Ted Sarandis — Republican Sarandis has centered his campaign around traditional values and his ability to bring a Republican populist view to a commission otherwise dominated by Democrats. He identifies himself as an “outsider” because he is not a career politician and aims to represent the average person.
Sarandis graduated from Syracuse University and had a career in radio and talk show television, before moving to Florida in 2008. He had a lengthy 22-year career as a state guard and also served as a senior member of the Civil Air Patrol. He is currently self-employed in property management.
Sarandis noted that making the port more transparent has been a large motivating factor in his decision to run. He remarked that most Palm Beach County voters know nothing about the port.
“The reason I am running is to shine a bright light on the most mysterious elected body in Palm Beach County. They have the ability to levy a tax on all 18 cities in the district and have never had a full public, open, honest forensic audit by an outside certified public accounting firm,” Sarandis asserted.
Should he be elected, Sarandis plans to cut agency spending, attain an outside forensic audit, ensure the commission guarantees to never levy taxes and implement a 20 percent discount for Palm Beach County residents on cruises. To attract more cruise lines, Sarandis wants to create an outreach and beautification program.
He aims to create an eight-year term limit for all commission seats, create a special election protocol should a commission seat remain open for more than 40 days and change the commission voting from at-large to district-based voting.
According to Sarandis, he also plans to increase port security by working closely with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“My platform includes a major emphasis on port security and the need to develop a strong relationship with the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to stop the flow of illegal [immigrants] sneaking into the port and surrounding waters,” Sarandis said.
