Citing a willingness — and necessity — to work together, Angela Eady and Janette Martinez were sworn in to their four-year terms on the Kissimmee City Commission Tuesday.
Each one defeated an incumbent in the Aug. 23 election. Eady replaces Felix Ortiz in seat 2, and Martinez takes Jim Fisher’s seat 4.
Eady was a commissioner from 2016-20 before running for the mayor’s seat that Olga Gonzalez won in 2020.
“It’s like I never left,” Eady joked following the meeting. She was sworn in by the Rev. Remer Baker, and she was joined by her mother, Alice Eady, daughter Jameshia Gant and granddaughter Moriah Haugahbrook.
She urged all residents to participate in local politics and government — where every decision made affects life in Kissimmee, unlike all those made in the state and U.S. Capitols.
“Road improvements, annexations, public safety — those decisions are made right down the street from you,” Eady said. “This is a divided city, and a house divided itself cannot stand. But this is something we’re going to fix during my tenure. I’m not new to this, but I’m true to this.
“We will set aside differences for the good of the city and its residents. My vision is to unify. It has to start at the top, and it starts right here. If we unify, maybe the city’s residents will follow. After all, we need each other.”
Martinez, sworn in by Judge Christine Arendas and joined by husband Jose Forty and children Geneva and Javier Forty, said she felt “empowered” to sit on the Commission dais as one of four women on the five-commissioner board.
“Together we’re going to get things done, but we have to do it together, and we’ll need your help,” she told the meeting audience during her end-of-meeting comments. “Be a part of this process; we can move forward and get things done. We need your ears, we can’t pretend to know everything.”
The two new members got right down to business, providing input on budget matters and other city business. Martinez admitted to being nervous at first; did she feel better as the meeting went along?
“Ask me again at the next meeting,” she said with a smile as the meeting ended.
Mayor Olga Martinez lauded the work done by Ortiz and Fisher in their four and six years on the board respectively.
“We worked well together,” Martinez said. “I wish you the best. Moving forward … four women, what can I say? We have a sixth sense for things. We’re going to do great things together.”
The city gave the outgoing commissioners tokens of appreciation. Ortiz, a downtown businessman, shared that he’d like to run for mayor in 2024, the next election cycle.
“The last four years have been a real blessing,” he said.
Fisher, being his jovial self until the very end, joked, “I thought I’d get a watch (from the city) out of this.”
“I wish the new commissioners well. They will do a great job for the city. And, who knows, maybe I’ll run for mayor in 2024, too,” he said, with a much more joking tone than Ortiz.
Commissioner Olga Castano was selected as the Vice Mayor and Eady as Mayor Pro-Tem, establishing those who act in the Mayor’s absence under certain circumstances.
