Lakeland Mayor Bill Mutz will not run for a third term when his time in office ends in December 2025, he told LkldNow Wednesday night.
“I think we are preparing good future leadership within the commission, and I’ll be 72,” Mutz explained in a series of text messages. “I’d like to use those next four years more intentionally with my grandkids. That’s the motivation.”
He added that he will “certainly finish mine with full vigor through Dec. 31, 2025.”
Mutz and his wife Pam, both 70, have been married for 46 years. They have 12 children and 34 grandchildren, spread out across the country. The youngest two grandchildren were born earlier this year and the Mutzes visited both sets of parents when the babies were born.
Commissioner Sara Roberts McCarley, who was elected in 2019 and served as mayor pro tem for three years, said she is proud of Lakeland’s achievements during Mutz’s tenure and would consider running to succeed him next year.
“The position of mayor is something I have been considering,” McCarley said.
The question about his possible retirement came after Mutz missed the past three City Commission meetings — with prior approval from his fellow commissioners.
LkldNow reviewed City Commission minutes dating back to January 2022 to see how often Mutz and the other commissioners had missed meetings. Over the last 27 months, Mutz has missed at least 24 meetings, including agenda studies, regular meetings and one involving interviewing candidates vying to become an interim city commissioner.
Despite those absences, Mutz has been unquestionably attentive and engaged as mayor.
“They relate to travel trips that I have taken with Pam or seeing babies born,” Mutz said of the missed meetings. “Beyond that I am in the office almost 50 hours a week if you want to compare some numbers.”
Mutz also readily answers questions via text at all hours and will occasionally call reporters or constituents during Lakeland business hours from far-flung places he and Pam are visiting — including at least one call from Australia and another from Africa.
Mutz first took office in January 2018, manning the helm of Polk County’s largest city and earning a salary of nearly $44,600 a year, plus $3,000 for expenses. Commissioners earn $29,733, plus $1,800 for expenses.
The City Commission has at least four meetings each month — two regular meetings on the first and third Mondays of the month, and agenda study sessions on the Fridays before those meetings.
Reasons for absences are not typically noted in commission minutes. Sometimes the absences are personal, but in other cases, commissioners may be at conferences or in Tallahassee on city business.
Of the six commissioners who have been on the commission since January 2022, Mutz has had the most absences, followed by Mike Musick with 17. Commissioners Sara Roberts McCarley, Chad McLeod and Bill Read have each missed 15 meetings and Stephanie Madden has been absent 13 times.
Phillip Walker, whose final meeting was in October 2022, missed six meetings. Sam Simmons, who held Walker’s seat on an interim basis for 14 months, did not miss any meetings, nor did Guy LaLonde, who took office in January.
The mayor’s role
Mutz is a native of Indiana and still has family there. He graduated from Indiana University, majoring in finance and marketing. He moved to Lakeland in 1996 and was president and co-owner of Lakeland Automall. The business was sold in 2016 and the next year, Mutz won 72% of the vote in a four-way mayor’s race, fending off a hard-fought effort to change the role to a “strong mayor,” which would have granted him executive office-style privileges.
Under the current city charter, the difference between the mayor and the other six commissioners is largely procedural. The mayor is in charge of running the meetings and ensuring the commissioners, speakers and the public adhere to Robert’s Rules of Order and Sunshine Laws. He is also looked to for leadership on various subjects.
Mutz was reelected in 2021 with 66.8% of the vote. He attends multiple civic functions throughout the city each week, including awards banquets, ribbon cuttings, breakfasts and luncheons.
Amy Wiggins, president and CEO of the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce, said Mutz has been an exemplary leader and an “incredible mentor.”
“He is Lakeland’s biggest cheerleader and leads boldly into difficult conversations,” Wiggins said. “As a small business owner, he uniquely understands how city policies and practices impact the economy and he’s worked alongside the Chamber to ensure that the voices of entrepreneurs and business leaders are at the table. … I’m grateful for the dedication he and his family share in pursuit of Lakeland’s success.”
In addition to his personal life, Mutz’s faith life also keeps him busy. He helped to found Grace City Church, a rapidly growing, Bible-based church noted for its contemporary Christian music. Mutz is a member of the church’s council and he is very open about his deep faith.
“Jesus wants us to love unconditionally,” Mutz said. “That requires His strength.”
He has said that his faith does not interfere with his mayoral duties because he represents all citizens.
In August 2022, Mutz and the board of directors of Lakeland Christian School parted ways following his June 20 reading at a City Commission meeting of a proclamation recognizing June as LGBTQ Pride Month. All but one of Mutz’s children attended Lakeland Christian School.
Mutz’s priorities
Mutz still has 21 months left in office. LkldNow asked what his priorities will be during that time and he listed several.
Mutz said he wants to “maintain the quality-of-life growth-planning that allows us to accommodate expansion while protecting what keeps us such an attractive mid-sized city.”
Lakeland, he said, needs to “prepare for increased infrastructure needs as aggressively as can be pushed, including roads and water, as well as housing and economic growth opportunities.”
One of his top priorities continues to be finding or creating housing for Lakeland’s homeless population, and “resolving the related problems downtown created by those citizens.”
“Tiny housing and smaller in square footage downtown apartments are all still potential investments,” Mutz said Wednesday evening. “We want to be certain we have developers with experience and passion for those projects, and so sometimes you just have to wait to match the two.”
Expanding parking downtown, as required with new developments, and creating better utilization of the current parking downtown is also a priority, along with connecting bike trails throughout the city and county. He said he wants to connect downtown to Bonnet Springs Park, with easy pedestrian and bike access points throughout that area.
He said Lakeland should continue to nurture its growing information technology hub downtown and encourage multi-family housing in the downtown core to support 8,000-9,000 people.
“Remain people-centric so we are known on a longer term basis as a city that seeks to honor everyone,” Mutz said.
The city, he said, should use a Catalyst 2.0 model developed by the Lakeland Economic Development Council and the city as “a primary tool to help potential developers, particularly from outside of our city, determine places they can do the projects they wish to build in short order based on the zoning work, we will have done for those areas in advance. This can shorten by over a year, their ability to be in the ground when done right.”
Mutz also wants the city to improve educational opportunities alongside not-for-profit organizations and Polk County Public Schools, including mentoring young people and introducing them to possible career tracks earlier in their lives.
Finally, he said one last area to continue to optimize is the “Lakeland Linder International Airport impact and use for the broadest spectrum of services possible and support the growth of Amazon there, as well.”
The list, he said, is “really what we work towards daily.”
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