NORTHEAST TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) — Four candidates are vying to become the next mayor of Tallahassee, and voters could find out who wins by the end of Tuesday's primary election.
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The candidates include IT entrepreneur Mike Foust, attorney Daryl Parks, former state legislator Loranne Ausley, and City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow.
ABC 27's Brieanna Smith sat down with each of them to talk about their vision for the city if elected.
"My vision for Tallahassee is for us to have economic security, and there's a whole lot of different ways that we can do that. The reason I want to do that is because this city has so much brainpower and so much gumption, so much grit and determination, but the city has failed to make it easy for people to start businesses," Foust said.
"Without question, my vision for Tallahassee is a city that's deeply crying out for someone to address the affordability issue that we have in our city right now," Parks said.
"We need to pull together, build partnerships and get things done, solve problems for people," Ausley said.
"I think this year it's really making our government start working for the people again. Over the past few years, we've seen a lot of backroom deals and a lot of things that work for developers and special interests but not really our neighborhoods and people who are just struggling to get by," Matlow said.
We also asked the candidates about issues voters identified as important — including boosting tourism, supporting small businesses, responsible development and improving infrastructure.
On the topic of attracting new companies and boosting economic development, the candidates offered different approaches.
"We need commissioners who aren't constantly dividing people and causing things like ‘the developer class’ or saying that ‘billionaires are, are taking all these things,’” Foust said.
"We change the economy by really, really reimagining what we could do differently, and I think that starts with the city commission who I think that we have a responsibility as a commission and me as the mayor to be to do everything in our power to facilitate an environment that uses what we have," Parks said.
"We need to leverage Florida State and FAMU. We need to leverage the Mag Lab, which is the largest, most powerful magnet in the world right here in our own community. We need to leverage that to create the types of jobs that are going to keep our kids and the students here in Tallahassee," Ausley said.
"We need to reform our permitting process, and we need to make it easier for companies that want to set up shop here, particularly our small local businesses," Matlow said.
On responsible development and taxpayer spending, the candidates also laid out distinct priorities.
"Responsible development under my watch would be having both small and medium-sized builders as well as the large developers, taking a little responsibility for overruns, for changes," Foust said.
"I have a responsibility to take a look at all the budgeting that currently exists and then make sure that it falls in line with, with our priorities and make sure that best represent what voters have said to me on the trail," Parks said.
"If we're building, it needs to be building something that's going to create jobs for for the people who live here, you know, the city has a responsibility to make sure that any anyone who wants to make a business here, it's that they can get answers," Ausley said.
"My vision for growth is using the existing infrastructure we already have in town, adding more homes in our current footprint, you know, where we have large asphalt parking lots that are outdated, that's where we should be building and developing, not continuing to expand our boundaries," Matlow said.
A mayor could be named after the polls close. If the vote is close enough, two candidates could advance to a runoff in the general election.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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