The City of Eustis Commission swore in three commissioners and elected Willie Hawkins as mayor and Gary Ashcraft as vice mayor at a regular meeting on Jan. 2, 2025, at Eustis City Hall.

The swearing-in included Commissioner Willie Hawkins (seat 3), Commissioner George Asfadi (seat 4) and Commissioner Emily Lee (seat 5). After the oath of office, commissioners opened nominations for mayor; with only one nomination submitted, commissioners held a roll-call vote and unanimously elected Willie Hawkins to serve as mayor for 2025. Commissioners later nominated and elected Gary Ashcraft to serve as vice mayor by roll call after receiving the necessary affirmative votes.

The nominations followed the commission clerk’s announced procedure for elections, which calls for roll-call votes in alphabetical order when there is a single nominee or multiple nominees until a nominee receives three affirmative votes. The commission’s roll call for the mayoral vote recorded aye votes from Commissioners George Asfadi, Gary Ashcraft, Willie Hawkins, Michael Holland and Emily Lee; the same five commissioners later recorded aye votes to elect Ashcraft as vice mayor.

“I have big shoes to fill,” Hawkins told colleagues after taking the gavel, thanking the outgoing leadership and promising to work with the commission. Other commissioners offered brief remarks of support and congratulations after the votes.

Procedural business that followed included approval of the Dec. 12, 2024 minutes and routine consent agenda items, both approved by roll call earlier in the meeting.

The oaths of office were administered at the start of the meeting and referenced the U.S. and Florida constitutions and the charter of the City of Eustis as part of the standard ceremony.