The Sumter County Board of Commissioners said farewell Tuesday night to long-serving members Garry Breeden and Doug Gilpin.
Both were first elected in 2006, serving 16 years. Breeden served five one-year terms as chairman while Gilpin served four terms.
Gilpin was defeated in the August universal primary election by Andrew Bilardello while Breeden decided not to seek another term. New commissioners will be seated on Nov. 22.
Breeden and Gilpin are the last survivors of the 2019 commission, which approved an unpopular 25 percent property tax rate increase that led to the ouster by voters of three commissioners the following year.
County Chairman Craig Estep read separate resolutions honoring the two departing commissioners. They were given plaques by County Administrator Bradley Arnold.
The resolutions cited accomplishments of both commissioners such as expansion of county facilities and privatization of the county library system.
Breeden, a former county public works director, praised the county staff.
“We’re only as good as those who work here,” he said.
Since 2006, Gilpin said Sumter County has built a commercial and industrial base that was almost non-existent before.
“We’re reduced our residential tax burden tremendously by commercial and industrial development,” he said. “We’ve worked very hard to make sure businesses are attracted to Sumter County.”
Breeden and Gilpin also served during the turbulence after the 2020 election, when commissioners voted to raise development impact fees and designate the animal shelter as no-kill.
Designed to increase the financial contribution to county government of developers like The Villages, the 2021 impact fee hike was overturned when the legislature approved a retroactive state law restricting increases.
Commissioners voted recently to rescind the shelter’s no-kill designation after severe overcrowding and long stays.
Two commissioners elected in 2020, Oren Miller and Gary Search, were suspended earlier this year by Gov. Ron DeSantis after they were charged with lying to an investigator looking into potential violations of Florida’s Sunshine Law.
Although they were not charged with Sunshine Law violations, Search reached a plea agreement and Miller’s trial is scheduled early next month.
Their appointed replacements, Roberta Ulrich and Don Wiley, were elected to two-year terms in August.
“We’ve had a lot of good things go on and we’ve had a lot of tough times,” Gilpin said.