by Beth Kassab | Apr 2, 2025 | City Commission, Election, News, Uncategorized
City Attorney Says Chamber Political Committee Not a Violation of Lease
Commissioners raised questions about the political group operating out of a city-owned building
April 2, 2025
By Beth Kassab
At least two city commissioners want to drill deeper into a long-term lease with the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, after the chamber used a city-owned building for a political action committee that paid for ads to influence city elections.
The comments to the Winter Park Voice came after City Attorney Kurt Ardaman conducted an investigation at the request of the commission and concluded the chamber is not violating its lease. The mayor and four commissioners sat silently during Ardaman’s report at last week’s meeting and did not ask any questions.
But at least two commissioners, including one who the chamber PAC just attempted to kick out of office, and a former commissioner told the Voice that the report did not fully resolve the matter.
“One of the things that concerns me is the political action committee address is the same as the chamber address,” said Commissioner Kris Cruzada, who was challenged this year by a chamber-backed opponent. “I’m still trying to reconcile that. Do we need to go deeper than what someone is telling us? We work under the premise of good will and good faith and does it send the wrong message when there is a PAC operating out of that building, presumably, and maybe trying to undermine the sentiment of residents in the city?”
Ardaman’s four-page memorandum to the commission concluded that the chamber is not in violation of its lease because it has not officially sublet a portion of the building or assigned away any of its legal interest in the building at 151 W. Lyman Avenue across the street from City Hall. The chamber entered into a 99-year lease for the space known as the “Welcome Center” in 2005 after the chamber spent $900,000 on its development.
But a recent payment by Ardaman’s own law firm, Fishback Dominick, to the political committee known as Winter PAC illustrates just how intertwined chamber operations are with the PAC.
Ardaman did not disclose to the commission that his firm is a member of the chamber and paid the PAC $25 as part of the firm’s dues in January.
The PAC is required to file financial reports as part of the city election rules. It’s first report this year lists $500 in total contributions comprised of $25 each from 20 local businesses, including Fishback Dominick. Another report showed another batch of $25 contributions from businesses such as the Volvo Store, Prato, Barnie’s and more.
Asked why he didn’t disclose the payment, Ardaman told the Voice the money was paid “inadvertently” by his office staff.
“The $25 contribution to Winter PAC that you question was inadvertently paid through Fishback’s membership in the Chamber,” Ardaman said in an email. “Unfortunately, our staff did not deduct $25 from our payment of the Chamber invoice amount, and $25 was paid by the Chamber to Winter PAC. We have instituted measures to ensure that does not reoccur. Fishback, along with the City of Winter Park, the Winter Park Library, The Winter Park Events Center, the Winter Park Housing Authority, and others are Chamber members that all support the best interests of the City. Fishback has no leadership position with the Chamber. Supporting the City’s best interests for Fishback, does not include contributing to any candidate in City elections.”
A chamber spokeswoman said members are “given the option to make voluntary contributions to Winter PAC starting at $25, which are separate from Winter Park Chamber of Commerce dues.”
She said the option is disclosed to members during “multiple communications during annual billing.”
Money raised by the PAC was spent to help the campaign of Justin Vermuth, who ran against incumbent Cruzada. Winter PAC spent about $33,000 to advocate for Vermuth, according to the financial reports, and raised $85,000 in 2024 and 2025.
Cruzada won a second term last month with 63% of the vote in a landslide against Vermuth.
Some Context Behind the Dispute
The questions over the lease are playing out as the Chamber, known for putting on popular events like the annual Christmas parade or the Autumn Art Festival, has taken a more aggressive role in city elections during the last two years.
The division between chamber leadership and supporters and some commissioners appears rooted, at least in part, in a conflict over development.
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio and Commissioner Marty Sullivan supported a major reversal of a set of development rules known as the Orange Avenue Overlay when they were first elected in 2020. The changes meant that landholders along the key commercial corridor lost the ability to build denser and taller developments.
The Orange Avenue Overlay in Winter Park.
Companies controlled by two property owners, Mary Demetree and the Holler family, sued the city over the changes. The city prevailed in the lawsuit in 2023.
In 2024, the chamber created Winter PAC. Demetree and companies that belong to the Holler family are among contributors to the PAC or to candidates supported by Winter PAC.
The chamber spent about $30,000 in 2024 to advocate for Craig Russell, who narrowly defeated candidate Jason Johnson. Russell said during the campaign that he was open to revisiting the Orange Avenue Overlay while Johnson said he supported the new rules opposed by the large landholders.
Steve Leary, who was Winter Park mayor when the old, more development-friendly, rules took effect for the Orange Avenue Overlay also contributed $500 to Vermuth through his own political committee called Neighbors for a Sensible Orange County. Ardaman gave $5,000 to that committee last year when Leary was running for Orange County Commission and lost to Kelly Semrad.
“We did not know and had no control of that PAC’s later contribution to any City Commission candidate,” Ardaman said when asked about the contribution to Leary’s committee. “We believed that Steve would have well served Orange County and the City of Winter Park as a member of the Orange County Commission.”
What the Report Says
Ardaman’s report focused solely on whether there was a violation of the chamber’s lease with the city and relied on interviews with Betsy Gardner, chamber president and registered agent of Winter PAC; Brian Mills, Winter PAC’s chairman and deputy treasurer and Lawrence Lyman, Winter PAC’s vice chairman.
He noted more than $3,000 in payments from Winter PAC to the Chamber labeled as administrative or professional fees.
But the report did not make any mention of how the PAC collects money at the same time, and as part of a single payment, as when the chamber collects its dues.
The report concluded that Gardner, Mills and Lyman all provided the same information:
- “Winter PAC has not and does not use any physical space in the Welcome Center.”
- “The payments from Winter PAC to the Chamber were either reimbursement for the use of office equipment (as Winter PAC lacks such equipment of its own) or compensation in exchange for the Chamber accepting and holding mail on behalf of Winter PAC.”
- “Winter PAC did not receive any actual right to access the physical property of the Welcome Center beyond that enjoyed by a member of the general public.”
Todd Weaver, who initiated the request for the report on the chamber’s lease before he left the City Commission last month, said some portions of the report don’t make sense.
“I’m not an attorney, but I have been a landlord,” Weaver said. “Let’s say I rent a home to a person and he signs the lease. Six months later, let’s say the guy has his girlfriend move in. She’s not on the lease. But she’s living there. And they should give the landlord notice of that. In this case, the chamber didn’t provide notice. They didn’t tell the city manager that they were going to run a PAC.”
Weaver questioned how the attorney could conclude that the PAC doesn’t have access to the property “beyond that enjoyed by a member of the general public,” while also acknowledging that the group uses the office equipment and collects mail there.
“I think there’s enough proof they’ve [the chamber] used the space outside the parameters of the lease [with the city],” Weaver said.
Commissioner Marty Sullivan said he accepts Ardaman’s conclusion about the lease, but would like to know more such as if there is an official agreement of any kind between the chamber the PAC.
“I’m curious what arrangement or agreement exists between the chamber and the PAC and I would like to know that Fishback Dominick looked at those agreements,” Sullivan said. “We have a legal review that says there is no lease violation. Will that decision continue to stand? I don’t know.”
Sullivan said in his view the chamber has supported “out-of-scale development” at odds with him and at least one other current commissioner “as illustrated by the battle over Orange Avenue Overlay building codes.”
Commissioner Warren Lindsey who took Weaver’s seat in March said he didn’t have sufficient knowledge about the matter to comment. Commissioner Craig Russell could not be reached for comment. Mayor Sheila DeCiccio also declined to comment on the matter.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Apr 1, 2025 | Uncategorized
See the changes planned for one of Winter Park's most dangerous roads
Commissioners looked at final concepts for the plan to fix S.R. 426, though the city’s share of the cost is still unclear
April 1, 2025
By Charles Maxwell
Final plans are ready for the long talked about improvements to the unusually narrow and curvy 1.7-mile stretch of State Road 426 between Park Avenue and Lakemont Avenue, but it’s still unclear how much the city will pay for its share of the project.
State data shows the busy stretch of S.R. 426 averages six car crashes per month and more than 4,000 speed violations daily. The road is controlled by the state of Florida, but serves as a major east-west passage through Winter Park, winding around and over the city’s chain of lakes.
Residents who live on the lakes and off the side streets have called for years for improved safety features.
Final plans show repaved roads, raised medians, and new high-visibility crosswalks to help prevent collisions, bring down travel speeds and protect pedestrians. Construction of the project is expected to start in early 2026.
City of Winter Park engineer Hongmyung Lim told the City Commission during a work session last week what he’s heard from residents throughout the Florida Department of Transportation’s design work on the project.
“A lot of the stakeholders and residents wanted general support for pedestrian features and safety, and slowing down traffic on 426,” Lim said.
Primary concerns included turning left safely onto S.R. 426 from the side streets and safely turning into driveways and side streets from the main road. Requests also included several additional traffic signals.
The plans include raised intersections with high visibility crosswalks at Chase Avenue, Sylvan Drive, and Cortland Ave, along with three different raised crosswalks with pedestrian hybrid beacons and advanced signage to help pedestrians safely cross dangerous roadways.
Vice president of American Structurepoint and project manager for the project’s design phase, Nick Harrison, addressed the commission and elaborated on each of the proposed improvements. Harrison believes that the changes, such as raised crosswalks, will encourage drivers to slow down and punish the vehicles that choose not to. “If you’re traveling 45-50 mph, it’s going to create a problem for you,” said Harrison.
The city of Winter Park made an initial financial commitment of $1.8 million to support the project on September 27, 2023, but is expected to reduce its investment as some of the scope of work has been reduced.
Due to maintenance challenges and complications, Lim said that some original features, such as brick intersections, landscaped medians, and bus stop pavement markings, have been removed from the plans.
“The city would be responsible for maintaining those bricks whenever they popped out, and also if we were to have landscaping inside the medians our team would have to go out there to make sure it’s maintained and trimmed… we ensured that any of these changes did not impact the intent of the traffic operations of the project,” said Lim. “We’ve been coordinating with FDOT and will determine a final financial commitment soon.”
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
Charles Maxwell is a graduate of Winter Park High School and Florida Atlantic University with a degree in multimedia studies. His work has appeared in the South Florida Sun Sentinel and The Boca Raton Tribune, and he is a contributing writer for Keeping it Heel on the FanSided network.
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Mar 31, 2025 | News
Winter Park Voice Joins 380 Newsrooms in Raising Millions for Nonprofit News
The donations and matching dollars are essential in helping the Voice achieve its mission of providing stories that would otherwise go uncovered in Winter Park
March 31, 2025
Staff Report
The Winter Park Voice and 380 other nonprofit news outlets secured more than $55 million in individual donations from their audiences in 2024 as part of the nationwide NewsMatch program, now heading into its 10th year.
The results represent an 18% increase in donations from 2023 and the highest in the program’s history.
NewsMatch is a collaborative effort: The Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) raises money to seed a pooled fund for matching gifts, and INN member organizations like the Voice fundraise with their audiences in November and December to become eligible for those gifts. Participants also receive fundraising training, tools and services through INN and its partner News Revenue Hub.
The program is a key way news outlets have attracted and diversified donors during a prolonged period of contraction and instability in the news industry.
A map shows the reach of INN’s NewsMatch program across the nation.
For the 2024 NewsMatch campaign, the Voice received nearly 100 donations totaling $20,000. As a result, the Voice received the maximum $15,000 in matching dollars from INN’s NewsMatch program.
“We are so grateful to our donors here in Central Florida and to INN for this incredible campaign,” said Voice Editor Beth Kassab. “People in Winter Park want news about their community from a trusted source. And it shows in their support of our work. Every dollar goes directly to our journalism and expanding the amount and variety of content we can provide.”
Kassab noted how hyperlocal organizations like the Voice are essential to reporting stories that would otherwise go uncovered and holding elected officials and others in power accountable.
“With misinformation on the rise and traditional media in decline, it’s up to sites like ours to shine a light on the facts,” Kassab said. “We follow clear reporting standards with stories backed up by public documents, public meetings and interviews with sources. We give the people and institutions in our stories the opportunity to comment. We value fairness and accuracy above everything else.”
In order to become members of INN and participate in NewsMatch, nonprofit newsrooms must meet membership standards for editorial independence, original news reporting and financial transparency.
Over nine NewsMatch campaign cycles, INN and the outlets in its network have raised more than $400 million, attracting donations from nearly half a million first-time donors and, increasingly, inspiring major donors, regional and community foundations and businesses to add news to their giving portfolios.
INN’s Executive Director and CEO Karen Rundlet calls NewsMatch “a conversation between newsrooms and their communities.”
“When a neighbor, a reader, a PTA president, a block captain, a concerned voter donates $10, $25, $100 to NewsMatch participants, it’s evidence that the community is investing in accurate and trusted information and reporting,” says Rundlet. “It’s the audience saying, ‘It matters that this exists, and I’m supporting it with my money.”
The Voice is solely supported by reader contributions and grants like the one from the Institute for Nonprofit News.
If you want to help the Winter Park Voice in its mission to serve local readers visit our contribution page.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Mar 28, 2025 | City Commission, News, Zoning and Development
Residents Fear Noise from Pickleball Courts Planned Behind Homes
The racket sport is wildly popular but its addition to the Ravaudage development, neighbors say, could bring a near constant drone of ball whacks
March 28, 2025
By Charles Maxwell
Residents who live behind the Ravaudage development where a Life Time Fitness is constructing at least 10 pickleball courts say the city and developers aren’t doing enough to blunt noise and other impacts from the project.
The complex of indoor and outdoor pickleball courts are part of the new 85,000-square-foot health club facility, an estimated $48 million project, slated to open in 2026. The mixed-use development off Lee Road and U.S. 17-92 already includes a Miller’s Ale House, a hotel and other office and retail space.
“Pickleball is a great sport, but it does have a very bad byproduct,” Mark Russell, who has lived in the Park Green Place townhomes for more than 25 years, told the City Commission at a meeting last month. “The hit of the ball on the paddle creates about an 1100-hertz spike, that’s about 70 to 95 decibels, equivalent to a vacuum cleaner to a subway train.”
The views from David Adhira’s patio and dining room table (above) show the staircase of a parking garage under construction at the Ravadauge development. (Photos courtesy of David Adhira)
Russell cited an article from the New York Times in which a York, Maine resident who lives across the street from a private pickleball club said that “having a pickleball court in your backyard is like having a pistol range in your backyard. It’s a torture technique… living here is hell.”
David Adhira, another resident of Park Green Place, said plans show the courts will be just 50 feet from his home. Photos taken from his dining room table and patio show a portion of a staircase for a new parking garage that appears just over the fence from his property line. He told commissioners he’s worried about the toll of the sound from the pickleball courts. He worries about listening fatigue, stress, anxiety, sleep disruption and poor concentration.
Adhira said the construction behind his home is already disrupting his daily life.
“I have observed and documented tangible structural damage to my ceilings, while kitchen plates and glassware shuddered, doors and floors vibrated, and keyboards rattled on our desks,” he said. “I’ve been woken up countless times by the noise, vibrations, and screaming from the construction site, resulting in poor sleep for weeks on end. Even worse may be phantom noise, or auditory hallucinations.”
Commissioners asked Planning & Zoning Director Allison McGillis to meet with residents and the developer to consider solutions.
She told the Voice that the developer shared updated landscape plans for the south side of the Life Time facility, which borders Park Green Place.
The plans include additional layers of shrubs and trees to help reduce the noise and light expected to be produced by the facility.
“They are not proposing additional sound barriers at this time, but have stated that if additional measures are needed once they are operational, an option would be to install an outdoor acoustical barrier such as Acoustifence on the court fencing.” McGillis said. “Staff is going to propose a ‘check-in’ at 90 days and 180 days after they are operational to determine if the additional acoustical barrier is needed.”
A section of plans shows the proximity of the courts to the homes and the proposed landscape buffer.
Adhira said he reached out to commissioners and Mayor Sheila DeCiccio in an email on March 17 because he is not satisfied with the changes proposed by the developer. But he has yet to hear a response.
“An acoustic-fence and a scattering of bushes will not counteract the level of noise projected from these courts,” he wrote. “Waiting three to six months after the facility opens to collect obvious data and possibly consider changes, as though this were an experiment with no legal precedents, is either incredibly naïve or cruel.”
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
Charles Maxwell graduated from Winter Park High School and Florida Atlantic University with a BA in Multimedia Studies. His work has appeared in the South Florida Sun Sentinel and The Boca Raton Tribune, and he is a contributing writer for Keeping it Heel on the FanSided network.
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Mar 27, 2025 | City Commission, Election, News
Kris Cruzada and Warren Lindsey Sworn In for New Commission Terms
The commissioners took office and got down to city business
March 26, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Commissioners Kris Cruzada and Warren Lindsey took the oath of office on Wednesday before turning to regularly scheduled city business.
Lindsey, a first-time commissioner who was automatically elected after no one ran against him to take over Todd Weaver’s seat, took the oath with his wife and daughter by his side. Senior Judge Emerson Thompson, who previously served as chief judge for the circuit and served on the Fifth District Court of Appeals, swore in Lindsey, a longtime criminal defense attorney.
Kris Cruzada takes the oath of office for his second term with his family by his side.
Lindsey appointed Weaver, who decided not to run for election again after two terms, to the city’s Utilities Advisory Board.
Cruzada, who started his second term after winning by a large margin earlier this month, had his wife and children by his side and his parents and brother in the audience.
After the brief ceremony, the commission moved on to scheduled business including the approval of about $30,000 for wider sidewalks and other improvements for children who walk to Hungerford Elementary School just across the city border in Eatonville, known as the oldest incorporated historically Black town in the United States.
While the nearly one-mile stretch of improvements are technically in the city of Maitland, the main beneficiaries are Winter Park residents who live just over the border in the Margaret Square area.
Winter Park, with a population of about 30,000, is the largest of the three jurisdictions with Maitland tallying about 20,000 residents and Eatonville fewer than 3,000.
One resident stood up to object to the city spending money for improvements outside of its borders.
“I’m not really understanding why we are doing it,” said Gigi Papa, who frequently speaks at commission meetings. She questioned why sidewalks aren’t being improved near Lakemont Elementary in Winter Park. “Winter Park must first address the needs of its own residents.”
City staff explained that residents using the route do live in Winter Park and that a number of residents “are excited about the project” that came about after Orange County Public Schools rezoned neighborhoods years ago.
Commissioner Craig Russell, who grew up in the city and was elected last year as the first Black commissioner in more than 100 years, noted that Margaret Square is a historically Black neighborhood next to Eatonville and Maitland that deserves attention and a safe route to school.
“The important thing is we are serving Winter Park residents,” he said. “… The school zones were changed. Those students go to Edgewater (High) and live in Winter Park.”
The 5-0 vote in favor of the improvements is conditioned on another entity picking up any cost overruns if the project exceeds the nearly $30,000 estimate.
The board also voted 5-0 to annex 13 lots on Stonehurst Road off Glenridge Way. The single-family homes, some of which have sold at $2 million or more, will add to the city’s tax base and resolve the problem of two different jurisdictions — the city and the county — providing services on the street.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
Recent Comments