By Ed Offley
Stuart Tettemer’s rise from newly transplanted resident to Panama City Beach mayor has been a major stunning surprise – not only for the city as a whole, but for the winning candidate himself.
The idea of running for Panama City Beach mayor initially struck him as “ridiculous,” Tettemer told PCB Life.
While a Florida native, Stuart Tettemer had not lived in the state since 2009. He had spent twelve years as a software engineer in California’s Silicon Valley and Colorado. But flying to Orlando for a conference in the spring of 2020, the 40-year-old had an epiphany.
“That oppressive Florida humidity hit me hard, and I said to myself, ‘I have to get back to Florida!’ ” Three years ago, he bought a house in Bid-a-Wee Beach and moved his retired parents into a house just down the street. At the time, Tettemer said he never gave a thought to local politics, much less becoming involved.
But ongoing tensions between Bid-a-Wee residents and the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) over the planned widening of Front Beach Road from two to five lanes with sidewalks and bike paths led Tettemer to begin researching the multi-year infrastructure project.
“There was concern [among the neighbors] that they would lose their public right-of-way parking,” said Tettemer. “I thought the plans for the neighborhood were a little punitive.”
Tettemer said he was struck to learn that the roadway design includes two dedicated mass transit lanes. “The CRA design makes no sense,” he said. “The city has no plans to use those bus lanes.”
After several conversations with CRA and city officials, Tettemer said his concerns deepened. “I was surprised by the city’s unwillingness to find common ground.”
Another point of contention voiced by his neighbors was the severe traffic congestion created by the ongoing CRA construction, the massive multi-year widening project for US 98/Panama City Beach Parkway, and a profusion of massive tourist events.
In particular, the recent shift of large-scale tourism events from the fall “shoulder season” back into the annual tourism season running from March through Labor Day made a chronic problem nearly impossible to endure, he said.
Even though it occurred after the City Council election on April 16, Tettemer pointed to the city’s prior approval of the spring Thunder Beach motorcycle rally and the Gulf Coast Salute Air Show taking place on the same weekend, May 3-5, as a major mistake. The event strained local law enforcement agencies and created gridlock throughout most of the city, he said. Another example was the shift of the massive Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam concert from Labor Day into the summer tourist season in July.
When Mayor Mark Sheldon announced his run for re-election and it appeared that there wouldn’t be a credible challenger, Tettemer said a number of neighbors and friends urged him to consider running against the city’s pre-eminent tourist event promoter. At first unsure, he waited until the day before the filing deadline to submit his papers.
“If you look at the facts — money, name recognition — this was a long-shot campaign,” he said with a chuckle.
Having accumulated a “decent nest egg” during his California years, Tettemer decided to self-finance his mayoral bid, and went on to spend $40,000 out of his own pocket.
His campaign strategy was simple. “I went door to door, and I listened to what people had to say.” If there was one theme he heard campaigning door to door, Tettemer said, it was this: “People felt trapped in their homes during the tourist season.”
On April 16, Tettemer stunned Sheldon with a 57.59-42.41-percent landslide victory.
The voter turnout was surprisingly large for a municipal election where the other two candidates – incumbent Ward 4 Councilman Michael Jarman and Ward 2 newcomer Ethan Register – were running unopposed. The contested mayoral race sparked a 26-percent turnout from the city’s 13,222 registered voters, compared with only 16 percent in 2022. Tettemer buried Sheldon in a 2,033-1,497 tally.
Tettemer said his overarching priority as mayor will be to “rebalance” the city’s approach to its multi-million-dollar tourism industry, Tettemer said. “We’ve got to take care of the people who live here first.”
“My goal is, I think that the city government could be more open and focus on the residents more.”
Tettemer said he is familiar with how other Florida cities have lost control when tourism events attract crowds so large they overwhelm law enforcement and municipal services, threatening a public backlash. “We need to moderate the number of events and better communicate so people don’t feel trapped.”
In his first weeks in office, Tettemer has already taken steps to fix what he sees is a flaw in the city’s ordinance for major tourist events. As written, if an event checks all the requirements needed to be held in the city, officials have no option but to approve it – even if it means several events overlap. Tettemer has directed city staff to prepare a modification to the ordinance that will give City Council authority to approve or reject a second event occurring at the same time.
Difficult though it will be, Tettemer said it is vital that Panama City Beach find a way to balance tourism with the needs of residents.
“My goal is to start tweaking things — to head off a backlash,” he said.
