Meet Your Fire Commissioner: David Root

East Lake voters decided to keep Fire Commissioner David Root in office despite a challenge by Sharon Hurst in Tuesday's General Election. Incumbent David Root, 55, beat Sharon Hurst, 55, with 58 percent of the vote.

After the election, Root told East Lake Patch:

"My win would not have been possible without the full support of the firemen, friends, volunteers and my family.  Especially my wife Erin who worked tirelessly right up to the end of the day yesterday.  It truly takes a "Group" effort for a campaign -even just a small one- to be successful.

I believe the hard work the commission put in these past two years working closely with the union and the administration paid off and the results were reflected in the votes at the ballot box.

I truly look forward to the next 4 years and what we all can accomplish on behalf of the Fire District and the East Lake community."

Root beat Hurst by 2315 votes. The day after the Nov. 6 election, Hurst told East Lake Patch:

"I want to thank the citizens of the East Lake community for supporting me. I appreciate each and every one of you. I'm very proud of the hard work put forward in my campaign. Just because I didn't win doesn't mean my ideas aren't great. I believe in the power of God, the individual, and our community. Yes, we all are important, we have a voice and we can make a difference.  Yesterday our responsibility was to vote for a president. Today our response is to pray for the president.

As a citizen of East Lake for 28 years my plan is to continue to be involved in my community. I will continue the battle to educate and keep our community informed about our local fire district. It is important that the citizens become involved in the monthly meeting of the East Lake Fire District to understand the importance of how their 5 million dollar tax budget is being spent."

Related-

• East Lake Fire Commission: Root Beats Hurst
• Meet the Candidates: East Lake Tarpon Special Fire District