A Villager facing two challengers in his re-election bid has been handed the Sumter Commission chairman’s gavel.
Steve Printz on Tuesday was chosen by his fellow commissioners to serve as their chairman. He was handed the gavel by outgoing Chairman Don Burgess.
Printz has filed paperwork with the Sumter County Supervisor of Elections office to seek another term on the commission. He will face two fellow Villagers in the GOP primary next year – Charles Kasner and Oren Miller. Both have indicated they were inspired to run, at least in part, out of frustration over the Sumter Commission’s decision earlier this year to raise property taxes by 25 percent. Miller is also leading an effort to repeal One Sumter, a referendum approved more than a dozen years ago that tilted the county’s electoral process toward favoring The Villages.
In the largely ceremonial role as Sumter Commission chairman, Printz will enjoy the prestige and photo opportunities that accompany that position.
Commissioners Burgess and Al Butler are both up for re-election next year, but both have yet to file paperwork indicating their intentions.
Printz, a former Community Development District 9 supervisor, was encouraged to run for the commission in 2015 when Villager Don Hahnfeldt left the commission to run for the Florida House.
