Voters in Pompano Beach and Margate Tuesday night elected a brand new commissioner, reelected another who has served two decades and approved a new taxing district.

POMPANO BECH

In Pompano Beach, funeral home owner Woodrow J. Poitier, the first black firefighter for the city in 1975, won easily in the special election to fill the District 4 commission seat.

''I'm honest and trustworthy and I'm loyal,'' said Poitier, who is chair of the Housing Authority of Pompano Beach.

Poitier, 60, who wants to increase affordable housing in Pompano Beach and decrease crime, beat out Pompano Beach Middle School teachers Ronnie Fryer and Joseph Wells, and Edward Phillips, a former commissioner.

District 4 represents northwest Pompano Beach, which has Martin Luther King Boulevard as a main corridor.

The special election was called to temporarily fill the vacant seat of Vice Mayor Pat E. Larkins, who resigned from the position for health reasons.

Because it is a special election, the winner must run again in March during regular city elections.

• Also in Pompano Beach, voters approved creating a special tax district in Palm Aire to allow residents to purchase about 600 acres of land surrounding the development.

MARGATE

In Margate, Joe Varsallone, who has served 23 consecutive years on the dais, was ahead late Tuesday and will likely retain his seat on the City Commission in a race with four challengers.

Margate held its planned March 2009 election early to save about $100,000 in costs.

Varsallone, 76, said he will work on trying to preserve the jobs of city workers and redevelop the neighborhood near Margate Boulevard and U.S. 441.

Varsallone appeared to be beating Scott Yardley, a computer programmer.

Also running were Dennis Cantlay, a real estate agent and board member of Margate Chamber of Commerce; Joyce Bryan, a substitute teacher and former caseworker for the Florida Department of Children & Families; and Lesa ''Le'' Peerman, a local activist and Broward schools employee.

Seat 5 is currently held by Mayor Pam Donovan. She ran unopposed.

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@