Deltona

Two veteran politicians are seeking to become the next mayor of Central Florida's second most populous city.

That the incumbent mayor isn't among them is a relief. Dennis Mulder, the once promising young mayor elected in 2005 at the age of 27, has been an embarrassment, and his departure is welcome.

John Masiarczyk, the city's first mayor who served 10 years, is again running for the nonpartisan seat, this time against former Commissioner David Santiago.

Either would be an improvement, but what Deltona needs now is stability, which was Mr. Masiarczyk's hallmark while he was in office.

It wasn't until he left that Deltona became a political sideshow. Up to that point the city wasn't doing badly, considering it was recently incorporated and was an utter disaster from a planning standpoint, thanks largely to a county government that approved it in the 1960s and neglected it for decades afterward.

We didn't much care for Mr. Masiarczyk's expansionist attitude while he was mayor, but Mr. Santiago was hardly a critic of expanding into rural areas. In this campaign, Mr. Santiago has taken to mischaracterizing water rate increases - approved to avoid a massive, bond rate-threatening deficit in the city's water utility - as a "water tax." And Mr. Santiago shows a shocking lack of interest in water conservation. Not good.

Deltona doesn't need that kind of thinking. It needs someone who's responsible, practical and dependable.

We endorse John Masiarczyk.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/os-ed-sanford-deltona-mayors-092810-20100927,0,7015581.story