Joey Lanouette and his son at the Supervisor of Elections Office with his signed petitions. (Courtesy)
By Sharon Aron Baron
A second candidate running in Tamarac’s November 2022 election has qualified by signatures; it was announced Wednesday.
Joey Lanouette, who works for a Defense Contract Management Agency, received confirmation from the Supervisor of Elections office he qualified by getting signatures of one percent of District 2 voters.
“I went to multiple neighborhoods to include the Woodlands, Coral Palms, the Hampton Hills, Lime Bay, Fairhaven 11, Mainlands 8, 9, 10, and Sunset Isles,” he told Tamarac Talk.
All candidates who run for office have to qualify for office in one of two ways; pay the required filing fee or collect the required number of signed petitions from registered voters.
Lanouette submitted the signatures to the Supervisor of Elections office on May 18. Although only 125 were required, he obtained 134 valid signatures.
He accomplished his goal with the help of several neighbors in the Woodlands, where a majority of the petitions were obtained.
“I was welcomed and had very little opposition. I am excited and thankful for the support. I look forward to being on the ballot this November, and I will be actively campaigning.”
In 2010, Lanouette joined the Air Force Reserve. During his active duty from 2012 to 2015, he was a part of humanitarian missions to South America and served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, and Djibouti – under Operation Enduring Freedom.
He is currently in reserve status and works as a Quality Assurance Specialist for Defense Contract Management Agency and a professor at Kaiser University, teaching Economics and Computer Science.
Moving to the Woodlands community in 2018, Lanouette is recently divorced a has a good relationship with his former spouse, co-parenting their 5-year-old son.
He was re-elected to the Tamarac Police Department Pension Board and serves on the city’s Veterans Affairs Committee.
When asked about the 13th Floor development plan of the former golf course in Woodlands – one of the most divisive issues the city commission has to vote on – Lanouette said he “has to see how the things will play out.”
He said he understands that a percentage of the community will want him to vote a certain way, should he win the election, while the other residents will desire a different vote.
“I am running the campaign in an organic and sustainable way. I look forward to learning more and being educated on the concerns of each community.”
District 2 is now an open seat after Mike Gelin announced he was running for the mayoral seat held by Michelle J. Gomez, who is running again. Candidates who filed paperwork are Tyneka Rene and Stu Michelson, who also qualified by petition on May 12.
District 4 Commissioner Debra Placko has announced she will not be running in 2022. So far, David Mountford and Carol Mendelson have entered the race.
The qualifying period for Tamarac commission candidates for the November election is from noon on Monday, June 13, through noon on Friday, June 17, at City Hall. Candidates who qualify by petition do not have to pay filing fees.
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