ANNA MARIA – Doris “Deanie” Sebring is now an Anna Maria City Commissioner.
Anna Maria resident Sharon Wisniewski also applied to serve the two-year commission term vacated by Commissioner Amy Tripp when she moved to North Carolina earlier this year after qualifying to run unopposed in the November election.
Sebring’s appointment took place during the commission’s Thursday, Dec. 3 organizational meeting at which Commissioner Mark Short and Mayor Dan Murphy were first sworn into their new two-year terms in office after running unopposed. Commissioner Carol Carter was then appointed to serve as commission chair for another year, with Short serving as vice-chair.
Before the vacant commission seat was filled, Sebring and Wisniewski had five minutes each to address the commission.
Going first, and accompanied by her diabetic-alert dog Humphrey, Sebring said she and her husband, Tripp, moved to Anna Maria four years ago.
“We chose to move here and build our forever home because we love the feel of the city, the quaintness of the small, hometown businesses and the feeling of being safe. I have no hidden agenda or political interests other than to serve the community,” she said.
“Anna Maria is a major tourist destination. While I knew that when I moved here, I also understand that we can’t let tourists’ interests overpower the interests of the people who call Anna Maria home. There has to be a healthy balance between tourism and businesses and the residents,” Sebring said.
Sebring said she supports the home rule rights the commission has thus far managed to preserve, despite the annual challenges from the state legislature.
“I feel it’s important to have local authority over rentals. You cannot effectively rule when you’re so far removed,” Sebring said.
“I also would like to continue the progress the city has made with regards to sidewalks. In a beach community that is mainly a walking town, I think sidewalks are a necessity. Not to mention, motorists are trying to dodge huge potholes and maneuver flooded streets. I’d like to find a way to make our streets safer for residents and our visitors and I do have ideas for that,” Sebring said.
Sebring said she grew up in Louisiana and helped run the family business. At the age of 18, she moved to California and began working in the accounting department of an automobile dealership that later named her general manager.
When she was 32, she moved to Tampa, opened her own business and developed a clientele that consisted of more than 550 auto dealerships throughout the United States. In doing so, she invented and marketed an email- and Q-code-based database as part of a lost key recovery program utilized by consumers and auto dealerships at a time when people were still leery of sharing their email addresses.
“While running my business in Tampa, I raised three children on my own. I was board member of the garden club in the historic south Tampa district and was a key member of the fundraising team. I wrote for the magazine Hyde Parking Living. I’ve written two children’s books and I’ve done the children’s circuit for Barnes & Noble. Since moving to the Island, I have been active with the Anna Maria Garden Club,” Sebring said.
“I’m organized, I’m dependable, I’m dedicated and up for the task. I love this island as much as anyone here in this room and I want to preserve the beauty, the character and quaintness that brought me and my family here to remain forever,” Sebring said.
Wisniewski’s qualifications
Wisniewski said her husband’s family ties on Anna Maria Island date back to the 1950s.
“We love living here and we currently live in the house my husband’s grandfather built in 1959,” she said.
Wisniewski said their daughter and son-in-law are the owners/operators of the Pizza Social restaurant on Pine Avenue.
“I was a commissioned officer in the United States Army for 31 years. I retired as a full colonel. We retired in 2014 and became full-time residents here in Anna Maria in 2015,” she said.
Wisniewski said her military service provided her with a wide range of experience and knowledge regarding budgets, facilities, personnel, staffing, recruiting and more.
“My background is human resource management, but as an officer, you’re often asked to do things out of your comfort zone. I’ve managed budgets from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars,” she said.
She also said she managed upwards of 350 people at a time who were dispersed over a wide geographic area.
Appointment made
After the applicants spoke, Murphy said, “We are very fortunate as a city, and as a municipal government, to have two very highly qualified candidates to consider for this position. You have such unique and fantastic backgrounds, both of you.”
Carter, Short and commissioners Jon Crane and Joe Muscatello were then asked to rank Sebring and Wisniewski as their first and second choices. Crane, Muscatello and Short ranked Sebring as their first choice. Carter ranked Wisniewski as her first choice and the appointment went to Sebring.
