When the News-Journal met with Ormond Beach mayoral candidate Susan Persis, it was over a Starbucks beverage. When the paper met with her opponent Jason Leslie, he had wolfed down some lunchtime Taco Bell while manning his early voting tent.
The race is a study in contrasts, with Persis as the consummate insider and member of the local political elite, and Leslie, an outsider from New Jersey who says his perspective puts him in a better spot to see the city’s problems.
Inside versus outside
Persis, 69, is a retired school principal who served on the Ormond Beach City Commission since 2018. She has lived in Ormond Beach for the last 35 years and the Volusia County area for most of her life, having graduated from Seabreeze High School. Her husband Carl, a Volusia County School Board member, was mayor of Ormond Beach from 1999 to 2003.
“I’m a local. I was born and raised here, so I know that community. I know the culture. I know the climate of Ormond Beach and even the surrounding Daytona Beach area,” Persis said. “This guy has been here three years. He’s from New Jersey and he doesn’t understand how we work in Ormond Beach.”…