Mayor Wayne Poston
City of Bradenton ~ The Friendly City
FAMILY
Wife: Patricia “Micki” Poston, B.S. Nursing, health and wellness director, Water’s Edge of Bradenton, married November 30, 1991
Children: Stacey R. Poston, special projects director, City of Durham, N.C. Graduate of Manatee High School, Stetson University, B.S. in Political Science; and David E. Poston, Poston Communications, Inc. Atlanta, Ga. Graduate of Manatee High School, Emory University, Tulane Law School.
Mother: The Late Virginia Wetherill, New Philadelphia, Ohio
Sisters: Edna Williams, Reynoldsburg, Ohio; and Jean Mishler, New Philadelphia, Ohio
EDUCATION
- Graduate, Athens (Ohio) High School, 1962
- Graduate, B.S. in Journalism, OhioUniversity, 1967
- Masters Program, University of South Carolina
MILITARY
United States Air Force, 1967-1971; Honorable Discharge, E-4 (Staff Sergeant)
WORK HISTORY
City of Bradenton
Mayor and Police Commissioner, January 2000-present
W. Harrison Group Inc., Marketing and Communications Consulting
Former President
Bradenton Herald
Executive Editor and Vice President, 1976-1999; Managing Editor, 1974-1976; Managing Editor, 1971-1972
Roanoke, Va., Times
Assistant Managing Editor, 1972-1974
Worked on newspapers in Ohio, Indiana and Alabama as reporter and editor.
LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
- Leadership Florida Class No. 2, 1983-1984 and Alumni Board member, 1995-1997
- Leadership Manatee Alumni Board, 1999-2001
- Gulf Coast Marine Institute, 1993-2001; chairman, GCMI North, South and Vocational Institute, 1996-1998
- Kiwanis Club of Bradenton, 1974-current, past board member
- Hernando deSoto Historical Society, 1974-current. Past Crewe member
- Bradenton Country Club, former member
- ManateeCounty YMCA, former chairman
- DeSoto Boys Club, former board member
- Manatee Chapter of American Cancer Society, former board member
- United Negro College Fund annual dinner, past county chairman
- Martin Luther King Sunday Celebration, past emcee
- Palma Sola Elementary, SuggMiddle School & Manatee H.S. PTO
- National Conference of Christians and Jews Manatee/Sarasota Chapter, former member
- Manatee Symphony Guild and Florida West Coast Symphony, past chairman
- Ringling Museum Foundation, former member
- Asolo Theater Angels, former member
- RinglingSchool of Art Corporate Advisory Board
- Ohio University Alumni Chapter, founding president
- Christ Episcopal Church, member
- Economic Development Council Board of Governors, member
- Florida League of Cities Federal Action Strike Team (FAST), member
- Florida League of Cities Legislative Advocacy Committee, 2004-2006, co-chair
- FloridaCenter for Nursing Board, former member
- Manatee County Republican Party Executive Committee, October 2002-present, member
- Florida Consumer Council, former board member
- Florida Fire Chiefs Association, current member
- Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Association, founding member
- Manatee County Tourist Development Council, May 2012-present, member
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
- Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, past president
- American Society of Newspaper Editors
- Associated Press Managing Editors, past board
- Florida League of Cities
- Manasota League of Cities, 2003-2005, president
- Florida League of Mayors, founding board member
AWARDS
- NAACP Diversity Award, August 2007
- Martin Luther King Jr. Outstanding Citizenship Award in Government, January 2006