As of the qualifying deadline on December 18, four candidates have declared their intentions to run for Commission Seats #3 and #4 in the March 15, 2016 election.
Commissioner Carolyn Cooper will seek a third term in Seat #3. Challenging Cooper is restaurateur Lambrine Macejewski.
Commissioner Tom McMacken will run for re-election to Seat #4, opposed by Peter Weldon.
Introductory information about each candidate is below. In the New Year, the Voice will publish more detailed information about the candidates’ platforms and the issues each finds important.
Three Candidate Forums in February
Winter Park residents will have the opportunity to see the candidates square off in a series of three Candidate Forums in February 2016.
Wednesday, Feb. 10, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. – Community Center – Hosted by the Winter Park Voice
Friday, Feb. 12, 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. – Welcome Center – Hosted by the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce
Friday, Feb. 19, 12:00 Noon – 1:00 p.m. – Winter Park Public Library – Hosted by the Winter Park Public Library
Candidates for Commission Seat #3
Commissioner Carolyn Cooper
Carolyn and Ned Cooper have lived in Winter Park for over 20 years and raised 3 of their 5 children here. Carolyn was elected to the City Commission in 2010 and re-elected in 2013.
Through her service on the Florida League of Cities (FLC) Tri-County Board of Directors, Carolyn advocates in Tallahassee on behalf of Florida’s 400+ cities. She understands first hand that many of Winter Park’s challenges can be resolved by building coalitions at the state level. The FLC named Carolyn the 2015 FLC Home Rule Hero for her advocacy during the 2015 legislative session.
Carolyn has a strong background in finance and budgeting. She has a Masters in Systems Management from the University of Southern California, worked as a Department of Defense Financial Manager and has professional training in Florida municipal budgeting. She has drawn on this background to build city reserves and maintain services while never voting to raise taxes.
Carolyn honed her management skills as a member of the Space Shuttle Ground Support negotiating team and later as Director of Contracts for Martin Marietta Data Systems. This experience, coupled with her understanding of land use gained from her service on the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Comprehensive Plan Task Force, positions her to effectively represent citizens’ interests as the City considers how best to grow into the future.
Winter Park Magazine named Carolyn one of Winter Park’s 25 most influential people in 2015 noting, “. . .nobody controls Carolyn … she only cares about the citizens of Winter Park.”
Candidate Lambrine Macejewski
Most people know Lambrine Macejewski (Lam-bree-knee Muh-chess-ski) as one of the co-owners of Cocina 214, the award-winning Tex-Mex restaurant just off Park Avenue.
As a citizen volunteer, Lambrine has participated in the Park Avenue Merchants Association (PAMA), serving one term as president and currently as vice president. The other city and community boards on which she serves include Keep Winter Park Beautiful and Sustainable, the Winter Park History Museum and the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce. Lambrine founded the “Running of the Chihuahuas” to benefit Winter Park Lost Pets, and she is a Girl Scout Troop Co-Leader.
In 2015, Winter Park Magazine named Lambrine “The Entrepreneur,” one of the Winter Park’s 25 Most Influential People.
Lambrine grew up in Dallas, Texas, where her father was co-owner and chef of 4 restaurants. She was raised in their family business and worked part-time throughout high school and college.
She graduated from Texas Woman’s University with a B.B.A. in accounting and went on to work for Electronic Data Systems (EDS). She then worked for Level 3 Communications, 360networks and finally left to start her own consulting firm, which specialized in performance management, business process improvement and integrations.
With the inception of Cocina 214, Lambrine was able to go back to her roots in the restaurant business. She lives in Winter Park with her husband Ronnie, daughter Rachel and their family pet Oliver.
Candidates for Commission Seat #4
Commissioner Tom McMacken
Tom McMacken brings over 30 years of experience as a landscape architect, creating parks and communities, and six years of service as City Commissioner.
McMacken is running for a third term on the Winter Park City Commission. Known for frequently casting the swing vote, McMacken listens to citizens and strives to hear all sides of an issue before reaching a decision.
In 2014, Tom was named Winter Park Chamber of Commerce Volunteer of the Year. He remains a member of the Chamber, as well as American Society of Landscape Architects, First United Methodist Church of Winter Park, the Orange County Community Action Board, the Friends of Casa Feliz, and the Winter Park History Museum.
He participated in planning the Park Avenue streetscape, the Winter Park Village and The Park at Orwin Manor.
McMacken has served on a City board or commission since 1998. Before becoming a City Commissioner, he chaired each of the four boards on which he served for at least one term, including the Planning & Zoning Commission.
In addition to Planning & Zoning, McMacken served on the Historic Preservation Commission, the Tree Preservation Board and the Public Art Advisory Board.
Tom, his wife, Ann, and their daughter, Emily, have lived in Winter Park for nearly three decades.
Candidate Peter Weldon
Peter and Fran Weldon have lived in Winter Park since 1989. Their children were born at Winter Park Memorial Hospital and raised in Winter Park.
Peter Weldon earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Miami in 1971 and a Master of Business Administration from Duke University in 1974.
After careers for both Weldons at Johnson & Johnson, they relocated to Winter Park when Peter was recruited to run a venture capital backed startup. After leaving the startup he became a Chartered Financial Analyst and investment advisor. He retired in 2013.
The Weldons have been actively involved in the community for 25 years. Fran has been neighborhood watch coordinator. They have supported many civic organizations, including the Winter Park Library, Live Oak Fund, Polasek Museum Capen House restoration, Feed the Need Winter Park and Art in the Park. Peter Weldon served on the United Way agency review panels and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Orlando Science Center.
Pete Weldon began writing www.WinterParkPerspective.org in 2008 to share views on decision making and political processes at city hall. His intent was to help make better decisions by putting policy arguments in context with relevant facts.
Pete Weldon has served on Winter Park city boards since 2008. Currently he serves on the Tree Preservation Board and the Planning and Zoning Board. His management and investment experience is grounded in a patient, long term view, based on careful study and prudent risk taking, in context with the facts. If elected, he would bring this same focus on long term value creation to his role on the City Commission.
The Commission voted December 14 to approve the Historic Preservation ordinance as presented. To see the full text of the ordinance, click here.
Mayor Steve Leary and Commissioner Sarah Sprinkel maintained their opposition to the ordinance, while Commissioners Greg Seidel, Tom McMacken and Carolyn Cooper voted to approve. After considerable maneuvering on the part of the Commissioners, Tom McMacken summed up what the ordinance will and will not do, stressing that the ordinance does not create districts. “It [establishes] a process that allows people to apply,” said McMacken. “If they meet certain criteria, it goes to the [Historic Preservation] Board, and then it comes to us, and at the end of the day, we are the ultimate arbitrators.”
HP Board Still Working on Incentives
Following the Commission vote, City Planning Director Dori Stone explained that the Historic Preservation Board had requested more time to work on a package of incentives the City would offer to individuals and districts seeking to designate their properties. The Board is expected to report back to the Commission in February 2016.
In October 2015, close to 100 residents came to the Winter Park Community Center to hear a panel of experts discuss their experiences as historic preservation officers in Florida communities that have robust historic preservation programs. The intent of the discussion was to explore what historic preservation means to communities that are actually doing it, rather than further the debate that had already raged for months in the Winter Park blogosphere.
Co-hosted by the Winter Park Voice and Friends of Casa Feliz, the featured speakers were Rick Gonzalez, AIA, President of REG Architects in West Palm Beach, Kathleen Kauffman, Historic Preservation Chief, Miami-Dade County, and Christine Dalton, Historic Preservation Officer of the City of Sanford and Adjunct Professor at Rollins College. The Panel was moderated by Orlando Sentinel Senior Columnist Beth Kassab.
Once again, Winter Park citizens crowded the Commission Chamber to hear the second of two “First Readings” of the proposed Historic Preservation Ordinance. Because it was the last item on the November 23 agenda, everyone who wanted one had a seat, but most of the seats were occupied.
Ordinance Read as Amended Nov. 9
The proposed ordinance was brought before the Commission bearing the amendments agreed upon at the first “First Reading” November 9. The substantive nature and sheer number of amendments created the necessity for the second First Reading. To read about the amended ordinance, click here.
City Planning Director Dori Stone offered two clarifications in the language of the proposed ordinance. She stated that when the City receives a petition for designation of an historic district, votes are counted as one vote for each property. A property with multiple owners has only one vote, with the assumption that the property owners agree.
Stone further stated that votes for an historic district would be mailed to the City Clerk to be opened and counted on a predetermined date.
No Money for Financial Incentives
Commissioner Carolyn Cooper inquired about the incentives for property owners who wish either to designate an individual home or to create a district. She was assured by City staff that suggested incentives would be a part of the Second Reading, scheduled to occur at the November 23 Commission meeting. Presently, said Stone, there is no City funding available for financial incentives for historic preservation. She said the Commission would have to create a fund for this purpose as part of the City budget.
Speakers Evenly Divided Pro vs. Con
Citizens present seemed to be evenly divided for and against approval of the proposed ordinance. Fourteen spoke, seven for and seven against, including one who delivered an impassioned campaign speech in opposition to the ordinance.
Commissioners Vote 3 – 1 In Favor
None of the Commissioners changed course. Commissioners Greg Seidel, Carolyn Cooper and Tom McMacken voted in favor of the proposed ordinance as amended. Commissioner Sarah Sprinkel voted against. Mayor Leary was absent.
At the November 9 Commission meeting, City staff brought forward a draft ordinance with referendum language asking Winter Park voters to approve a bond not to exceed $30 million, to be paid back over a period of 20 years, for the purpose of building a combined library — civic center complex. The referendum will appear on the March 15, 2016, ballot.
According to City Manager Randy Knight, the financial impact on each property owner will amount to $49 per year per $100,000 of assessed valuation. Assuming the average value of a home in Winter Park is around $400,000, the owner of that home would pay, at most, an additional $196 per year in property taxes.
Nov. 23 – Second Reading
Adoption of the ordinance requires two readings. The second and final reading will be at the November 23 Commission meeting.
If the Winter Park voters decide in March to build a combined library – civic center complex, it will in all likelihood be located on Morse Blvd. at the site of the present Rachel Murrah Civic Center.
ACi Design — Purely Conceptual
John Cunningham, design partner of the consulting architectural firm ACi, presented the report to the Commission October 26, and the Commission voted unanimous approval at that meeting. The report was based on more than a year’s study, dozens of task force meetings, eight public forums and countless individual meetings with Winter Park citizens. Cunningham stressed that the report describes a concept for a new combined library and civic center. The actual building design will be determined by the architectural firm hired by the city if the referendum passes.
Innovative Public Input
Elements of ACi’s conceptual design are rooted in ideas that emerged during public workshops August 22 – 23. Some of the most innovative of these came from children who accompanied their parents. At right, a Winter Park fourth grader suggests a nap area where small children can sleep while their mothers read or study.
Another fourth grader describes a library with “Relaxing, calm, and soothing areas to quietly read and let your imagination take the words from the book and make it into something amazing.”
One child’s Notion of What a Third Place Should Be
“Environments that make me feel safe and secure inside a great place to learn and explore and have fun.”
Library Builds Community
Dr. Jonathan Miller, Director of Olin Library at Rollins College, agrees. “The most important feature of any library,” he said, “is its community – the people it serves.” Miller said the idea of the Third Place came from Ray Oldenburg, PhD, an urban sociologist from Pensacola, FL, who published a book in 1991 entitled The Great Good Place, about the importance to a community of informal public gathering places.
According to Dr. Oldenburg, the First Place is home; the Second Place is work; and the Third Place is where one chooses to be when he or she is not at home or at work. Oldenburg argues that these Third Places – coffee shops, bars, general stores, and libraries — are central to local democracy and community vitality.
Miller described Olin Library, which is designed to serve the academic community at Rollins, as a place of “collaboration, contemplation and community.” Miller said there is complete reciprocity between Olin and the Winter Park Public Library, and that anyone with a WP library card may use it at Olin.
Asked about the prospect of a new combined public library and civic center for the city, Miller deferred to Winston Churchill, who said, “We shape our dwellings and afterward, our dwellings shape us.”
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The Winter Park Voice is a trusted nonprofit journalism site that covers our City Hall and beyond. We endeavor to engage, inform and connect citizens on all sides of issues affecting the quality of life in Winter Park.
Carolyn and Ned Cooper have lived in Winter Park for over 20 years and raised 3 of their 5 children here. Carolyn was elected to the City Commission in 2010 and re-elected in 2013.
Most people know Lambrine Macejewski (Lam-bree-knee Muh-chess-ski) as one of the co-owners of Cocina 214, the award-winning Tex-Mex restaurant just off Park Avenue.
Tom McMacken brings over 30 years of experience as a landscape architect, creating parks and communities, and six years of service as City Commissioner.
Peter and Fran Weldon have lived in Winter Park since 1989. Their children were born at Winter Park Memorial Hospital and raised in Winter Park.
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