Knowledge • Experience • Trust
By Michelle Ruschman
You don’t live in Okaloosa County as a life-long resident and entrepreneur without gaining the perspective of a student, parent, business person, consumer and citizen. This is the experience Mary Anne Windes will be bringing to our community as she puts in her bid to be voted for County Commissioner, District 5, in the August elections.
Mary Anne grew up in Fort Walton Beach, graduating from Fort Walton Beach High School, and getting her Associate of Arts degree in Business when North West Florida State College was still Okaloosa County Community College. She went on to get her Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from the University of West Florida and has since lived in Destin for 40 years.
Over the years, Mary Anne has demonstrated a knowledge and love for both the opportunities on land and in the water. As a student she was riding, training, showing horses and teaching riding lessons. Mary Anne is also married to Commissioner Kelly Windes, a third generation Destin fisherman for 40 years. With Captain Kelly fishing seven days a week from March to October for 12 hours a day, Mary Anne became a real estate agent for the flexibility in raising their two children, owning her own brokerage firm for 30 years. It was during that time she learned critical lessons about how she wanted to serve the people who relied on her expertise. “I would talk as many people out of selling real estate as I would take the listing. The ability to sell is not something you need as a real estate agent, it’s the ability to help people. You have to dig to find out what the real motivation is behind why they are doing what they are doing, and if there’s a better way, you bring that to their attention.”
It’s this practice of finding a better way that Mary Anne wants to bring Okaloosa County as the District 5 Commissioner. “Okaloosa County has been good to my family and me, and I’ve always wanted to give back. I’ve reached the top in real estate, and I feel like everything in my life has led me to this decision. My auditing background (where I audited condominiums and counties that gave me a well-rounded understanding of the county operations), real estate background, my ability to get things done, work ethic and my integrity puts me in a unique position to be an asset to our Board of County Commissioners.”
If elected, Mary Anne’s goals include keeping taxes low, keeping the public safe in the wake of open borders, working on attainable housing for all citizens and partnering with the Early Learning Coalition to address the child care crisis. Mary Anne also plans to put her accounting background to good use with her understanding of how spending and inflation impacts both the public and government. Infrastructure will also be a point of focus as well as roads, county services and maintaining county assets.
Mary Anne demonstrated her tenacity in taking care of those she served when, in 2010 as the President of the Emerald Coast Association of Realtors, she successfully advocated for real estate agents to receive compensation for losses incurred during the BP oil spill. This was done after it had been decided that real estate agents were not to be compensated. In addition, she has proven her leadership capabilities by serving as Chairman of the Mid-Bay Bridge twice, as Chairman of the Destin Fishing Rodeo as well as Chairman of the Destin Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
These are the kinds of results Mary Anne wants to bring to Okaloosa County! She’s asking for our vote so she can get to work.
Visit https://votewindes.com for more information.
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