There are two seats open for the Sebastian City Council 2024 election. This year’s candidates are Kelly Dixon, Ed Dodd, and Damien H. Gilliams.
Most Sebastian citizens praise the incumbents, Dixon and Dodd, for their effective leadership and proven track record. Their ability to work together constructively demonstrates their commitment to the City’s well-being. However, Gilliams, a former City Councilman, was recalled by Sebastian citizens in 2020 after he broke laws while serving the public. He was convicted by a jury and served jail time.
Kelly Dixon
Kelly Dixon, elected to the Sebastian City Council in 2022, is currently serving as Vice Mayor. She succeeded former Mayor and Councilman Jim Hill, who retired after a distinguished two-decade career in public service.
“We have made many positive administrative changes in the City, and I am pleased with the progress we have made. I set out with the goal to bring more focus on our youth and young families, work to maintain Sebastian’s charm as we grow, as well as enhance communication from the City to our citizens, and we have done that,” Dixon told Sebastian Daily.
Pointing to unfinished business, Dixon announced her official re-election campaign. “I would be honored to continue to serve on Council as we soar into Sebastian’s next 100 years,” she stated.
A Sebastian resident since 1997, Kelly Dixon currently teaches TV Production, Film & Photography at Indian River Charter High School. She is a proud graduate of Sebastian River High School.
Dixon is married with two children and has volunteered extensively in the community, including serving on the Treasure Coast Elementary PTA board.
Ed Dodd
Ed Dodd was re-elected to the City Council in 2022 and is currently serving as the city’s Mayor. He’s been a City of Sebastian resident for 24 years.
He has served on the Code Enforcement Board for two years, the Planning & Zoning Board for six years, the Charter Review Committee, and the City Council for eight years.
Dodd also served as chair of the Code Enforcement Board for two years, Planning & Zoning for two years, and has been the Mayor of Sebastian three times.
Dodd spearheaded the Sustainable Sebastian initiative and believes in helping the environment and protecting the Lagoon.
Damien H. Gilliams
Damien H. Gilliams has a criminal history, readily accessible through public records at the sheriff’s office or the Indian River County Clerk of Courts, rendering him unsuitable candidate for public service in our view. He demonstrates a complete lack of accountability for his crimes against this community, consistently shifting blame onto the state attorney, the judge, the clerk, the local press (Sebastian Daily, Press Journal, and WPEC), the Sebastian City Council, and anyone else but himself.
Gilliams, having served time in prison for his convictions, persistently seeks election to the City Council, likely exploiting the changing demographics of the city to conceal his past from newer residents. In 2020, during the Sebastian recall, citizens removed Gilliams from the Sebastian City Council after he committed crimes while serving the public.
The disgraced former councilman held an illegal meeting with two other former council members to orchestrate the mayor’s removal, aiming to secure the mayoral position for himself. He covertly recorded the meeting, likely intending to legitimize his actions, but instead, the recording served as damning evidence of his Sunshine Law violations. He subsequently faced charges of perjury and multiple counts of violating the Sunshine Law.
It is essential to note that Damien H. Gilliams was found guilty by a jury for crimes committed during his 10-month tenure on the Sebastian City Council in 2020. He appealed his case twice and lost. Most citizens say Gilliams should repay the money he still owes to local taxpayers for his past illegal activities before considering another run for City Council. A judge ordered him to pay $200k, which he still owes.
His Facebook page falsely claims he is the ‘former Mayor of Sebastian,’ further demonstrating his propensity for deception. Gilliams was never the mayor of the City of Sebastian, but he wants people to think that. During his time as a council member, he exhibited a pattern of disruptive behavior, including making false allegations against others, breaking laws, and a pattern that persists during his public comments today as a citizen.
Gilliams also has a history of disregarding local ordinances when it comes to his local business, and mocks code enforcement officers on social media when they try to do their job. His behavior raises questions about his suitability for public office, especially given his apparent belief that he’s above the law. He frequently flouts local ordinances and then falsely claims victimhood, blaming city officials for targeting him.
Despite calling himself an environmentalist, he delayed connecting his No Name Sports Bar to the county sewer system for five years, only doing so after raw sewage overflowed from his septic tank onto his property. This incident, documented by the Florida Department of Health and labeled a “Public Health Threat,” was widely reported in the local press, including Sebastian Daily. During this period, Gilliams utilized an outdoor porta-potty for nearly a year, while publicly dismissing the severity of the sewage issue. Furthermore, he inexplicably failed to apply for a City of Sebastian grant in the past that would have subsidized most of the cost of sewer connection, despite the availability of such a program. Instead of taking responsibility, Gilliams blamed the county, claiming a sewer connection was unavailable, even though neighboring businesses had already connected their businesses years prior.
Indian River County Administrator John Titkanich formally notified the Sebastian City Council of significant environmental hazards at Gilliam’s business, stemming from his prolonged failure to connect to the county sewer system despite receiving official notice in 2019. Titkanich deemed Gilliam’s accounts of the situation to be exaggerated and misleading.
Here’s a quick timeline:
- October 3, 2019 – The initial red flag concerning Gilliams arose when he created fake endorsements when running for City Council. Property Appraiser Wesley Davis even had to enlist legal assistance to have his endorsement removed from Gilliams’ political website. When Ed Dodd requested removal, Gilliams and his son responded by superimposing a red line through the image with a “no thanks” message. However, he did win the election. Most residents believe it was due to low voter turnout.
- April 24, 2020 – Gilliams and two fellow City Council members faced allegations of participating in an illegal meeting. A City Council session, originally planned as a regular meeting, was postponed due to COVID-19 worries following numerous requests from hundreds of residents. Some citizens asserted that Gilliams and two others had orchestrated an illicit takeover with intentions to terminate city staff and appoint Gilliams to his wishful position of Mayor. A friend of Gilliams recorded the meeting, capturing him saying, “The police are coming,” just as officers from the Sebastian Police Department arrived.
- May 18, 2020 – Gilliams disrupts a public gathering of citizens involved in a recall effort by loudly shouting through a bullhorn.
- May 20, 2020 – Gilliams disrupts a recall signing event, asking to see city permits authorizing the gathering at Riverview Park. The police were alerted, and he departed.
- June 16, 2020 – Gilliams was charged with perjury and breaking the Sunshine Law.
- June 17, 2020 – Gilliams was arrested on the charges while serving as a City Councilman.
- July 27, 2020 – The City Council voted unanimously to file a complaint against Gilliams with the State of Florida, accusing Gilliams of violating at least three Florida Ethics laws.
- September 4, 2020 – Gilliams attempted to stop the recall by filing a lawsuit against the recall group, city officials, and the Indian River County Supervisor of Elections. A judge dismissed his lawsuit.
- September 15, 2020 – More than 90 percent of Sebastian citizens who voted recalled Gilliams and two other City Council members. The recall removed them from public office.
- October 1, 2020 – Gilliams returned $5,000 in grant funds to the City after it was discovered he falsely claimed losses on the application from an Airbnb business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interestingly, he was one of the City Council members who voted for the grant program. He was also the first to apply for the funds the morning following the vote.
- February 8, 2021 – The Sebastian Property Owners Association attempted to remove Gilliams as president following his arrest on perjury charges and Sunshine Law violations. However, Gilliams abruptly ended the meeting before a vote could take place. Subsequently, the entire group disbanded and has remained inactive for years. Given Gilliams’ past, it is advisable to approach his claims with skepticism.
- May 27, 2021 – A jury delivered a guilty verdict against Gilliams on charges of perjury and violating the Sunshine Law.
- June 24, 2021 – After filing an appeal to overthrow the Sebastian recall, the District Court of Appeal unanimously denied Gilliams’ motion.
- June 28, 2021 – Gilliams attempted to disqualify the judge in his criminal case, but the District Court of Appeals denied his motion.
- August 2021 – Gilliams runs for public office again and loses.
- September 14, 2021 – Gilliams was sentenced to serve 6 months in jail, plus fines of $2,500 and restitution of $26,000 for his crimes as a Sebastian City Councilman.
- August 2022 – Gilliams runs for public office again and loses.
- September 6, 2022 – Gilliams ran for City Council again, even though he was still out on bond. He asked the judge to remove a no-contact order that kept him away from other city officials. The judge denied Gilliams’ motion.
- November 8, 2022 – Gilliams lost the City Council election, all while he was still out on bond fighting his appeals.
- June 6, 2023 – In another, desperate act, Gilliams contacts WPBF Channel 25 to publicly weep and shift blame on others before turning himself in to serve jail time.
- August 2023 – Gilliams runs for public office again and loses.
- October 11, 2023 – The Florida Supreme Court denied Gilliams’ case, exhausting all possible appeals, sending him to jail and having to pay restitution for the criminal offenses he committed against the citizens of Sebastian.
- November 29, 2023 – Gilliams’ was charged with a Public Health Threat, a public health by the Florida Dept. of Health after he his business (No Name Sports Bar) had a septic system failure. Local environmentalists accused him of polluting the lagoon with sewage waste. Despite having four years to connect to the county sewer, he delayed and used a porta potty for his customers. He finally paid for the connection after blaming the county for delays.
- February 28, 2024 – Indian River County Administrator John Titkanich alerted the Sebastian City Council about environmental hazards at Damien Gilliam’s No Name Sports Bar, resulting from his failure to connect to county sewer despite receiving notice in 2019. The delay led to a septic tank malfunction, causing a sanitary nuisance in Sebastian.
- August 2024 – Gilliams runs for public office again and loses.
Gilliams frequently attends City Council meetings, aligning himself with disgruntled residents to earn votes for a city council run. His self-proclaimed heroism is a facade. Just ask the 94% of Sebastian voters who ousted him from office for his crimes against the community.
He frequently blames others for his crimes and jail sentence and restitution to city taxpayers, including the state attorney, judge, jury, news media, and appeals court.
Conclusion
The City of Sebastian has made significant strides under the leadership of the current City Council, including incumbents Kelly Dixon and Ed Dodd. In contrast, Gilliams has a criminal record, including jail time for a position he is now seeking again.
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