Ire J. Bethea, Sr. was elected to represent District 2 on the Ocala City Council in 2020. District 2 encompasses the city's far western section.

Councilmember Bethea is a lifelong resident of the City of Ocala. He graduated from Ocala High School and has a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from St. Leo University.

He retired after a combined 30 years of service with the City of Ocala and the Boys and Girls Club of Marion County.

He is a graduate of Leadership Ocala/Marion Alumni, Class XVII. He previously served on the Marion County Sheriff’s Office Advisory Committee.

He was inducted into the African American Museum of Marion County in 2015. He is a Past-Polemarch of the Gainesville Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. He received Man of the Year Award in 2006 from the Alumni Chapter, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

He is Chairman of “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Commission”. He was awarded the “Racial Harmony & Cultural Awareness Unsung Hero Award” in 2011, NAACP’s “Service and Uplift to the Community Award” in 2015 and Rotary “Service Above Self Award” in 2019.

Councilmember Bethea is a Deacon at New St. John Missionary Baptist Church.

He has been married to Gloria F. Bethea for 29 years and they have seven children.