AW Stories of the Month
Felicia Matula Runs for Mayor of Royal Palm Beach
By Krista Martinelli
Felicia Matula is someone who believes in getting involved in your community. As one of the few people who have shown up on a regular
basis to Royal Palm Beach town meetings, she points out that often there are just a handful of people, other than the elected officials, at these meetings that determine our future.
“It’s healthy to get involved,” she says. “And if you don’t trust the people who are currently elected, you should get involved in voting them out.” If you get involved only when there’s a serious problem, she explains, “sometimes you’ll find it’s too late.”
When Matula realized that no one was running against the current Mayor Matty Mattioli, she decided to throw her hat in the ring. “It’s time for a change,” says Matula. “We need to update the way some of the things are done. We need to move into new forms of communication, in getting the word out to more people in Royal Palm Beach.” She feels she could do more of reaching out to the community using tools of social media, for example.
She loves Royal Palm Beach for the sense of community that she feels here. It’s a village where “everyone seems to know each other well.” Originally from the Chicago area, Felicia Matula and her husband Dan moved to Florida to be closer to her mother and to escape the cold winters. She enjoys her time with her husband and three kids. Her kids are in 4th grade, kindergarten and preK classes, active in soccer, softball and other activities. Both Felicia and Dan enjoy being involved in their kids’ sports teams. “It’s a user-friendly community,” she says.
What would she do differently if elected as Mayor for the two-year term? She would start by running the meetings differently. Even if there were a large group of people showing up at a particular meeting, she feels strongly about every person being heard – even if it takes a little longer. “If people want to be heard, I would let them speak.”
Matula is an Independent. She’s the first person in Royal Palm Beach to get on the ballot by petition, instead of registering by making a payment. She felt that the process of collecting 250 names and addresses in person was a good start to getting out in the community and talking with people.
She points out that Mattioli has done well serving his time as
Mayor, but that it’s time for someone new to represent a different part of the RPB demographic. As a mother of three, she feels that she’s just at the beginning of her children’s process of going through the whole Royal Palm Beach education experience. She feels strongly about addressing one of the poorly rated schools in the area, the Royal Palm Beach High School (which was rated as a “D” school just a couple of years ago and now is rated as a “C” school). Matula questions how all of the feeder schools rated as “A” schools lead into a C-rated high school.
The 86-year-old Mattioli has served on the Council for a total of eighteen years and has put in his bid for re-election this year.
“I will fill a different niche on the Council,” says Matula. She believes she has a different perception of how council meetings should be run and what they should focus on.
Matula sees the position as a part-time job that she’s ready and able to handle, in addition to her position as a Director of Finance for a hotel management company. She has previously served on the Recreation Board for the Village of Royal Palm Beach and enjoyed her experience in that role.
When it comes to national issues, Matula takes a conservative stance and is primarily concerned that “the rich should not be taxed at a higher rate than anyone else.” She says she has seen the impact on businesses when they are overly taxed, in which employee family health plans almost double in cost. She also says, “I’d love to see more goods being manufactured here in the United States. We need to find ways to make things cheaper, faster, better,” she says.
She also believes that members of Congress should not receive benefits for life. “It’s unrealistic and it needs to stop,” she says firmly.
Regarding Royal Palm Beach issues, Matula is concerned about land usage, safety and security. For example, she was concerned about the way that 150 acres of land in Royal Palm Beach was put into the hands of an outside consultant, who came back with an idea that seemed much like CityPlace and did not “make sense” for the surrounding areas.
What can you do to get involved in Felicia Matula’s run for Mayor for the March 13th election?
“I just really encourage everyone to get out and vote on March 13th, no matter who they vote for,” says Matula. “The turnout is often very poor. Some our citizens don’t even know who the current mayor is.”
Financial contributions are always a great help in a campaign, says Matula. She has appointed local resident Sharon Powers has her campaign treasurer – sharon_powers@earthlink.net
To contact Matula, e-mail her at voteforfeliciamatula@gmail.com. She also encourages people to visit “Felicia for Mayor” on Facebook and click “like.” Matula just launched her official website, where you can find current information about her campaign at: http://feliciaformayor.com/
“I’d really like to see everyone out there voting and getting involved this year,” says Matula. She estimates that the voting process on March 13th will take only about five minutes. “We’re all busy, but it’s just so simple to walk in and vote.”