Winter Park Lobbies to Change County Commission Districts

Two new seats on the county board mean a potentially new elected position for a Winter Park candidate

Sept. 15, 2025

By Gabrielle Russon

Winter Park city leaders are lobbying Orange County to get redistricted with Eatonville and Maitland in a new district as the county redraws its boundaries to add two more commissioners.

The fate of Winter Park is expected to be decided in the coming weeks.

“We deserve not to be gerrymandered into oblivion,” said Winter Park Mayor Sheila DeCiccio as she has regularly spoken at the county’s redistricting advisory committee meetings this summer. “Give us the opportunity to have a voice.”

Last year Orange County voters approved a charter amendment to expand the 6-district board plus the mayor to eight, which set off the redistricting process.

Right now, Winter Park’s lines are in District 5 that includes rural east Orange County, such as Bithlo and Christmas— which DeCiccio argues is not a good fit.

A redistricting advisory committee is proposing two maps after drawing up nearly 30 different options. The Orange County Board of Commissioners will decide which map ultimately gets chosen. 

For Map-1A, a newly created District 7 would put Winter Park with the cities of Eatonville and Maitland, as well as other communities, including the Pine Hills and Fairview Shores neighborhoods in unincorporated Orange County.

The other option is Map-7B that would leave Winter Park where it stands now in District 5 with Orange County’s rural east and the University of Central Florida. 

District 5 is currently represented by Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad.

DeCiccio is pushing hard for Map-1A.

“Currently, Winter Park is part of rural East Orange County, which we have nothing in common with. It takes a commissioner over one hour to drive from one end of the county to the next,” she said at a redistricting meeting. “This is about representation and Winter Park has different needs.”

DeCiccio also argued it’s also important to be included with its urban neighbors since Winter Park will be handling Maitland’s fire and police calls.

Both Maitland and Winter Park have sent letters to the county asking to be districted together.

“If Map-7B is modified by the BOCC, Winter Park would like to be shifted to District 7,” DeCiccio wrote.

Meanwhile, Martinez Semrad prefers the other option, keeping Winter Park in District 5 with the rural east.

At a public meeting last month, Semrad’s legislative aide said Semrad liked a map similar to 7B because it aligned with the traditional boundaries, the aide said.

Semrad was mindful about the balance between having incorporated cities versus more unincorporated areas that require more service needs and infrastructures to overburden commissioners, the aide said.

Semrad did not respond to an interview request for this story.

Other Winter Park residents have spoken out during the county redistricting meetings too.

District 5 looks like the top of Florida — a long skinny panhandle connecting into a large base.

“Right now our district stretches as far east as Brevard County all the way to West Maitland, cutting across nearly 60% of the county in a long horizontal shape,” Hattie Bryant, a Winter Park resident and the Orange GOP Precinct Committee Woman. “That is simply crazy wacky.”

What happens next is the county commissioners will discuss the two map choices at a Tuesday workshop.

The county board is scheduled to vote on the final map next month.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings has praised the redistricting advisory committee’s work and said he hopes the county board doesn’t have to redo the map drawing significantly. 

Going from six districts to eight districts (with Demings as the at-large vote) means shrinking the current district size from about 240,000 people to around 180,000 in each district, said Scott Skraban, Orange County Deputy Director of Planning, Environmental, and Development Services who has been involved in the redistricting process.

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