With the Wednesday, April 18, Apopka City Council meeting being the final one for Mayor Joe Kilsheimer and commissioners Diane Velazquez and Billie Dean, every member of the elected body shared his or her closing remarks.
They reflected on their time in office and acknowledged each other’s service, and thanked city employees as well as community members for their support and for granting the officials’ privilege to be public servants.
Bryan Nelson will succeed Kilsheimer as mayor, while Velazquez will be replaced by Alice Nolan, and Dean will be succeeded by Alexander H. Smith. The three newcomers will be sworn into office on Tuesday, April 24, at the Apopka Community Center/VFW building at noon.
Dean honored by congresswoman
The meeting was an emotional one for Commissioner Dean, who is retiring after 24 years as a city commissioner and thus was given a copy of what was read into the Congressional Record by Congresswoman Val Demings.
Representatives on behalf of Demings’ office presented the Congressional Record to Dean. Demings was unable to attend the meeting.
Originally from Clermont, Dean has lived in Apopka for more than 35 years. A retired teacher and activist, he and his wife Isadora Moye Dean are the parents of five and grandparents of three. Dean is a Korean War veteran who received a Bronze Star for Valor.
He has served as a member of the Florida League of Cities, as a board member of the Lake Apopka Natural Gas Board, and as a Council for Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching (CARET) representative for Land Grant Colleges and Universities on behalf of Florida A&M University, his alma mater.
Dean was elected to the Apopka City Council as commissioner in 1994. In 2014, he became vice mayor, the honor bestowed upon the city’s longest-serving commissioner.
For more on what happened at the April 18 City Council meeting, read the page 1A article in the Friday, April 20, issue of The Apopka Chief.
