by Beth Kassab | Sep 4, 2026 | Arts and Culture, City Commission, Taxes, Tree Canopy
Commissioners Propose Cuts and New Spending Ahead of Budget Vote
The first vote on the total $247 million budget is scheduled for Wednesday
Sept. 4, 2026
By Beth Kassab
In response to political pressure from state government to reduce expenditures, the Winter Park City Commission appears poised to spend less money maintaining its tree canopy as well as on code enforcement and parks programs and reduce a proposed increase to the library. But it is considering a new $45,000 payout to a local nonprofit called Men of Integrity that aims to mentor youth.
The commission is also in favor of raising more revenue for the city by adding red light cameras, starting a new program to charge non-residents for parking at the dog park at Lake Baldwin and Dinky Dock and charge credit card convenience fees on transactions with the city based on discussion at a recent work session.
The $247 million all-funds budget will be heard at the next commission meeting on Wednesday when the board is scheduled to take it’s first of two votes on the spending plan for the financial year that will begin Oct. 1. The city is expected to adopt the same property tax rate for the 19th consecutive year, though revenues from taxes have increased as a result of growing property values.
At least one commissioner pushed for more cuts to spending. Commissioner Warren Lindsey said he would prefer to reduce raises for city employees from 4% to 3.5%, but did not get consensus from other commissioners.
Lindsey said he viewed a smaller raise as part of the “painful reality” of local governments facing significant reductions in property tax revenue if Amendment 3 passes in November.
“My recommendation is that we do it this coming year and not wait until November,” he said. “I feel it’s the responsible thing to do.”
But Mayor Sheila DeCiccio and others said they didn’t feel comfortable with reducing staff raises and pointed to an ongoing hiring freeze that will help conserve funds.
The group agreed to keep open a vacant code enforcement position ($75,000), freeze two vacant fire positions ($200,000) and reduce winter hours at city pools, which would reduce part-time parks staff ($100,000).
Commissioners said they would review the open positions mid-year and determine if there was a need to add any of them back into the budget.
In addition, the city appears poised to cut back significantly on its tree program by removing from the budget a vacant tree specialist position ($73,680); axing the vacant tree permitting position ($60,000) and cutting a watering truck as well as new tree plantings (approximately $270,000).
City Manager Randy Knight said the city is no longer saving many trees on private properties that owners or developers want to cut down because of changes lawmakers made to state law. It’s another example of pre-emption by state government to limit how local governments can make decisions.
While the city forestry department typically plants hundreds of trees per year on city right-of-way, the city is running out of public land for those plantings, Knight said.
Also on the chopping block is $25,000 in funding for the library, $12,000 for an appreciation event typically held for people who serve on city boards, some Halloween and Easter events put on by the parks department some postage and printed materials that go to utility bill customers.
Even with the $25,000 reduction, the Winter Park Library is still slated to receive nearly $50,000 more than last year in support from the main city budget as well as the Community Redevelopment Agency budget for a total of $2.5 million.
Each year the city spends a quarter of one percent of gross revenues in the general fund, electric utility fund and water utility fund — or about $480,0000 total — on nonprofit community groups. This year those expenditures proposed as:
- $105,000 for Mead Botanical Gardens, a $3,000 increase over last year
- $99,900 for the Winter Park Historical Association, also about a $3,0000 increase
- $43,800 for Winter Park Day Nursery, a $1,300 increase
- $20,000 for United Arts representing no change from last year
- $28,900 for the Polasek Museum, a $900 increase
- $0 for Blue Bamboo, a $12,500 decrease after discussion by the City Commission
- $45,000 for Men of Integrity, which had not received any funding since $18,000 two years ago
Men of Integrity is a nonprofit that operates out of the Winter Park Community Center and serves about 24 boys, including 10 in high school and 14 under the age of 12, said Antwon Carter, the group’s leader. Many of the kids attend Winter Park schools but some travel from outside the city to attend the weekly program.
He wrote to the city in August and asked for the money to support his mentoring program that provides help with college readiness, STEM activities, financial literacy, fieldtrips and a hot meal during weekly meetings among other services.
An administrator for the program provided the Voice with a copy of Men of Integrity’s most recent tax filing that show’s the group’s revenues are typically less than $50,000.
The group said it mostly relies on volunteers and out-of-pocket expenditures by Carter.
“This mission is also deeply personal to me,” Carter said in an email to the Voice. “I grew up in Winter Park, and I understand firsthand what can be produced when a young person is given a strong foundation. For generations, programs centered around the Winter Park Community Center have played an important role in youth development. Whether young people came directly from the surrounding neighborhood or were brought there by their parents, the Center provided a place where they could experience mentorship, structure, opportunity, and the positive influence of the broader community.”
Carter, who said he now lives in Apopka, appeared at the budget work session and told commissioners the $45,000 would provide a needed infusion of dollars to reduce the group’s need to ask for more in the future.
Some commissioners, including Lindsey and Kris Cruzada, questioned if the group should receive the full amount of its request without providing more information to the city.
But there appeared to be enough commissioners in favor of the expenditure to move it ahead to a vote on Wednesday as part of the overall budget.
The nonprofit expenditures from the CRA budget are proposed as:
- $14,000 for the Enzian Theater, a $4,000 increase
- $51,500 for the Heritage Center, a $1,500 increase
- $44,300 for the Welbourne Day Nursery, a $1,300 increase
- $50,800 for the Winter Park Playhouse, a $1,500 increase
- $398,610 for the library, part of it’s overall $2.5 million in city funding
When it comes to raising more funds for the city government, red light cameras and credit card convenience fees are among the top projected generators.
Police Chief Tim Volkerson said the city is still considering where additional cameras could be placed and, if they are approved by the state, they likely would not be up and running until May or so and could generate some $750,000.
Credit card convenience fees could yield $1.2 million for the city when people buy permits, pay bills or conduct other business at City Hall.
And a pilot program to charge non-city residents to park at Dinky Dock or the dog park at Baldwin Park could bring in an estimated $100,000 or more when it begins as early as the spring.
Paid parking has long been a controversial topic in Winter Park ,which offers free parking throughout the city including along busy Park Avenue. If the pilot is successful, city officials said it could expand to other areas and, once again, be aimed at non-residents.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Sep 3, 2026 | Arts and Culture, City Commission
Blue Bamboo Looks to Lease Space to Visual Artists
The performing arts venue has hit multiple obstacles as its rent for the old city library building increases
Sept. 3, 2026
By Beth Kassab
Beset by the death of its founder last year, construction delays and increasing rent, Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts is now facing the loss of $12,900 in annual funding from the city as it presses forward with a new plan to lease space on its second floor to visual artists.
City Commissioners appeared in agreement at a budget work session last week to end its yearly contribution to Blue Bamboo, one of seven local nonprofits that has traditionally received dollars from the city in recent years.
“Why are we funding Blue Bamboo if they are paying us rent?” asked Mayor Sheila DeCiccio at the work session called for commissioners to evaluate potential cuts to the budget as financial pressure intensifies on local governments as voters prepare to vote in November on property tax reductions.
The commission is set to take its first budget vote next week.
The day before that meeting, Todd Weaver, a former city commissioner who is now vice chairman of Blue Bamboo’s board, appeared before the group to ask for a month-long extension to secure a certificate of occupancy for the second floor of the old library building that the group leases from the city.
Weaver said construction was nearly complete and the group would begin paying the new higher rent amount this month. The commission granted the extension for the group to bring the space into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and other city codes.
Weaver told the Voice the second floor will be partitioned into 21 visual art studios that artists can rent.
The plan comes about three months after a contentious meeting between Blue Bamboo Chairman Jeff Flowers and the City Commission in which Flowers was seeking changes to the group’s lease because, he said, he was having trouble finding an arts group that could afford the rent in the wake of the original tenant walking away and construction delays as well as the death last year of founder Chris Cortez.
The commission did not agree at the time to grant the group any rent reductions or allow it to deviate from keeping the building as an arts hub.
So far, the group has invested about $1.5 million into the building, including more than $900,000 in grants from Orange County’s Tourism Development Taxes.
The music venue on the first floor opened more than a year ago and boasts a calendar full of events most weeks from Thursday to Sunday.
Weaver said he could not speculate on when the visual artist spaces will open on the second floor.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Sep 2, 2026 | City Commission, Police and Public Safety
Winter Park to Remove Flock Cameras Per State Order
“The cameras have value in terms of investigative and security uses, but the issue is whether or not people’s privacy rights and concerns over surveillance outweigh those legitimate and positive uses,” Commissioner Warren Lindsey told the Voice
Sept. 2, 2026
By Beth Kassab
Winter Park Police Chief Tim Volkerson said all three of the Flock cameras operating in Winter Park will be taken down in order to comply with a state order to remove the license plate readers from state roads.
Volkerson said the cameras will come down within 30 days as required by the order from the Florida Department of Transportation.
“… The recent exponential increase in deployments along our roadways, coupled with concerning reports of misuse, data privacy concerns and surveillance schemes merit immediate action to preserve Floridians’ sovereignty and quality of life,” read the memorandum dated Aug. 31.
An example of how a camera appears on the road. (Photo courtesy of Flock Safety)
Winter Park has operated the cameras on Lee Road, Fairbanks Avenue and Aloma Avenue for about five years. All are on state-owned roads and must be removed to comply with the state’s order revoking permits for the devices.
Volkerson said it’s possible the cameras will be placed on city-owned roads, which would not be impacted by the state’s order. He said the original locations were selected because they cover the major roadways that lead in and out of the city of 30,000 people surrounded by Orlando, Maitland and neighboring Seminole County.
The Voice reported last month that Volkerson made changes to the way the police department used the cameras in response to increasing concerns about privacy and growing awareness about instances of law enforcement in other jurisdictions abusing the database created by the cameras. He ended direct access to Winter Park’s cameras by outside agencies and also said he planned to more strictly audit how his department was using the database.
Flock cameras, which get their name because they are manufactured by an Atlanta-based company called Flock Safety, are mounted along roadways and photograph vehicles. They create a searchable database of license plate numbers and other details such as the vehicle’s make, model and distinguishing characteristics. Police can search by inputting a description such as a blue Toyota RAV-4 with damage to the back bumper or by a tag number as part of an investigation.
A chart from Flock Safety’s website attempts to address some concerns about the camera system.
Officers can also program the system to alert them if a vehicle with a specific description or tag number is captured by one of the cameras.
In July, his officers conducted between 50 and 60 searches using the cameras, which cost the department $7,500 a year to lease.
Volkerson previously told the Voice the network of surveillance provides a “huge benefit” for safety as a tool for solving crimes.
As an example, Volkerson said the cameras proved helpful earlier this year when there were some residential burglaries along Phelps Avenue. He said his officers pursued a suspect but lost him. About 20 minutes later, they received an alert for the vehicle from a camera near South Orlando Avenue and pursued it again but did not capture the suspect. Eventually a different agency’s camera alerted that the vehicle was near Apopka and the suspect was arrested.
But in recent months, the network of cameras has prompted nationwide backlash among people concerned about data collection and the privacy of law-abiding citizens.
Commissioner Warren Lindsey, who is also a well-known criminal defense attorney, said he has concerns about the cameras and wants to consider the risks and benefits before the city decides to continue to use them in other locations not governed by the state order.
“We need to look at it carefully,” he said. “Where does the data go and where is it used? The cameras have value in terms of investigative and security uses, but the issue is whether or not people’s privacy rights and concerns over surveillance outweigh those legitimate and positive uses.”
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Aug 26, 2026 | City Commission, News, Zoning and Development
Chabad Synagogue Approved in 3-2 Vote
The development will also include townhomes and a daycare that some neighbors said will cause too much traffic and parking problems
Aug. 26, 2026
By Beth Kassab
The City Commission on Wednesday approved a new development near Park Avenue to include a synagogue with a daycare and five townhomes after hearing from residents about the meaning of Chabad of Greater Orlando’s work and the importance of it becoming the first permanent synagogue in Winter Park.
The 3-2 vote followed more than three hours of discussions and comments, including objections from some neighbors who said they worried the project will create too much traffic, noise and parking problems. Commissioners Elizabeth Ingram, Craig Russell and Kris Cruzada voted in favor while Mayor Sheila DeCiccio and Commissioner Warren Lindsey dissented.
“I’m willing to risk parking and I’m willing to risk traffic so people and children can have a better understanding of each other,” Cruzada said just before the vote, adding, “I’m willing to live in a little discomfort” to show acceptance in the community.
DeCiccio and Lindsey supported a motion to postpone the vote, not because they oppose the synagogue, but because they wanted additional conditions on the project such as moving the location of three parking spots closer to the townhomes and an agreement that the synagogue would hold multiple simultaneous events.
“We would welcome a synagogue in Winter Park,” DeCiccio said. “We are with you. We stand with you. Attorney [Rebecca] Wilson can tell you we do this to everybody who comes in.”
Wilson of the Lowndes law firm represents the developer of the townhomes as well as the synagogue and has logged hundreds of hours in front of the Winter Park board over years answering questions about developments down to the smallest details from a commission known to publicly dissect proposals.
When the project passed on the first of two required votes, DeCiccio suggested that before the second vote next month the developer move three parking spaces closer to the townhomes on the 0.6-acre site at the corner of Morse Boulevard and Knowles Avenue where the El Cortez apartment buildings stand today.
The El Cortez Apartments along Morse Boulevard.
Other conditions previously approved by the Planning & Zoning Board include a requirement that child drop-off and pick-up related to the daycare take place in the underground parking area planned for the synagogue as well as prohibiting speakers or amplified music on the rooftop patio; requiring all noise and lights from the rooftop end by 10 p.m.; any expansion of the synagogue or daycare must go back to the city for approval and car lines related to daycare drop-off or pick-up can not spill onto the public streets.
Rabbi Dovid Dubov said most services at Chabad have just 10 to 30 attendees. He also said the location proved the best option for Chabad because other sites proved too expensive or not in a location that people could easily walk to. 
A rendering shows what the synagogue will look like from Knowles Avenue.
The 40-year-old organization lost its Maitland building to a fire in 2024 and has been operating out of a temporary space on the far end of North Park Avenue.
The proposal calls for 80 seats in the synagogue and the daycare is limited to 60 children. The five townhomes on the site are being developed separately and will be sold once completed.
Some residents who live in nearby townhomes and condominiums questioned the accuracy of a traffic study and noted how congested the small roads already become as a result of the Methodist Church preschool across Morse Boulevard and other church schools just blocks away.
Former Orange County Commissioner Ted Edwards attended the meeting on Wednesday and said he represented Frank Santos, who lives next to the site of the project and is chief executive officer of Rosen Hotels & Resorts.
Edwards said concerns centered on the Chabad’s planned rooftop event space that he said was more appropriate for a commercial area than a residential neighborhood.
People who attend the Chabad explained that Jewish law and tradition calls for some meals and events to be held outdoors, which is the reason for the patio.
Wilson pointed out that the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation, a three-story building just one block down from the synagogue site and across Knowles Avenue, also rents out space for events without major disruptions to traffic or parking.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Aug 26, 2026 | Columnist Bob Morris
Column: The Uplifting Story of One Park Ave Shop
How boobs – and class – equal business for local entrepreneur
By Bob Morris, Columnist
Hello, hungry people.
I was out for a morning walk the other day — it was 7:30-ish — and Winter Park’s main drag was largely deserted except for us early a.m. pavement pounders.
Then from the block ahead came a loud commotion, lots of cheering and shouting.
And I saw a dozen or so women dressed in red and waving signs that said: “Go Braless!” and “I ❤️Boobs!”
I picked up the pace.
From a distance, it had all the signs of a 1960s-era women’s lib demonstration, but for the fact that the participants were better dressed. And not angry. They were smiling.
So, being a creepy old guy, I stopped and gawked and asked what was going on.
Turns out, it was a photo shoot for a Labor Day sale at the store where they work.
“We specialize in clothing that women can wear without needing a bra,” said one of the women in front of the store.
This gave me pause. I had reached a point where I could not hold up my end of the conversation.
And yet, I persisted.
“Can’t women go braless in any type of clothing?” I asked.
This got laughs and indulgent smiles from the women in red.
“Sometimes that’s too revealing,” said one of them. “And jiggly.”
“And sometimes it’s too scratchy,” said another.
“Plus, bras aren’t comfortable,” said yet another.
Again, not my field of expertise. But I wasn’t finished being a creepy old guy.
“OK if I take a photo?” I asked.
They were, as you can see, all for it.
“We love encouraging women to go braless,” said one. “In the right kind of clothes.”
Said another: “We love spreading the word on social media.”
And so, friends, here we are.
The name of the store is — klassy. — and that period, apparently, is necessary.
Yes, it looks like a comma in the photo below. But that’s a shadow. It’s really a period, And it has a purpose.
Other brands — JOANN. and Marc Jacobs., for instance — employ periods, too. It’s a design thing. The period, I am told, “sends a psychological cue of confidence, completeness, and finality — communicating that the brand is the ‘definitive’ word on what they do.”
And the lowercase presentation, I am further told, “mimics modern texting habits, making a retail storefront feel more human, direct, and casual rather than corporate.”
Who knew?
Now for the klassy. origin story. (Actually, that period is confounding and we will henceforth dispense with it.)
The klassy co-founder, Natalie Rogers Soto, grew up right here in the Orlando area. She got tired of uncomfortable bras that weren’t flattering to her outerwear, and she couldn’t find built-in bras that felt right. So she started designing her own.
In 2018, she and her husband, Jacob, launched klassy online. It was slow going at first. But they posted twice daily on TikTok. And in 2022, klassy went viral with its summer “brami” (a hybrid bra and camisole) and hit $1 million in sales in a single day.
They opened the first and, so far, only klassy retail store in Winter Park at the tail end of 2025. And in March 2026, Natalie was honored by her alma mater with induction into the University of Central Florida College of Business Hall of Fame.
How’s that for an “uplifting,” story?
“It’s all about body positivity and feeling good in your own skin,” one of the women outside the klassy store said.
It reminds me of the origin story of another clothing line, Lululemon, which has a store just down the street from klassy.
Back in 2002, when Lululemon launched its first shop in Vancouver, the owners advertised that they would give $200 worth of clothing to the first 30 people who showed up naked on a specified morning. Being Vancouver, it was rainy and very cold. Yet, way more than 30 people stood shivering outside in bathrobes that day and, after they stripped down, Lululemon let them all inside and gave them free stuff.
I have searched for photos of this historic event. Sadly, I’ve come up short.
Fast forward to present-day: Lululemon now has 811 stores and, in 2025, rang up sales of $11.1 billion.
Far be it from me to suggest that klassy is on the same trajectory. But to think that you could become a billionaire by helping women go braless? Surely it would boggle the minds of 1960s-era feminists.
I kinda wanted to take a peek inside the klassy store. Just so that, years from now, I can say I knew it when.
“Come back at 10 o’clock when we open,” said one of the women in red. “We have a little coffee shop inside. You can try our specialty, a ‘matcha k.’”
Maybe another day.
And so I carried on, just a guy on an early morning walk who set out with no expectations, learned a little something, met some lovely women, and came away with a bounce in his step.
Is this a great country or what?
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
This commentary originally appeared on Bob Morris’ Substack. A former newspaper columnist and magazine editor, Bob is author of the Zack Chasteen series of mysteries set in Florida and the Caribbean, along with several non-fiction books and collections of essays. A fourth-generation Floridian, he lives in Winter Park.
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
Recent Comments