Tallahassee City Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox has drawn another opponent for her seat in this year’s elections.
Leon County native Joe Kalicki filed to run on Tuesday. He told WFSU he thinks the impending sale of Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare assets to Florida State University was pre-determined and it motivated him to jump into the race.
“I'm not against a partnership between FSU and TMH, but I don't think that they're extracting enough value from a city asset that could really set the city up for success for a long time,” Kalicki said.
City management negotiated a price of more than $100 million over 30 years. The agreement also includes a $250 million pledge from FSU to invest in facility improvements and research at the facility.
Commissioners are set to vote on that tentative agreement on Wednesday evening. If the vote passes, it will go to a final public hearing in March.
That issue aside, Kalicki thinks personal disagreements between commissioners in recent years have kept them all from working collaboratively, citing the often-reported 3-2 split at city hall.
“We all need to be working together to actually get stuff done, rather than getting stuck in kind of my minor personal disagreements that end up slowing down our ability to improve the city for everyone,” he said.
Kalicki currently works as a director at local health technology company. He’s also a local musician.
Incumbent commissioner Diane Williams-Cox is seeking a third four-year term. The race for the seat will occur during August’s primary elections.