Lakeland opened 2026 with a milestone moment as Sara Roberts McCarley took the oath of office to become Lakeland’s first elected female mayor.
She was sworn in on Monday alongside returning commissioners Stephanie Madden and Mike Musick and newly elected commissioners Ashley Troutman and Terry Coney.
The ceremony — held at the RP Funding Center instead of City Hall to accommodate a crowd of about 275 people — also included proclamations honoring outgoing Mayor Bill Mutz and longtime Commissioner Bill “Tiger” Read for their years of service.
Read: ‘I’m going fishing tomorrow’
light-hearted proclamation celebrating Read’s decade on the commission and his gruff, plain-spoken style — including “legendary Bill Read-isms” like “there again,” “how much did we buy that for?” and his go-to request, “can I see a map?”…