A vacancy on the Oldsmar City Council was filled Jan. 6, but not before a dramatic series of ballots underscored the difficulty of replacing outgoing council member Andrew Knapp.
Knapp, whose tenure was noted for his focus on civic transparency and engagement, left a Seat 3 vacancy that drew nine local applicants to the podium to vie for an appointment.
The appointment process required a three-vote majority from the remaining four council members. Following nearly two hours of applicant presentations, the council hit a 2-2 deadlock that required three rounds of voting to resolve. In the end, local Realtor and business owner Cyndi Olmstead secured the appointment and was sworn in immediately.
The applicants represented a broad range of professional backgrounds. Among them was Sara Wodraska, a neonatal ICU nurse at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, who addressed the council regarding her transition back into public service.
“I am finally sleeping through the night. I can put a coherent thought together again,” Wodraska said, describing her return from “the swamp of early motherhood.”
Wodraska used her time to raise concerns about the city’s use of glyphosate (Roundup) in park maintenance, citing research on its potential carcinogenicity and impact on local wildlife.
Fraser Young, a 28-year-old senior vice president at Citibank and a recently naturalized U.S. citizen, highlighted his background in risk management and audit. Young, who has already filed to run for the seat in the August special election, urged the council to prioritize “financial creativity” in city contracts.
“You need someone that can look at the contract not just with hope, but with an auditor’s scrutiny and passion,” Young told the dais, referencing the city’s upcoming major development agreements.
Jessica Villafana, a Harbor Palms resident of over 20 years and current planning board member, spoke to her 35-year career in health care finance.
“Sometimes in my career, I often meet people on the worst day of their lives,” Villafana said. “My small portion of that conversation is going to go toward their healing … that to me is my legacy.” When asked for areas of improvement, Villafana suggested the city might benefit from “developing parks rather than downtown.”
Longtime resident Tom O’Shea, who currently serves as vice president of the Oldsmar Friends of the Library board, focused his presentation on infrastructure. O’Shea, a regular attendee at council meetings, advocated for connecting the city’s fragmented bike paths and sidewalks, specifically citing gaps on Douglas Road and Shore Drive.
“I kind of want to give back,” O’Shea told the council, “the number of times I’ve gone to city functions and it’s just me that’s there, it feels like the city’s putting on the whole thing for me,” noting the city’s efforts in putting on community functions.
Because the council currently sits with only four members, Mayor Katie Gannon, Vice Mayor Steve Graber, and council members Valerie Tatarzewski and Sean Swauger, the appointment process proved mathematically difficult. The rules of the appointment necessitated a clear majority of three votes to move forward.
The first ballot was split: two votes for Cyndi Olmstead, one for Tom O’Shea, and one for Rhonda Dunkley. Per the guidance of City Attorney Tom Trask, the council moved to a second ballot to narrow the field. That second round resulted in a 2-2 tie between Olmstead and Dunkley, bringing the proceedings to a temporary halt as the council members weighed the qualifications of the two remaining finalists.
“My heart is beating like it’s my own election,” Tatarzewski said during the tally. “I’m getting flashbacks.” On the third ballot, the council reached a 3-1 majority in favor of Olmstead.
During her earlier Q&A, Olmstead, who serves on the boards for Kiwanis and the Upper Tampa Bay Education Foundation, addressed the learning curve of the seven-month interim term.
“This interim position requires somebody who can learn fast,” Olmstead said. “There’s people who are an inch deep and a mile wide and people who are a mile deep and an inch wide, and I think I’m a mile deep and a mile wide.”
Gannon also addressed the applicants who were not selected, encouraging them to seek positions on city boards or participate in the Janice Miller Citizens Academy. “There is literally one chair right there and there’s a whole bunch of people on this list,” Gannon said. “They need people who care like you care.”
Olmstead was sworn in by the city clerk and took her seat on the dais to conclude the meeting. The appointment restores the Oldsmar City Council to its full five-member capacity as it enters the 2026 legislative and budget season, including upcoming decisions on the city’s Emergency Operations Center and City Hall facilities.