Candidate Profile: Kurt Landefeld

Landefeld moved to Bradenton from Ohio in 2016, where he served his county as a parks commissioner. He was soon elected to the HOA board for River Isles, including two terms as chair. Landefeld was then appointed to the planning commission by former Mayor of Bradenton, Wayne Poston.

Landefeld says that his top priorities would include workforce housing. He hopes to encourage private market developers that have made progress elsewhere with unique designs that utilize lower-cost materials to enter the city's market.

Landefeld also hopes that the sale and redevelopment of City Hall can be used to transition the character of downtown and the riverfront into a more vibrant and better-utilized space.

Landefeld says he was a supporter of former Ward 4 councilman Bemis Smith and has been disappointed by the performance of incumbent councilman Bill Sanders, who he feels has been rendered ineffective as a public official by his poor relations with administrative staff, some of whom have filed complaints against the councilman.

Landefeld has raised just under $35,000 for the race, as of the most recent reporting period, much of which has come from local development interests. That puts him second behind Sanders, although the latter has self-funded more than half of his $40,700 raised so far. Real estate attorney Lisa Gonzalez Moore, the third candidate in the race, has raised $16,500, mostly from small donors.