Okaloosa County Commissioner Don Amunds will defend his District 4 seat against at least two challengers in the August primary. Two fellow Republicans — Trey Goodwin and Henry Kelley — have pre-filed to run in the District 4 race.
Amunds, who lives in Wynnhaven Beach, doesn’t hold a job in addition to his county office, gives residents his home phone number and touts himself one of the board’s few full-time commissioners. Amunds was first elected in 2004 to finish the term of former Commissioner Paula Riggs. He was re-elected in 2006 and again in 2010.
Henry Kelley, who lives in Fort Walton Beach, said he brings a wide variety of experience the commission. In addition to being the general manager at Akers of Strawberries in Baker, he is an adjunct professor for the Florida Institute of Technology and is the chief financial officer of a local tourism-based company. Kelley said one of his top concerns is improving the county’s infrastructure such as roads and storm water drainage, but without raising taxes.
Attorney Trey Goodwin, who lives in Fort Walton Beach, stepped down from his seat on the Fort Walton Beach City Council in late 2013 to enter the District 4 race.
The District 4 job, considered part-time by the state, pays an annual salary of $67,620 in Okaloosa County.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Amunds faces 2 challengers in District 4 Okaloosa commission race