Melony Bell | |
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Member of the FloridaHouseofRepresentatives from the 56th district | |
Assumed office November 6, 2018 | |
Preceded by | Ben Albritton |
Polk County Commissioner | |
In office 2010 –November 6,2018 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Winter Haven,Florida,U.S. | October 29,1961
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Robbie Bell |
Alma mater | South Florida Community College (AS) Southeastern University (BS) |
Melony Mincey Bell (born October 29,1961) is an American politician who is currently a member of the Florida House of Representatives,representing the 56th District which covers the entirety of DeSoto and Hardee Counties,as well as part of Polk County. Bell has served as commissioner for the Polk County Board of County Commissioners,as the mayor of Fort Meade,Florida and as a Fort Meade city commissioner.
Bell was born in Winter Haven,Florida to Ronald and Laverne Mincey. [1] Her family moved to Satellite Beach,Florida when she was young. [1] While in high school,the family returned to Fort Meade,where she met her husband at Fort Meade Middle-Senior High School. [1] Bell earned a bachelor's degree from Southeastern University in Lakeland,Florida and an associate degree from South Florida State College.
Before her career in government,Bell worked as an auditor for the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and her husband owns a bee business. [2]
Bell got her start in politics when she became the lead opposition to the building of a private prison next to Lewis Anna Woodbury Elementary School. [1] Bell served for 14 years on the Fort Meade City Commission,including four terms as mayor,before her election as a county commissioner in 2010. [3] [4] [5]
In 2017,Bell announced that she would be running for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives in 2018. [3]
Polk County is located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. The county population was 725,046,as of the 2020 census,and estimated to be 787,404,as of July 1,2022. Its county seat is Bartow,and its largest city is Lakeland.
Bartow is a city and the county seat of Polk County,Florida,United States. Founded in 1851 as Fort Blount,the city was renamed in honor of Francis S. Bartow,the first brigade commander of the Confederate Army to die in combat during the American Civil War. It is part of the Lakeland−Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area,which had an estimated population of 787,404,as of July 1,2022. According to the 2020 Census,the city had a population of 19,309.
Fort Meade is a city in Polk County,Florida,United States. As of 2020,the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 5,100. It is part of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Lakeland is a city in Central Florida. Located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa and west of Orlando,it is the most populous city in Polk County,Florida,United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release,the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal city of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is sometimes locally referred to by the nickname "Swan City" due to its sizeable population of swans,all of whom are descendants of two mute swans given to Lakeland by Queen Elizabeth II in 1957.
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Fort Meade Middle-High School or FMMSHS is a combined middle school and high school located in Fort Meade,Florida in Polk County,Florida. The school serves the city of Fort Meade and surrounding areas. The school is located on the northeast side of the city of Fort Meade at 700 Edgewood Drive North. The school enforces a dress code. The school's teams compete as the Miners.
Neil Combee is a Republican politician from Florida who represented parts of northern Polk County and northwestern Osceola County in the Florida House of Representatives from 2012 to 2017.
Reid Moore Jr. is an American former politician in the state of Florida who served two non-consecutive terms in the Florida House of Representatives and as Mayor of West Palm Beach. Born in Tennessee,he earned a law degree from the University of Virginia before moving to Florida in 1959. Moore soon became involved with local politics in West Palm Beach,beginning with serving as a member of the Greater West Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors in 1963. Two years later,he mounted a successful campaign for city commissioner,an office he would hold from 1965 to 1969. During his tenure,he was chosen by his fellow commissioners to be Mayor of West Palm Beach from 1967 to 1968,as the city operated under the Council–manager form of government at the time.
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