MINNEOLA, Fla. – Pat Kelley, the long-time mayor of Minneola, is leaving city hall to hit the campaign trail.
In a statement to News 6, Kelley said under his almost two decades as mayor of Minneola, the city has grown from 8,000 residents to 24,000, and brought things like an interchange for the Florida Turnpike, four new schools and a hospital.
“More importantly, we have not taken on any new debt and pay cash for everything, along with continuously going below the rollback rate on taxes for citizens,” Kelley said in a statement.
Kelley spoke about this at length with News 6 a few years ago. He said he worked closely with developers to make sure roads and other infrastructure are in place before homes are built.
“Sometimes it’s easier for the developers to build the roads than for the government to build them,” he told News 6 in 2023. “They can actually build them cheaper and faster.”
[WATCH: How Minneola handles rapid growth without raising taxes (from 2023)]
Kelley’s last day in office will be May 19. Vice Mayor Pam Serviss will serve as mayor for the time being.
Kelley is planning to run for the Lake County School Board’s District 1 seat.
So far, he is the only candidate to have filed for the seat.