The race to become Groveland's mayor continues to heat up.

Incumbent Tim Loucks faces Mike Radzik in a battle to become the mayor of a city that has plenty of political turmoil over the last year.

Only Radzik has previously been elected to the position, serving as the city's mayor from 2010 to 2012. Loucks was appointed to the position from his vice mayor seat when the former mayor, Jim Gearhart, resigned last year amid a Florida Department of Law Enforcement Investigation. The investigation was for a possible Sunshine Law violation when Gearhart and Loucks held a meeting.

The tumult in Groveland that summer also led to the departure of the city manager, Samuel Oppelaar, and several department leaders who cited a hostile work environment.

Radzik said the city still hasn't recovered from the loss of key staffers.

"Their departure — coupled with the hiring of people from out of state who had no previous knowledge of Groveland, South Lake County or Florida, no contacts local or regional, and no understand of Groveland’s needs — has hampered our ability to move forward," Radzik said.

Loucks disagrees. He said Groveland is moving forward from the incident.

"One of my primary goals when taking office as mayor in late 2013 was to put an end to the in-fighting, bickering and nonproductive meetings while instead instilling a sense of civility, cooperation, healthy debate and transparency in your local government," Loucks said. "This effort is ongoing and has allowed our City Council and staff to get back to doing the business of the people regardless of anyone's hidden agendas or personal likes or dislikes."

Radzik claims Loucks, who was appointed by the city's charter, is still a "key player in the turmoil that rocked out city." Radzik said many of the top staff members who left cited a lack of respect from Loucks.

Speaking about Radzik's former tenure as the city's mayor, Loucks said: "In many cases, he did not fully understand agenda items and normally showed hostility and anger toward other City Council members and the public that did not agree with him or questioned his authority."

Both Radzik and Loucks were asked what they perceived to be the biggest issues facing Groveland. Their answers were as follows:

Radzik: "The biggest issue facing Groveland is finding a balance between new development in the city as a whole paying close attention to the plans for Villa City and economic development on State Road 27, redevelopment of downtown along the State Road 50 corridor, and the effects of both of these issues on our resources, including water, sewer and emergency services."

Loucks: "In 2014, I spent numerous hours in the community asking our citizens this very question. As you can imagine, the concerns covered a broad and diverse field. I have taken the citizens' feedback and condensed it into what I feel are realistic goals that can be accomplished in reasonable amount time."

Loucks listed civility, cooperation and compromise, police and fire services, water supply and cost, property tax rates, downtown flooding and redevelopment.

Radzik is the co-founder of Groveland Cares, a nonprofit organization that sponsors Groveland's annual free Thanksgiving dinner. He said Groveland reduced its budget by $2.2 million without affecting reserves during his time has the city's mayor.

Loucks is the founding partner and current co-chairman of the South Lake Regional Water Initiative. Groveland was named the 10th safest city in Florida to live during Loucks' tenure.