City of Crystal River: Mayor keeps post; Taylor loses seat; Holmes defeats 2

CRYSTAL RIVER -- Mayor Ron Kitchen retained his post, but Bonnie Taylor lost her bid for re-election to the City Council.

In another City Council race, Robert Holmes defeated George Dluhy and Richard Schwarer. Holmes will replace Russ Kreager, who is retiring from politics.

The winners were sworn into office Tuesday night by Circuit Judge Patricia Thomas. One of their first tasks will be to hire a new city manager, the ninth since 1990.

"This is my first priority," Holmes said, tapping a thick stack of resumes he had been given to review. Holmes, a Florida Power mechanic who served two previous terms on the council, attributed his victory to name recognition.

Roger Proffer seemed startled by his decisive victory. He beat Taylor by 163 votes.

"I'm very, very surprised," he said. The owner of a military surplus store, Proffer had criticized Taylor for being indecisive when it came time to vote on key issues; she said she was simply open-minded.

"I can work with everybody," Proffer said. "I'm independent, and I can stay that way." Taylor left shortly after the vote totals were announced and could not be reached at her home.

Throughout the campaigns, there was no clear frontrunner, and that sense of uncertainty pervaded Election Day.

Candidates said the large voter turnout made it even more difficult to know where they stood. "There are so many new faces," said Kitchen's challenger, Ray Wallace.

Kitchen said he wanted to continue to promote the city and pointed to a list of accomplishments, including the creation of beautification committee and annual planning retreats for the council.

But Wallace faulted the mayor for prolonging meetings and too often giving his own opinion on issues before the council, a point Kitchen defended as his obligation under the city charter.

"The election is over, and now we have to be one city," Kitchen said. Wallace declined to comment.