them. If I’m your next commissioner, I’m going to put down, ‘What are we doing for the young people?’”
Cain said the work of Children’s Trust of Alachua County, which supports community services for local youth, has been extremely successful in the city. He said he supports more employment opportunities for youth and bringing back programs like Outlet, which arranged activities for teenagers, to help youths’ quality of life and public safety.
Nathan Crabbe
Crabbe, a former Gainesville Sun journalist who spent over a decade as the opinions editor, was the sole District 2 candidate speaking at the panel. He worked as editor of The Invading Sea, a website covering environmental issues, and helped launch Gainesville 4 All, a nonprofit seeking to address racial and economic inequalities.
Crabbe is running against Neldia Pellot, a candidate focused on housing and climate change, and Wyatt Zinitz, a former marine. The seat is currently held by Ed Book, who is stepping down following the end of his first term.
Crabbe agreed with Willits’ climate sentiments and emphasized the importance of developing green infrastructure and introducing things like wetlands and bioswales to improve water quality and reduce flooding. Bioswales are landscaped channels intended to filter stormwater before it enters other water systems.
The city could fund the projects through the usage of Gainesville’s tree mitigation fund and Resilient Florida, he said.
Resilient Florida is a state program that provides grants to protect inland waterways, coastlines and critical infrastructure from rising sea levels.
He said GRU should return to city control and requested an authority board be staffed solely by local residents if it remains under board control.
Crabbe said Gainesville needs to build more affordable housing, and it’s become “oversaturated” with student-oriented high-rise apartments. The city needs to shift its focus toward housing for workers in the community, he added.
“We need to work with major employers like UF on support for workforce housing,” Crabbe said. “I’ve seen other universities across this country that give more support than UF.”
Workforce housing refers to middle-income workers like teachers, police and nurses who are priced out of both the subsidized and private housing markets.
The federal government's new bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act may help the city and the country with the development of new housing, he added.
Contact Logan McBride at lmcbride@alligator.org. Follow him on X @logandmcbride.
Logan McBride is a fourth-year journalism student and this summer's general assignment reporter. He previously served as a reporter for the city/county commission, K-12 education and track & field. Logan enjoys watching sports, going to the movies and playing basketball. When he's not working, you can find him on adventures with his friends, cuddling with his cat Max, or with his girlfriend.
