Concluding a city election process notable for mystifying signage, challenger Dale Register defeated the incumbent Pat O`Neal by a vote of 175 to 148 , to claim Cedar Key City Commission Seat # 3 in the run-off election held Tuesday, May 24.

Ninety-eight of the 323 ballots cast were absentee ballots, a high percentage indicating diligent electioneering on behalf of the run-off candidates. Registered voters who may have been out of town, or for whom it may have been inconvenient to get to City Hall for Tuesday`s vote, were urged to vote via absentee ballot.

The city`s new mayor will be elected at the City Commission`s re-organizational meeting, to be held at six p.m. Tuesday, June 7, preceding the Commission`s next regularly-scheduled meeting. The five commissioners will elect one of its members to the position of mayor.

Cedar Key`s five city commissioners serve also as directors of Cedar Key`s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA). The CRA re-organizational meeting will follow the Commission`s re-organizational meeting June 7.

Three of the five city commissioners were up for re-election this year, but two of the incumbents - Commissioner Sue Colson and Commissioner Gene Hodges - faced no opposition in the May 3 election.

In the May 3 three-way race for commission seat #3, Island Pizzeria proprietor Dave Feigin and retired telecommunications executive/Delta Coast Energy Solutions partner Dale Register challenged incumbent Pat O`Neal, a six-year veteran of the City Commission, whose day job is with the Nature Coast Business Development Council. None of the three candidates received a majority of the votes cast on May 3 (132 went to Dale Register, 106 to Pat O`Neal, and 40 to Dave Feigin), necessitating the May 24 run-off election between O`Neal and Register.

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