Janelle Irwin Taylor
John Doctor, the current Mayor of Treasure Island, will officially seek voter approval for the job. He announced last week he will run for election, following his appointment to the seat in October when former Mayor Tyler Payne resigned.
Prior to that appointment, Doctor served as Vice Mayor.
“Sixteen years ago, my family and I made Treasure Island our home, and since then, I’ve dedicated myself to strengthening our community by supporting local businesses, protecting our beautiful beaches, and now helping our residents rebuild following last year’s hurricanes,” Doctor said. “We have a lot of work left to do in order to get residents back into their homes, but I know with the backing of Treasure Island neighbors and businesses, we can make our city more resilient and prosperous than ever before.”
Doctor has lived with his wife, Carol, in Treasure Island since 2008. He moved to the beach town after being promoted and transferred to St. Petersburg as Senior Vice President of Operations for what was then Bright House Networks. His wife took a job as a fifth grade teacher at Jamerson Elementary School. Both retired in 2019.
Newly retired, Doctor sought civic duty first by joining Sons of the American Legion and the Gulf Beaches Rotary Club in 2020. In 2021, he ran for the first time for the Treasure Island City Commission.
Four years later, Doctor is hoping to continue his service. His top campaign priority is continuing work to help residents return home following devastation to the island during Hurricanes Helene and Milton in September and October, respectively. He also plans to further work improving local infrastructure, leaning on lessons learned through is work as a City Commissioner on the town’s Master Lift Station, sea wall improvements and the new Safety Building for the city’s fire and police services.
Doctor’s announcement came just days before he penned a letter directly to President Donald Trump asking for federal disaster relief from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on par with what North Carolina and California have received recently for natural disasters from which they are still recovering — massive flooding from Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and devastating wildfires in Southern California.
His letter lamented “FEMA bureaucracy” was standing in residents’ way of necessary building permits to restore damaged homes, according to Fox 13.
