by Beth Kassab | Apr 24, 2025 | City Commission, News
Park Avenue Will See $1 Mil for New Street Lights
The high-tech light poles are part of the first major overhaul of the city’s central business district in more than 25 years
April 24, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Commissioners approved nearly $1 million from the Community Redevelopment Agency budget for new high-tech street lights along Park Avenue as part of the commercial corridor’s “Refresh” project.
The city will purchase about 100 light poles at $9,300 each that will include “dark sky” lamp fixtures that cast LED lights downward and include two wi-fi receivers, electric hook-ups for cameras and speakers and internal sprinklers for potted plants that will hang from the fixtures.
Commissioner Marty Sullivan asked if the poles could also mist passersby to help keep the avenue cooler during the hot summer months like the mist sprayers often seen at the theme parks. Architect Alex Stringfellow said the idea was considered, but there were already too many features in the light poles and there were concerns among businesses along the avenue about the sprayers interfering with food service on sidewalk tables.
New archway historic signs will bookend the north and south sides of Park Avenue.
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio noted that there is money set aside in the CRA for the project. She said when the city’s electric utility completes its years-long project to underline power lines there will be additional money in the utility’s budget to upgrade light poles across the city.
“Park avenue is clearly an economic engine and in need of a refresh,” she said.
The new streetlights along the avenue will be installed in three phases. The lights in place today are 26 years old and were installed when the street was bricked in 1999.
“They are not only antiquated, they are also internally filled with a variety of unnecessary cords and tubing that have been used for many purposes over the years, have become unreliable in some areas, and use an outdated light fixture,” according to a staff report.
The overall refresh project will also include drainage projects, new landscaping and planters and the installation of historic gateway signs that will stretch across both ends of the avenue. Work on the new signs will likely begin at the end of May.
Earlier this month, commissioners also agreed to a “mobility hub” with Mount Dora-based Optimus Energy Solutions that will include a central rideshare drop-off and pick-up area with covered seating, electric car chargers and electric bike chargers. Optimus will pay for construction and operating costs, according to the agreement, and the hub is expected to be in place this summer.
The total cost for construction related to the refresh project as whole is expected to be discussed in August.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Apr 23, 2025 | City Commission, News
Winter Park Approves School Resource Officer Contract
The resolution came after months of heated rhetoric from Orange County Public Schools
April 23, 2025
By Beth Kassab and Gabrielle Russon
The City Commission approved a new contract for its school resource officers on Wednesday — a deal that calls for Orange County Public Schools to pay the city at least $740,000 over two years.
After months of tense talks, commissioners voted unanimously in favor of the contract with the only comments coming from Mayor Sheila DeCiccio.
“We have always prioritized the safety of our children,” she said. “There was never an issue as to whether Winter Park Police would show up at school … at no time did Winter Park suggest using armed guardians. That came directly from Orange County Public Schools.”
She was referring to a school board meeting earlier this month and an email to parents last year where district officials floated turning to private security for certain schools without an SRO deal.
The new deal calls for the district to reimburse Winter Park $73,000 per SRO for the 2025-26 school year, a slight increase from the previous contract for $72,000 per officer. For the 2026-27 year, the district will pay $75,000.
But the proposed contract also includes provisions so if the district gets additional Safe Schools state dollars, then Winter Park could get paid more too.
Five Winter Park police officers are deployed across Brookshire Elementary, Lakemont Elementary, the Ninth Grade Center and Winter Park High main campus.
A review of public records by the Winter Park Voice shows how city officials and residents responded to the pressure the district put on the city to reach a deal amid rising SRO costs. Winter Park leaders were frustrated by the district’s handling of the situation when they began receiving a backlash last year from residents. Some parents said they were upset SROs could get pulled from schools and armed guardians — a private security force — could be in charge of protecting students, according to emails obtained by the Voice .
The district emailed OCPS families with direct language in mid-December.
“You are receiving this email because you have a child who attends one of the 30 schools potentially impacted by School Resource Officer (SRO) contract negotiations with the cities of Apopka, Ocoee, Windermere, Winter Garden and Winter Park and their local law enforcement agencies. The district has NOT been able to reach a multi-year agreement with them for SRO coverage of the schools within their jurisdiction,” the unsigned district message said. “The School Board strongly believes the safest option is for our law enforcement partners to provide SRO coverage on all school campuses. … Orange County Public Schools understands the financial challenges the cities are facing, but there is simply not enough funds in the State’s Safe School allocation to give more to the local jurisdictions without impacting the classroom.”
The OCPS email also included links so parents could contact officials from the five municipalities.
That sent Winter Park City Manager Randy Knight scrambling to reach OCPS Superintendent Maria Vazquez but the district restricted the superintendent’s access.
“I tried to call you today but was told by the operator that she was not allowed to connect people to your office by phone. She said I have to email you with the topic and request a call back,” Knight wrote Vazquez on Dec. 17.
Knight wrote the first negotiating session for the new contract wasn’t scheduled until Jan. 14 but the district’s “public negotiation strategy” was bad for both sides as he complained Winter Park has subsidized the SRO costs for years.
“In good faith, we operated much of this school year without a contract while we tried to work one out,” Knight wrote the superintendent. “I find it very disappointing that someone at OCPS decided to create ill-will in the community against our elected officials as a negotiating tactic. It unfortunately puts us in a position of having to respond to each of those that write us with the facts of how much Winter Park taxpayers are subsidizing these officers in schools largely made up of non-Winter Park students.”
After the OCPS message to parents, Winter Park officials drafted a public records request for the school district to get “all correspondence/communication to include emails, text messages, transcripts, voice mails, notes between any board member, consultant, superintendent, employee of OCPS or affiliated with OCPS that relates to the referenced subject/email to include who authorized the email being sent.”
The city also wanted other records to understand how OCPS spent its Safe Schools funding, the pot of state money where OCPS pays for SROs.
Winter Park began crafting its own response to tell its side of the story as officials received emails from concerned residents.
“Did you know Guardians are only required to have 144 hours of training versus the over 1,000 hours of training a SRO has in one year?” Leslie Bobolts, the parent of a Winter Park High student, wrote the city Dec. 16. “I urge you to please work with the City of Winter Park police department in reaching an agreement on this urgent matter.”
Frances Ferrato, an economic analyst whose daughter attends Lakemont Elementary, also feared what could happen if SROs were gone.
“Recently, during school drop-off, an SUV mistakenly turned onto the sidewalk where children were walking into school. Officer Alvarado, who is always alert and attentive, immediately stepped in, placing herself between the vehicle and the students. Her quick response prevented what could have been a tragic accident,” Ferrato emailed the city Dec. 16. “I feel immensely safer knowing Officer Alvarado is on duty. … Replacing SROs with less qualified school guardians would compromise that safety.”
Months later, the district brought up the contract standoff again publicly.
School board members slammed Winter Park and the other four cities for not yet reaching a contract deal during an April 1 OCPS meeting.
“There is no other way to characterize that than they are negotiating in bad faith with us, and I am so disappointed and so frustrated,” said school board member Stephanie Vanos at the meeting.
Vazquez told school board members the district is facing an unprecedented financial crisis and urged the school board to reconsider exploring the controversial guardians program.
Knight declined to be interviewed at the time but commented in the online comments of an April 9 Winter Park Voice story.
“I just want to reassure everyone that the quotes from OCPS officials contained in this article do not accurately reflect the actual status of negotiations. The parties are very close to terms,” Knight wrote. “Winter Park, along with the other cities involved in the negotiations, have chosen not to instill fear in the minds of our parents or to negotiate through public comments, as we feel that is unprofessional and unproductive.”
Apopka, Ocoee, Winter Garden and Windermere agreed to the same terms with the district.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Apr 16, 2025 | City Commission, News, Uncategorized
Winter Park reaches deal on school resource officers
Orange County Public Schools and five cities had been at an impasse for months over how much the school district would pay for the officers
Photo: Winter Park High School Resource Officer Christopher Belcore accepts an award earlier this year as the top employee for Winter Park Police.
April 16, 2025
By Gabrielle Russon
Orange County Public Schools reached a tentative two-year deal Wednesday with Winter Park and four other communities to continue staffing school resource officers after the two sides were stuck in a stalemate for months.
“Safety of the children and faculty in the schools has always been a top priority for both sides of these negotiations,” said Winter Park City Manager Randy Knight in a statement. “We are pleased to have reached terms agreeable to all entities involved that will keep this long-term partnership of providing School Resource Officers in place through the end of the 2026-27 school year.”
The proposed new contract comes after school board officials said they were going to consider deploying guardians, which is a private armed security force.
“We are grateful to the municipalities for their dedication to our shared goal of fostering a secure educational environment for all students,” said Superintendent Maria Vazquez in a statement. “This agreement represents the commitment we have to our schools and highlights the importance of collaboration in achieving our safety objectives.”
Lakemont Elementary is one of two elementary schools in Winter Park. Photo courtesy of OCPS.
The new deal calls for the district to reimburse Winter Park $73,000 per SRO for the 2025-26 school year and $75,000 for 2026-27 year, according to the terms released by the city of Winter Park.
But the proposed contract also includes provisions so if the district gets additional Safe Schools state dollars, then Winter Park could get paid more too.
The issue is scheduled to go April 23 before the Winter Park City Commission for final approval.
Winter Park, Apopka, Ocoee, Winter Garden and Windermere have been at an impasse with OCPS for months about the cost to pay for SROs.
Five Winter Park police officers are deployed across Brookshire Elementary, Lakemont Elementary, the Ninth Grade Center and Winter Park High main campus.
OCPS, the 8th largest school district in the nation, currently pays Winter Park about $72,000 a year per officer. The cities had been seeking an increase that would cost the district an extra $2 million a year — or about $39,000 for the city of Winter Park.
Either side could terminate the new contract without cause with 180-day notice.
Earlier this month, Orange County School Board members slammed the five municipalities for asking for additional money as the district’s superintendent warned OCPS is facing unprecedented financial struggles ahead.
“There is no other way to characterize that than they are negotiating in bad faith with us, and I am so disappointed and so frustrated,” said school board member Stephanie Vanos at the April 1 meeting. “I would encourage them to remember that we are public education — we are not just a business. We have extremely limited funds.”
Knight declined to be interviewed at the time but responded in an online comment on the Winter Park Voice story.
“The parties are very close to terms. Winter Park, along with the other cities involved in the negotiations, have chosen not to instill fear in the minds of our parents or to negotiate through public comments, as we feel that is unprofessional and unproductive,” Knight wrote. “The current contract is still valid until the beginning of the next school year. Please know that safety of our students is always a top priority of the city. I am confident a deal will be in place before the current contract expires that is fair to all involved.”
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
Gabrielle Russon is a freelance reporter and former reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, where she covered K-12 education, colleges and universities and the tourism industry. She lives in Orlando with her family and writes about politics, education, theme parks and the courts.
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Apr 16, 2025 | City Commission, Election, News, Uncategorized
Chamber-Aligned Political Committee Changes Address and Agent
Commissioners recently questioned if it was appropriate for the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce to operate Winter PAC, which raised more than $85,000 to influence elections, from a city-owned building
April 16, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Winter PAC, the chamber-aligned political committee that had come under fire from some city commissioners for operating out of a city-owned building leased by the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, filed a change of address and change of registered agent with the city clerk this week.
Betsy Gardner, the president and CEO of the chamber, will no longer serve as the group’s registered agent, according to the document filed Tuesday.
Instead, Brian Mills, Winter PAC’s chairman and an attorney and lobbyist at Maynard Nexsen, will serve as the registered agent, the person appointed to receive official or legal documents and notices on behalf of the group. Mills is part of the firm’s “government solutions group” with clients in technology, manufacturing and the commercial space industry, according to the firm’s web site. He has previously served on Winter Park’s Board of Adjustments and was chief of staff to former Orange County Property Appraiser Rick Singh when Singh first took office in 2013.
An address listed for his law firm at 200 E. New England Ave. Suite 110 will serve as the political committee’s new address.
“Winter PAC was established to support a vibrant, engaged, and prosperous Winter Park community,” Mills said in a press release provided by the chamber on Friday. “After speaking with our stakeholders, many of whom have been lifelong residents of Winter Park, it has become clear that this issue of who collects our mail is a distraction from the more important business of how our community is being served. We appreciate the support and encouragement of the Chamber and its members.”
The decision came just days after City Attorney Kurt Ardaman told the City Commission that his firm would no longer be a member of the chamber because he was unhappy, in part, with how the group provided an option to donate to the PAC on the chamber’s membership renewal invoice.
Ardaman said his firm “inadvertently” donated $25 to the PAC, as result of paying the full invoice amount.
The Voice reported the donation in the context of the investigation Ardaman conducted at the request of several commissioners into whether the chamber was violating its lease on a city-owned building across from City Hall by using the same address for the PAC.
Ardaman said he stands by his opinion provided to the commission last month that the chamber is not in violation of the lease because it has not officially subleased or assigned any legal interest of the building over to Winter PAC, which has raised more than $85,000 over two years to influence city elections.
He said he did not know when he started the investigation based on a request from the commission that $25 paid at the same time he paid his firm’s chamber dues was sent to the PAC in January. The PAC has since returned the money.
The chamber says it has nearly 800 members. According to email correspondence between Gardner and Ardaman’s firm provided to the Voice by the chamber, 82 members have opted to pay an extra $25 for the PAC at the time of renewing dues while “hundreds” have chosen not to contribute.
The statement from the chamber emphasized Ardman’s opinion that the group is not in violation of its lease and said the PAC made the changes to its address “voluntarily.”
Commissioner Kris Cruzada, who Winter PAC attempted to defeat in the March election by backing another candidate, was one of the commissioners who said he still had questions after Ardaman’s report.
Cruzada declined to comment on Wednesday.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Apr 10, 2025 | City Commission, Election, News, Uncategorized
City Attorney Says His Firm has Left Winter Park Chamber
City Attorney Kurt Ardaman said his law firm is no longer a member of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce after he was says he was unaware he made a contribution to its political committee at the time he paid his member dues
April 10, 2025
By Beth Kassab
City Attorney Kurt Ardaman told the City Commission on Wednesday that his law firm Fishback Dominick is no longer a member of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce “based on a number of factors” in the wake of his look into whether the chamber is violating its lease on a city building by allowing its political action committee to reside at the same address.
Ardaman said he stands by his opinion provided to the commission last month that the chamber is not in violation of the lease because it has not officially subleased or assigned any legal interest of the building over to Winter PAC, which has raised more than $85,000 over two years to influence city elections.
He said he did not know when he started the investigation based on a request from the commission that $25 paid at the same time he paid his firm’s chamber dues was sent to the PAC in January. The PAC has since returned the money.
He did not disclose his membership or the contribution in his report. And he did not include that the chamber collects an optional portion paid at the time members pay dues for the political committee, apparently because he was unaware of it.
“I’ve not been happy based on a number of factors with the chamber … So we’ve resigned from the chamber because we’re just not satisfied with it,” Ardaman told the board, noting that no one forced him to make the move.
Ardaman said that the information he obtained from chamber and PAC leaders was not taken under oath, but that commissioners could file a court action if they wanted to attempt to obtain sworn depositions or additional documents from the group.
None of the commissioners expressed a desire to file such an action.
Chamber Executive Director Betsy Gardner, who also serves as registered agent for the PAC, declined to comment. The chamber says it has nearly 800 members. According to email correspondence between Gardner and Ardaman’s firm provided to the Voice after this story was first published, 82 members have opted to pay an extra $25 for the PAC at the time of renewing dues while “hundreds” have chosen not to contribute.
A copy of the Fishback Dominick invoice shows the firm paid for three items on the same invoice: $595 in membership dues; $195 for an enhanced listing and $25 labeled as “optional voluntary contribution to Winter PAC, the Winter Park Chamber’s affiliated political committee.
Commissioner Kris Cruzada, the incumbent Winter PAC attempted to kick out of office this year by spending more than $30,000, thanked Ardman for his “disclosure” and “candor” and asked about other potential legal actions to remove the PAC from the building. The chamber signed a 99-year lease with the city for the building across from City Hall in 2005 and spent $900,000 on its development.
Ardman said he didn’t think such an action would be successful.
Warren Lindsey, a defense attorney and the newest commissioner who took office last month, also thanked Ardaman for his “professionalism” and asked if there were more details about the money paid from the PAC to the Chamber noted in Ardaman’s four-page memorandum.
The report notes $3,600 payments from the PAC to the Chamber listed on the group’s election cycle financial reports as “administrative fees/non-candidate expenditure” or “professional fees/expenditure regarding candidate.”
Brian Mills and Lawrence Lyman, the officers of Winter PAC, told Ardman’s firm that the payments were for the use of equipment such as copies or printers and for the chamber accepting and holding the political group’s mail, according to the report.
UPDATE: This story has been updated to add further clarification that the payments collected by the chamber for Winter PAC are collected at the same time as chamber dues, but are optional. as well as to add additional information based on correspondence provided by the Chamber.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Apr 9, 2025 | City Commission, News, Uncategorized
School board members: Winter Park could lose school resource officers
The city is among five municipalities that still hasn’t reached an agreement with Orange County Public Schools over how much the district will pay for the officers
April 9, 2025
By Gabrielle Russon
Winter Park is in jeopardy of losing its five school resource officers and having them replaced by armed guardians next school year.
Orange County Public Schools board members recently voiced their outrage that they haven’t reached SRO contract deals with Winter Park and four other municipalities since the current contract expires next month at the end of this school year.
“There is no other way to characterize that than they are negotiating in bad faith with us, and I am so disappointed and so frustrated,” said school board member Stephanie Vanos at the meeting.
Orange County Superintendent Maria Vazquez urged the school board to reconsider a controversial plan to hire new armed security under what’s known as the guardians program for those five communities.
“I know that our conversation a few months ago surrounding guardians in our school was one that the board was adamant that we could not look at or that we would not pursue,” Vazquez said at last week’s school board meeting. “I am requesting that the board reconsider that stance.”
The board will meet during a workshop to continue the discussion. No workshop date has been scheduled.
District spokesman Michael Ollendorff said if the guardian program is pursued it would involve private security staff such as hiring former military or law enforcement rather than arming teachers and school staff, which Florida law also allows.
Winter Park, Apopka, Ocoee, Winter Garden and Windermere have been at a standoff with OCPS for months about the cost to pay for SROs.
Ollendorff declined to say how many SROs currently are deployed at the schools in those five communities, saying that information was confidential under state law for security reasons. Central Florida Public Media previously reported the number was at 34.
Currently, Winter Park Police officers make up five of them — one at Brookshire Elementary; one at Lakemont Elementary, one at the Ninth Grade Center and two at the Winter Park High main campus.
OCPS pays about $72,000 a year per officer and proposed an increase to $75,000 per officer rate for the 2026-27 school year. OCPS already signed three year-contracts with the other four law enforcement agencies in Orlando, Maitland, Eatonville and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Meanwhile, the five remaining cities argued OCPS is not giving enough money to cover the SROs and asked for an additional $2 million to pay for the officers.
“I would encourage them to remember that we are public education — we are not just a business. We have extremely limited funds,” Vanos said. “We don’t have other avenues to generate revenue like they do.”
The school board prefers SROs, said school board member Alicia Farrant who added, “if people don’t want to play nice and negotiate, then we’ll have to look at the guardian program, which, in my opinion, is also a great program.”
Other schools are tapping ex-military and former law enforcement officials to become guardians, Farrant said.
Apopka Police Chief Mike McKinley, who is leading the negotiations on behalf of the five cities, and Winter Park spokeswoman Clarissa Howard declined to comment for this story. Winter Park Mayor Sheila DeCiccio did not respond to a request for comment.
“At this time all parties are still actively negotiating terms,” Apopka Sgt. Jennifer Rudich said in an email.
In a statement released in December, McKinley said none of the law enforcement agencies were in favor of the guardian program and noted that the police agencies “never threatened or even considered withdrawing SROs from schools” when the current school year started without a contract in place.
“While we understand the financial challenges OCPS faces, our agencies are also contending with significant fiscal pressures,” the statement said. “These include difficulties in recruiting personnel and ensuring adequate equipment to meet the growing demands of our cities. Addressing these financial challenges through appropriate funding is essential to sustaining the high level of service we provide.”
Amid the SRO discussion, Vazquez and school board members warned the school district is facing an unprecedented budget crunch that could lead to hard decisions — like closing schools — in upcoming years.
“I have not seen a time in my educational career where it has been this bleak,” Vazquez said.
Some public school funding is getting cut at the expense of taxpayer-funded private school vouchers, officials said. Other revenue cuts are coming from Medicaid that reimburses students’ mandated therapy services while more federal money is budgeted to get axed under President Donald Trump’s administration.
OCPS pays for SROs using Safe Schools funding – a pot of state money that’s been increased by the Legislature since the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland in 2018. Currently the state appropriation for Florida schools is $290 million.
However, OCPS said its $21.1 million Safe Schools allocation isn’t enough to cover all the district’s expenses and leaves the district with a $16.3 million shortfall this school year.
In addition to paying $23.1 million for SROs, the district is legally required to give $1.7 million to Orange County charter schools and also must fund district police and SAFE coordinators, as required by the state, which costs about $12.5 million.
In 2019, state lawmakers divided down party lines approved a school safety bill that included a provision to allow school districts to voluntarily set up guardian programs to arm and train school staff.
Democrats voiced fears that teachers and guidance counselors are already slammed with their demanding jobs without the pressure of stopping an active shooter. The guardians, who would undergo 144 hours of training with the local sheriff’s office, would be missing the extensive training that sworn law enforcement officers have, Democrats argued.
“We’re asking our teachers to be law enforcement … and that’s wrong,” said former Democratic Sen. Bill Montford during the 2019 debate. “Let’s put our money where our mouths are. Let’s provide enough funding so that we can have real, true, well-trained law enforcement, people protecting the children – which they deserve.”
But Republicans argued districts need the option for guardians if they can’t afford SROs or need more police coverage.
“There may be some place in the state where some superintendent has decided that for his community, for those kids in that classroom, he has no other choice,” said then-Sen. Manny Diaz, Jr., a Republican who today is the Florida Commissioner of Education. “The majority of our superintendents and school boards will make decisions based on the resources they have available to them.”
Clarification: This story previously reported that teachers and school staff could be armed through the guardian program under consideration by Orange County Public Schools. While arming teachers is allowed under Florida law, the district clarified it would consider private armed security such as former military or law enforcement personnel, not school staff.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
Gabrielle Russon is a freelance reporter and former reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, where she covered K-12 education, colleges and universities and the tourism industry. She lives in Orlando with her family and writes about politics, education, theme parks and the courts.
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
Recent Comments