Qualifying period for 2022 Windermere Town Council election opens Wednesday

It’s beginning to feel a lot like election season in Windermere.

The qualifying period for the town council’s March 8, 2022, election starts at noon Wednesday and ends Jan. 7. Two council seats and the mayor’s gavel are up for grabs. Terms for each are two years.

To qualify, candidates need to be at least 18 years old and have lived within the town limits — or one of its annexed areas — for at least 12 months before the election. Annexed areas include Estancia, Lake Crescent Reserve, Marina Bay, Sunset Bay, The Manors, The Willows at Lake Rhea, Windermere Oaks and Windermere Reserve.

Candidates must also collect 25 signatures that must be certified by the Supervisor of Elections to be voters registered in the town. Candidate packets can be found here. Appointments are required to return the necessary paperwork along with a $25 filing fee. To make an appointment, contact Dorothy Burkhalter, town clerk, by phone (407-876-2563, ext. 5323) or email.

Mayor Jim O’Brien told VoxPopuli via text message that he will run again. O’Brien served four terms on the town council before he was elected to a one-year term as mayor in 2019 after Gary Bruhn, who held the position for 15 years, moved into a new home just beyond the town’s limits. Residency is a requirement of office.

The two incumbent town council members, Chris Sapp and Loren “Andy” Williams, were less definitive about their political plans.

“I do not quite know the answer to that question,” Sapp said in a phone interview when asked if he planned to run again. “I’m in the homestretch of four years, and there’s a lot to feel good about.” Sapp, who was first elected in 2018, left open the possibility of serving in a “volunteer capacity” if he chooses not to defend his seat.

Williams, also elected in 2018, said he was “undecided.”

He’s got a month to think it over.