Reported By Heather Sorentrue
MASCOTTE -- It's a shakeup that caught some off guard in both Mascotte and Minneola.
Two mayors were unseated from their positions with changes on the horizon as their challengers prepare to take the spot.
Jeff Krull is making a comeback to the mayor's seat in Mascotte by a narrow margin of just 12 votes.
He knocked out incumbent Felix Ramirez, who got into office after police arrested Krull two years ago on the eve of the election for child molestation charges.
Those charges were later dropped.
Still, Krull says he never expected to win this race as a result.
“I thought there was still this credibility gap enough to keep me out of the picture, but apparently people want change, they have not seen the change that was promised to them,” Krull said.
Krull says his first order of business back at City Hall will be to review the budget and try to help jump start the economy.
Another race in South Lake County that garnered a lot of attention was the mayoral race in the city of Minneola.
The incumbent mayor David Yeager was upset by one of his council members Pat Kelley who decided to run against him in that race.
Kelley told News 13 he believes the voters elected him to keep Minneola as a hometown community and not as a destination city that Yeager was pursuing with talk of gambling, a high end hotel, and indoor skiing.
Business leaders in the community say with a struggling economy they are not surprised the incumbents were tossed out.
“Obviously some stark differences in personality as well as maybe direction so it will be interesting to see what happens post David Yeager years,” said Ray San Fratello, South Lake Chamber of Commerce. “And of course with no city manager in place we're not quite sure where Minneola is going, but we want to make sure we're at the table to talk with them from an economic development standpoint.”
The incoming city leaders in both Mascotte and Minneola will officially take office at their next council meetings.
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