Current District 2 Commissioner Kerry Smith will face an uphill battle if he attempts a bid for re-election next year after campaigning in 2022 on the promise of “Roads Before Development” then approving a 170-home subdivision off Woodbine Road, which is known for heavy traffic congestion.
Commissioners Rhett Rowell and Bobby Burkett opposed the new development but were outvoted by Commissioners Smith, Ray Eddington and Colten Wright.
Beloved former Sheriff Wendell Hall strongly opposed the rezoning, noting via social media that Smith and Eddington are up for re-election next year. “I will not forget,” Hall said.
Well, I would not think Hall would support Smith anyway, considering the Commissioner’s violent criminal record.
Smith’s Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation real estate licensure application required an explanation of any crimes for which he had been convicted or found guilty of, or entered a plea of nolo contendere or guilty to, and he listed the following in his own handwriting:
- DUI in Escambia County with $277 fine, probation and 6 months suspension of driver’s license;
- Disorderly Intoxication in Leon County for which he received one year probation;
- Disorderly Intoxication in Hillsborough County after an altercation at a bar for which he received a fine/court cost;
- Battery Domestic Violence in Polk County for which he stated there was no penalty/disposition;
- Contempt of Court in Polk County for violating the Domestic Violence Injunction, stating he was acquitted.
Kerry Smith mugshots
So on his affirmed DBPR application, Smith admitted to the Battery Domestic Violence charge; however, he claimed there was no penalty/disposition?
According to Haines City Police Department’s report, one of Smith’s former wives, Lisa Mihay-Smith, who was his live-in girlfriend at the time, told police Smith chest bumped her, blocking her against a wall during verbal fighting, which escalated into a physical altercation in which Smith “kicked her with a barefoot in her chest.”
Subsequently, court records show Smith signed a Final Judgement of Injunction for Protection Against Domestic Violence ordered November 10, 2005 by Circuit Judge Judith J. Flanders. That Domestic Violence Injunction remained in effect roughly 12 years until Smith sought to have it removed in 2017. Why did he fail to note that on his DBPR application? Was he not also required to complete the batterer intervention program?
BOTTOMLINE: Can Kerry be trusted?
