High Springs to Seat New City Commissioner

HIGH SPRINGS ‒ The City of High Springs has cancelled its Nov. 2 election. The City Commission was informed in July that the City election would not be required. With two open seats, only Seat Five, currently held by Commissioner Scott Jamison, was vacant and only one candidate submitted the required paperwork to the City Clerk to run for election. Commissioner Byran Williams’ seat was unchallenged.

Katherine Weitz will fill Jamison’s vacant seat for a three-year term, which will begin after she is sworn in on Nov. 18.

Weitz and her husband, Andrew, have lived in High Springs for 25 of the 26 years of their marriage and have three children. The oldest is Jacob, age 20, who is currently enrolled in the electrician apprentice program at Santa Fe College. Sarah, age 18, is a recent graduate and valedictorian of her class at Newberry High School. She is heading to the University of South Florida, her parents’ alma mater, to study architecture. Their third child is Anna, age 13, an eighth grader at Oak View Middle School’s Center for Advanced Academics and Technology (CAAT) magnet program.

Weitz has been working in the laboratory or engineering fields for 30 years. She has been heavily involved in groundwater monitoring projects around solid waste facilities, compliance monitoring testing for wastewater treatment plants, as well as public water supply wells. Her last engineering-related position was working as a subcontractor to the Florida Department of Transportation District II in Lake City doing contract management for general engineering contracts.

“A little more than a year ago I downshifted to a completely different arena, and I manage the office of a local electrician,” said Weitz.

When asked why she decided to run for elected office, Weitz said, “The main reason that catapulted me to run for City Commissioner for High Springs was the wastewater treatment plant, concerns over unchecked growth and infrastructure and utilities in general.”

Weitz is also concerned about the future. “The city is very close to capacity for wastewater already and construction on a second plant not only hasn't begun, but funds have not been secured yet to build the plant. I believe strongly in living within your means and planning for the future. The situation the city currently finds itself in is definitely a challenging one when it comes to wastewater capacity expansion.”

#     #     #

Email cwalker@

alachuatoday.com