City Council to interview eight candidates for open seat

CRESTVIEW — The Crestview City Council will meet with eight potential candidates vying for the seat vacated by Doug Faircloth, who stepped down last month due to health reasons and passed away Tuesday.

Each candidate must be a registered voter living within Precinct 3, which is defined as north of State Road 90 and within city limits. The following is a brief description of each candidate.

Alex Barthe has lived in Crestview since 2005, as a result of military re-assignment. Barthe is a member of both the Crestview and Fort Walton Beach chambers of commerce, serving as a member of Crestview Chamber’s Board of Directors. Barthe is also a member of the Citizens Advisory Council for the Okaloosa-Walton Transportation Planning Organization.
Charles Baugh is retired from the Air Force. Baugh is a past Crestview City Council president and chairman for the Crestview Redevelopment Agency, a former president and board director for the Florida League of Cities for the Northwest Florida district, and the former president of the Okaloosa County League of Cities. Baugh also served as a board member for the Northwest Florida Regional Transportation Planning Organization and the Crestview Police and Firefighter Retirement Board.
Ellis Conner is a lifetime resident of Crestview who retired from the United States Air Force. Conner is a retired city employee who currently serves on the city’s Local Planning Agency board. Conner previously served on the Charter Review Committee and was also a council member.
Harry LeBoeuf has lived in Crestview for 13 years, after retiring from the Air Force after almost 30 years. For the past six years, he has served on the city’s Board of Adjustment. LeBoeuf also serves as a board member for the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce. He currently works as the franchise co-owner and travel consultant for the travel agency, Vacations Designed for You.
Micah Reese has over 20 years of experience working for the Department of Defense as an aerospace/systems engineer. Reese has volunteered as a mentor to youth at the Okaloosa Regional Juvenile Detention Center and as a referee at the FIRST Robotics competitions. This month, he will take the training to become a member of the North Okaloosa Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).
Rodney Salisbury has lived in Crestview for 19 years. Salisbury currently serves as a Crestview Firefighter and Police Officer Pension Fund Trustee, as well as serving on the Crestview Local Planning Agency and Civil Advisory Council. Salisbury started a Safe Walks program, working with members of the city and county to find National and State funding for sidewalks around the area schools.
Deborah Tuggle was a teacher at Davidson Middle School from 2007 to 2013. Tuggle has also worked as a consultant and budget analyst for Valley Children’s Medical Group and as a controller for the Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning for the State of Indiana. Tuggle worked for affiliated computer services as a business operations analyst, business operations supervisor and as a western region finance manager.
Irmma Winkler has lived in Crestview since 2001. She is a graduate of both Crestview High School and Northwest Florida State College. She has worked for different local businesses in the area.

The City Council will interview all of the candidates Tuesday night in the council chambers. The interview process begins at 6 p.m. and is open to the public. While the public does not get to vote on the new member, citizens will have a chance to comment to the council. Each council member will ask candidates two questions before making the final decision on who will fill the slot.

The decision will be made Tuesday night after the interviews and public comments are finished.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: City Council to interview eight candidates for open seat