Mulder out of hospital, plans return to work Monday

BEACON FILE PHOTO
Official duties — Mayor Dennis Mulder addresses a gathering during ceremonies honoring veterans at Deltona City Hall.

BEACON FILE PHOTO
Listening to citizens — Mayor Dennis Mulder, left, sits with Deltona residents during discussions of whether the city should have its own police department.

By Margie Dykes and Barb Shepherd
BEACON STAFF WRITERS

posted Apr 29, 2009 - 10:57:33am

UPDATE 2:13 P.M. THURSDAY, APRIL 30: Deltona Mayor Dennis Mulder is out of the hospital, both the City of Deltona and Florida Hospital-Fish Memorial in Orange City confirmed today.

Wendi Jackson, assistant to the Deltona city manager, said the mayor will take a few days off to rest after surgery on Wednesday, and plans to be back to work Monday, in time to lead the May 4 City Commission meeting.

UPDATE 5:45 P.M. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29: City of Deltona spokesman Lee Lopez announced Mayor Mulder came through surgery successfully, and was resting after the procedure.

REPORTED EARLIER: Deltona Mayor Dennis Mulder was rushed to the hospital late Tuesday and was scheduled for emergency surgery today, officials at Deltona City Hall confirmed this morning, April 29.

City spokesman Lee Lopez said the City of Deltona will issue a statement later today after more is learned about the young mayor's condition. Lopez said Mulder is at Florida Hospital-Fish Memorial in Orange City.

A Deltona resident who called The Beacon this morning said the trouble is appendicitis, but neither City Hall nor the hospital could confirm that.

Vice Mayor Michael Carmolingo, however, said it is his understanding appendicitis is the problem, and that the illness came up suddenly.

"From what I hear, he's going to have surgery this morning," Carmolingo said. "He's a healthy young man. I hope he's there Monday to run the City Commission meeting."

There was no answer in the mayor's room at the hospital.

Lopez said Carmolingo will take over Mulder's duties while the mayor is hospitalized.

Mulder, 30, has recently been at the center of a storm in Deltona, following a number of controversial decisions. A citizen group has mounted a recall effort, and is collecting signatures on a petition to force a vote on whether Mulder should keep his job.

Mulder, a graduate of Deltona High School, is only the second mayor to serve the 13-year-old City of Deltona. He and his wife, Heather, own child-care centers.

Mulder was elected in 2005, after Deltona's first mayor, John Masiarczyk, served the maximum 10 years allowed by the city charter.

— info@beacononlinenews.com

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