by Beth Kassab | Oct 7, 2026 | City Commission, Historic Preservation, Zoning and Development
New Merrywood Owner is Orlando Businessman Who Also Owns Corkcicle
In addition to the drinkware brand with local roots his interests also include a healthcare staffing firm that serves as a large government contractor
Oct. 7, 2026
By Beth Kassab
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include comments from Steve Lockwood that were included in a press release from his attorney after the original story was published.
The person behind the limited liability company that purchased Merrywood, a lot on Palmer Avenue, is Steve Lockwood, an east Orlando resident who last year bought the Orlando-grown drinkware brand Corkcicle.
State corporate records also list him as a manager for a healthcare staffing firm that has been awarded $1.9 billion in government contracts, according to a federal database.
Lockwood is meeting with city officials and others in the community about splitting the lot in two ahead of a City Commission vote scheduled for next week.
After this report was first published on Wednesday morning, Lockwood issued a press release through his attorney Jason Searl of Maynard Nexsen.
“My intention when I purchased Merrywood was to create a home for my family, while also considering the possibility of splitting the property with a close family friend,” Lockwood said in the statement. “As I’ve learned more about Merrywood and what the property means to Winter Park, I’ve appreciated the opportunity to have constructive conversations with people who care deeply about its history and its future.”
Commission Elizabeth Ingram is one of the officials he has met with so far.
“It was hopeful that he was interested in hearing more about historic preservation and that there could be potential to save the home,” Ingram said. “I don’t feel we should approve the comp plan amendment without the city getting something back in return.”
Betsy Owens, executive director of Friends of Casa Feliz, said she met with Lockwood and would like to help him find “an elegant solution that allows him to build what he wants to build on the property” while also preserving Merrywood.
A demolition notice was posted at 1020 Palmer Ave. earlier this year.
“I think what that looks like is where the conversation will take place,” she said. “It was a good meeting.”
Lockwood does not live in Winter Park, and it’s not clear how he became interested in the nearly 4-acre property, which has recently been in the spotlight because it includes a nearly 90-year-old estate designed by James Gamble Rogers II. The home is listed on the Florida Master Site File, an inventory of historic and cultural assets kept by the Division of Historical Resources under the Florida Department of State.
He indicated in his statement that he would like to find a solution that preservationists are comfortable with.
“I bought Merrywood because I saw it as a special place where my family could build a home and become part of the community,” Lockwood said. “I also understand that the property means something to many people in Winter Park. I’m listening, keeping an open mind and hopeful that we can find a path forward that everyone can feel good about.”
Last month, city officials granted an extension on the permit to demolish the house while the property was being sold to Lake Osceola Holdings LLC, the entity that closed on the lot in August for $15 million.
Lockwood is seeking to continue the process of gaining approval to split the lot in two. That would require the City Commission to approve a special carve-out in the city’s long-term development plan, known as the comprehensive plan, which generally prohibits the splitting of lakefront lots. A split would increase the property’s value by allowing two lakefront homes instead of one.
“My client desires to continue with the pending Comp Plan Amendment and will accept responsibility for the application going forward,” Searl wrote to the city in September.
The second of two required commission votes to finalize the change to the comprehensive plan is scheduled for Oct. 14. The first vote on June 24 was 3-2 in favor of the lot split with Mayor Sheila DeCiccio and commissioners Kris Cruzada and Craig Russell voting yes and commissioners Warren Lindsey and Ingram voting no.
Lockwood’s LinkedIn profile lists him as the principal owner of Corkcicle and a graduate of the University of Central Florida. In state business records, he is listed as a manager or director for a number of companies, including Corkcicle Capital Group LLC, created in 2025, and Corkcicle Capital Group Holdings LLC, created earlier this year.
Cascadia Capital, an investment bank, announced last year that Corkcicle had been acquired by a private investor group. The company, which started in Orlando’s College Park neighborhood, sells stylish reusable water bottles and coffee thermoses, plus coolers, barware and more. Its website says it has collaborations featuring designs from Winter Park-based Rifle Paper Co., Disney and others.
Lockwood is also listed as a director or manager for Loyal Source Government Services and Loyal Source Worldwide. Orlando-based Loyal Source, founded in 2009, describes itself as a privately held healthcare, workforce, technology and mission-support company. In 2021, for example, the company provided “turnkey medical services to more than 20,000 Afghan evacuees at Camp Atterbury, Indiana and Fort McCoy, Wisconsin,” according to its website. The site also says the company provided care and services at a temporary shelter in Texas, under a government contract, to unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the U.S. border.
USAspending.gov, the federal database of government contracts created as a public access tool by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, lists $1.9 billion in contracts to Loyal Source Government Services LLC since 2009. Most were awarded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, followed by the Department of Homeland Security, for services such as medical evaluations and screenings, nursing services and medical coding.
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by Beth Kassab | Sep 30, 2026 | Chain of Lakes, City Commission, News, Zoning and Development
New Merrywood Owner (Who is Still Unknown) Will Pursue Lot Split
A second vote on the property that is known as the site of a large James Gamble Rogers II estate is scheduled for Oct. 14
Sept. 30, 2026
By Beth Kassab
One of Winter Park’s most closely guarded secrets — the identity of the new owner of the lot known as Merrywood at 1020 Palmer Ave. — may soon be revealed.
Jason Searl, a real estate attorney at Maynard Nexsen, sent a letter to Winter Park Planning Director Allison McGillis on Sept. 23 saying he was recently hired to represent Lake Osceola Holdings LLC, the entity that closed on the nearly 4-acre property in August for $15 million, and that the new owner is seeking to complete the process needed to split the lot in two.
“My client desires to continue with the pending Comp Plan Amendment and will accept responsibility for the application going forward,” Searl wrote.
The second of two required City Commission votes to finalize the change to the city’s development plan, which would carve out a special exception to Winter Park’s prohibition against lakefront lot splits for Merrywood, is scheduled for Oct. 14.
McGillis told the Voice she does not know who is behind Lake Osceola Holdings LLC, but said Searl indicated to her in a conversation that the new owners would likely meet with commissioners or potentially appear at the public meeting. That could mean they would be identified and potentially discuss their plans for the property.
She said she does not have any details about the owner’s plans, but said she was told it was possible that some portion of the 90-year-old estate on Lake Osceola could be preserved. The house is listed in Florida’s master file of historic resources and is among the last remaining examples of the local influence of architect James Gamble Rogers II, and is known as one of his largest and most ornate works.
Tara Tedrow, the Lowndes attorney who originally had the property under contract and began the lot split process last year, was copied on the email thread that included Searl’s letter and followed up with her own note indicating that she would no longer be involved in the process.
“Please accept this email as written confirmation of a transfer of my pending comp plan application to Lake Osceola Holdings, LLC,” Tedrow wrote.
McGillis requested the correspondence from both Tedrow and Searl so that she could meet the deadlines for public notice ahead of the Oct. 14 scheduled vote.
Neither Searl nor Tedrow responded to requests for comment from the Voice on Wednesday.
Lake Osceola Holdings LLC filed its articles of incorporation with the state of Florida’s Division of Corporations on June 10. It listed Carla Deloach as the manager of the company, and its Orlando address is the same as Cypress Row Advisors, where Deloach is a senior attorney.
On that same date, Tedrow filed with the state a company called Ketara RE LLC and listed herself and her husband, Kevin Skorman, as the managers.
June 10 fell about a week after the Planning & Zoning Board recommended that the City Commission approve the lot split, and about two weeks before the first hearing related to the property in front of the City Commission.
Tedrow did not respond to questions about whether the company she registered on June 10 was related to the lot on Palmer Avenue. She is also listed as a manager, along with Skorman, a local commercial and residential developer, on three other companies filed with the state between March and September.
Tedrow told city officials throughout the process that she hoped to build a home for her family on the empty portion of the Merrywood lot, which is not far from the house she grew up in, and sell the other portion.
She told the City Commission that she and Sotheby’s agent Mick Night hoped to find a buyer willing to preserve and restore Merrywood, which is now in disrepair, but that no one came forward after nearly a year of searching.
That led Mayor Sheila DeCiccio to say that there was little choice but to approve the lot split, because the house was likely to be demolished either way, and Tedrow said she would walk away from the deal if the split wasn’t approved. DeCiccio said she feared that without the split, another buyer would come along and build a house as large as 50,000 square feet, based on the entitlements related to the size of the lot. As a result, the City Commission voted 3-2 on June 24 in the first of two required votes to approve the split.
Not long after that, the Voice first reported that Matt Morgan, a Winter Park resident and key face of the Morgan & Morgan law firm, made an offer on the property in August 2025 for $10 million. Night said the offer was too low and that, at the time, he was unaware of Morgan’s desire to preserve the home.
Morgan, who currently lives in a home on the city’s historic register, then upped his offer to $12 million and said he would like to see Merrywood preserved.
The city extended a demolition permit for the property in August. City officials have little power to require the home be preserved because its longtime owners, before the most recent sale, never listed it on the local register.
The clearest path to keep the home standing is for the City Commission to approve the lot split with a condition that the home remain in place and be listed on the register — similar to a condition placed on a different property in recent years, in a case where the owner was also seeking to split the lot.
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by Beth Kassab | Sep 28, 2026 | City Commission, News, Police and Public Safety
Winter Park Suspends Flock Cameras for At Least 90 Days
The police department said the cameras are a beneficial tool for solving crimes and would like to reinstate them once a new policy is finalized
Sept. 28, 2026
By Allison Smith
Winter Park Police Chief Tim Volkerson confirmed that his agency’s Flock cameras and any other automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) are no longer in use following a suspension of the program approved by the City Commission last week.
The suspension will run for at least 90 days, giving the department time to “assess and discuss” the changes needed to protect the privacy of law-abiding residents and guard against potential abuses by law enforcement, while still reaping the benefits the cameras provide as investigative and crime-solving tools, he said.
“We’ve made policy changes to try and keep up with putting appropriate guardrails on [license plate reader] systems,” Volkerson told the commission. “But it’s a very fluid thing … And honestly, I feel like a dog chasing my own tail, trying to keep up with everything.”
In August, Volkerson updated his department’s policy to more strictly limit how the camera database can be used, in response to incidents of police abuse elsewhere. In Haines City, about an hour southwest of Winter Park, a police officer was arrested and charged with official misconduct and other computer-related crimes. The officer allegedly used the Flock system for more than 700 searches over about two years to track the whereabouts of his estranged wife’s vehicle.
“We’re banning any of those features that create more of the feeling of distrust in the community,” Volkerson said.
A camera appears on a utility pole near a church on Howell Branch Road in Winter Park. (Photo by Allison Smith)
However, he said he needs until at least early 2027 to determine what the full policy should look like going forward.
Commissioner Warren Lindsey expressed concern that the Florida Legislature could override whatever new policy the city comes up with when lawmakers meet again in March. In recent years, the Legislature has repeatedly preempted city and county rules, chipping away at local governments’ ability to govern themselves with one-size-fits-all solutions for the entire state.
Volkerson said he plans to stay in touch with lawmakers and address their concerns, and he hopes to have a policy in place before the annual legislative session begins in March.
Winter Park signed a 60-month contract with Flock Safety in 2023 for three cameras at a cost of $7,500 a year, according to the contract.
All three cameras were positioned on state-owned roads. They were deactivated after the Florida Department of Transportation revoked permits for such devices across the state in August.
Winter Park also uses cameras manufactured by Motorola Solutions, which primarily sells to government agencies and law enforcement, according to the company’s public financial filings. Those cameras are also included in the citywide suspension and will be subject to the new policy.
Volkerson declined to comment on how many Motorola cameras were recently in use, but said they were acquired through a grant.
Using the popular crowdsourced site Deflock, a Voice reporter attempted to photograph ALPRs in and around Winter Park. The Voice confirmed the locations of 13 cameras listed on the site’s interactive, open-source map.
Some of the cameras are on private property, such as the campus of Rollins College.
One camera on a median on Horatio Avenue near Howell Branch Road in Maitland appeared to be covered with a garbage bag.
A bag appears over a camera in Maitland on Horatio Avenue. (Photo by Allison Smith)
Volkerson said he expects the state to begin fining agencies for misuse of ALPR systems, similar to the penalties for abuse of another law enforcement database, the Driver and Vehicle Information Database, known as DAVID. That database contains Florida driver’s license numbers, home addresses, photos, signatures, birth dates, vehicle information and more. DAVID has also been prone to misuse by law enforcement and other officials over the years, and its rules could serve as a model for Flock technology.
“Protecting people’s privacy is extremely important,” Volkerson said. “Any violation of that is an extremely serious offense.”
According to the department’s ALPR policy, updated in August, the database can be used only for active investigations, and information cannot be shared with anyone who is not directly involved in the investigation.
The cameras use optical recognition technology to check license tags against a so-called “hot list.” They provide a visual and audible alarm when a tag matches lists of stolen vehicles, suspended driver’s licenses, registered sex offenders, registered felons and other local intelligence pertaining to gang or drug investigations, according to a copy of the policy.
An APLR camera appears on the first floor of the Truist Parking garage just off Park Avenue in Winter Park. (Photo by Allison Smith)
Officers in Winter Park can manually add to the hot lists only in certain circumstances, such as a new Amber or Silver Alert, license plates related to wanted or missing persons, and those necessary for “gathering criminal intelligence during an active investigation.” Searches can be traced to the officer’s name and case number, and officers must enter a reason for each search.
Volkerson said the department still needs to determine a retention period for the images and information the cameras collect, along with rules for cameras near sensitive areas such as schools, health care facilities and churches.
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by Beth Kassab | Sep 24, 2026 | City Commission, Taxes, Tree Canopy
Tree Advocates Warn Against Cutting Budget for City's Prized Canopy
City officials say the canopy will still be maintained and new trees will be planted where space allows. But new state rules have gutted the ability of city officials to prevent tree removals
Sept. 24, 2026
By Beth Kassab
Winter Park City Commissioners on Wednesday gave final approval to a total $247 million budget, set to begin Oct. 1, including reductions totaling about $500,000 as the city begins to brace for the potential impact of a November ballot amendment that could significantly reduce property tax revenue if it’s approved by at least 60% of voters.
Reductions to a program to plant new trees and the elimination of a permit process meant to dissuade people from removing mature trees generated the most debate during the hearing, with residents speaking out against any changes that could reduce Winter Park’s celebrated tree canopy, considered a key ingredient of the city’s village-like charm.
“I witnessed a decline in birds and wildlife due to the loss of mature trees in my neighborhood near Lakemont Elementary School,” Cynthia Newton Edmonds told the commission. “At one time, I had a pileated woodpecker family of five in my yard. Now I rarely see one bird. Screech owls used to nest in my yard … They raised broods of owlets, and they are now gone. … One of my neighbors had 26 raccoons relocate to her backyard when the five acres on Lakemont Avenue at the end of Windsor Drive were razed for the development of a new church and townhomes … I have had two gopher tortoises come to my yard, fleeing the clearing of property … The trend seems to be everything’s cut down on the lot … We must protect our mature trees and our tree canopy.”
Members of the Winter Park Land Trust, a nonprofit supported by local residents to promote green space, urged the commission to resist succumbing to yet another pre-emption by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature — a law that went into effect in recent years that undermined the city’s tree permit process.
“I don’t think that we need to be cowering down to what the state is telling us,” said Leslie Poole, a member of the land trust and an environmental studies professor at Rollins College. “I think we ought to be doing what we can and pushing back to say that this is important to Winter Park. On your own website, this is one of the top things that the city of Winter Park touts as its tree canopy, and I want to urge you to continue to support that.”
City Manager Randy Knight explained that the new state rules mean residents can easily override the city when it denies a tree removal permit.
“The state gutted our ability to permit tree removals,” Knight explained. “They basically said that if you go out and find an arborist who says the tree’s dangerous, you can take it out even if the city says you can’t. And so we spend a lot of resources going through that process only to be undermined by the new state rules, and so we propose getting out of the permitting business. That doesn’t mean our people won’t go and talk with homeowners … we’ll still be doing that. They just don’t have to go through that permitting process any longer.”
The budget eliminates two vacant positions related to trees: a tree specialist (about $74,000) and the tree permit position (about $60,000).
The budget also reduces new tree plantings on city right-of-way by about half, or $210,000, and outsources the job of a tree-watering truck ($65,000).
In recent years, the city has aggressively planted new trees on public property and is running out of space, with more than 90% already filled.
City officials said spending on the maintenance of the existing canopy will not be reduced. In addition, the city is conducting a survey of its tree canopy and could add more funds back into the budget partway through the year if the survey shows a need.
Charley Williams, another member of the land trust, said he would like to see Winter Park attempt to come up with other ways to prevent residents from removing healthy, mature trees.
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio noted that the city is also requiring homeowners or contractors to plant new trees when others are removed for construction.
“If you’re going to tear down trees on your lot before you can get a [Certificate of Occupancy], you’re going to have to replant,” she said. “And that’s something we can do. We can’t necessarily prohibit them from taking them down, but we can make them put new trees up.”
Other changes to the budget include reducing the $2.15 million allotment for the library by $25,000, canceling an annual board appreciation event to save $12,000, reducing some Easter and Halloween events put on by the parks department by $20,000, and eliminating monthly printed utility bill calendars as well as some postage and supplies for a combined reduction of about $45,000.
See our other coverage of the Winter Park City Budget here:
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by Beth Kassab | Sep 19, 2026 | City Commission, News
Amendment 3 would bring property tax cuts — and tough choices — to Winter Park
City Manager Randy Knight said during a Winter Park Chamber forum that the city could ‘survive’ the cuts, but warned they would come with painful budget trade-offs
Sept. 19, 2026
By Gabrielle Russon
Winter Park government will “survive” if Amendment 3 passes in November, although City Manager Randy Knight warned that property tax cuts would not come without “pains.”
In the first year, the city would need to axe an estimated $3.7 million from a $90 million budget, followed by another $7.5 million the following year, which Knight called “doable.”
But when the city conducted an exercise last month to practice eliminating nonessential services, such as wintertime pool access, Knight quipped, “You would’ve thought we had canceled Ted Lasso.”
Knight was part of a trio of speakers who expressed concerns about Amendment 3 during Friday’s Winter Park Chamber of Commerce panel, held in front of business and community leaders. Joining Knight were Orange County Tax Collector Scott Randolph and Florida TaxWatch CEO Jeff Kottkamp.
The Winter Park Chamber of Commerce has not taken a public stance on Amendment 3, although other economic organizations, including the Orlando Economic Partnership, have spoken out against it.
Under Amendment 3, a Winter Park taxpayer who receives the maximum benefit would save about $850 in the first year and $1,780 in the second year, which equals nearly $150 a month, Knight said.
TaxWatch CEO Jeff Kottkamp, Orange Tax Collector Scott Randolph and Winter Park City Manager Randy Knight discuss the anticipated impacts of an amendment on the November ballot that would raise the homestead exemption. The Winter Park Chamber of Commerce hosted the forum on Friday.
With those savings come trade-offs, the panel warned.
Knight said Amendment 3 could force the city to raise its millage rate, increasing taxes on renters, businesses and homeowners of more expensive properties to make up for lost property tax revenue.
Local governments may also raise fees, Kottkamp said.
“You may vote for this thinking you’ll get a property tax reduction when, in fact, you won’t,” said Kottkamp, a former state lieutenant governor.
For local governments, the amendment could also have an impact on other fronts if they miss out on federal or state grants because they can no longer provide matching funds, Randolph said.
If at least 60% of voters approve Amendment 3 in November, the constitutional amendment would increase the state’s non-school homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, with further increases tied to inflation beginning in 2029.
The ballot amendment would also cut local government tax revenues by limiting future growth in the amount of taxes collected on non-homesteaded properties. The cap on annual assessment increases for those properties — anything from a Publix grocery store to an Amazon warehouse to a vacation home — would drop from 10% to 5%.
New Florida residents would be required to wait five years to receive the full increased property tax exemption.
Randolph, a Democrat and former state lawmaker, questioned whether the Legislature’s five-year waiting period for new residents was constitutional because it treats out-of-state and Florida residents differently for tax purposes.
“Look, Florida is built on the idea of attracting new people. I don’t know how you’re supposed to attract a business or attract a young couple or even a retiree coming into this marketplace,” Randolph said. “They’re already going to be paying the highest full market value when they buy the house. And then you’re going to tell them, ‘Oh yeah, you know what? Just for giggles, we’re not even going to give you the $250,000 exemption for five years.’”
The state Legislature voted to put Amendment 3 on the ballot during a three-day special session in June. The vote came without the state conducting any deeper economic impact studies to understand the consequences of overhauling property taxes statewide.
“When you have something this important, the way this was done was just not right. You don’t drop a bill and say, ‘Vote on this in three days,’” Kottkamp said.
State lawmakers acted after facing pressure from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had been calling for property tax reform to lift the burden on residents struggling with rising costs. DeSantis has argued that people who have already paid off their homes are unfairly hit with rising property taxes and that local governments’ budgets are ballooning with wasteful spending.
DeSantis also expressed disappointment that Amendment 3 doesn’t go far enough to reduce school taxes because state lawmakers protected school funding in their ballot proposal.
Meanwhile, critics question whether Amendment 3 is another move by the state to take more control away from local governments, which set their own spending priorities.
Randolph called it “absurd” to say current homeowners are being “taxed out of their home” because the state’s Constitution already contains an amendment capping the annual increase in the assessed value of a homesteaded home at 3%, or the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower.
But the ones “getting killed” by property taxes are new homeowners who purchased homes in the past five years, Randolph said.
“This amendment doesn’t fix that at all,” Randolph said. “And that’s what I wish Tallahassee would focus on — the fairness and the equity across the board — because if property taxes are supposed to reflect the services that are provided, we have shifted so much of that to the new entrants into the market.”
Instead of Amendment 3, Kottkamp is advocating for the state to make changes after the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission meets next year. The commission, which convenes every 20 years, could develop a more thoughtfully laid-out proposal to reduce property taxes, he said.
In a conversation where all three panelists expressed skepticism and concerns, the most optimistic sentiment came from Kottkamp, who offered this assessment of Florida:
“This is still the greatest place to live and do business in the country, which means in the world. We just want to make sure we keep it that way,” he said.
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by Beth Kassab | Sep 15, 2026 | Arts and Culture, City Commission, News, Taxes
Parking Fines to Increase, E-Bike Fines also added as Budget is Finalized
The City Commission also reduced the amount of money set to go to nonprofit Men of Integrity Mentoring Program and turned down requests to add dollars for the library and Blue Bamboo back into the budget
Sept. 15, 2026
By Beth Kassab
Winter Park will bring in additional revenue next year through higher fines for parking tickets, fees for non-residents to park at Dinky Dock and the dog park at Lake Baldwin, and new fines for kids and adults who violate recently approved rules governing the use of e-bikes and e-scooters.
The City Commission also made last-minute tweaks to the budget that takes effect Oct. 1, reducing the amount of money the nonprofit Men of Integrity Mentoring Program will receive and rejecting calls to restore cuts to the Winter Park Library and Blue Bamboo.
Some details remain unclear, including exactly how much the new fines for parking and micromobility violations could bring in.
The fees for non-residents to park at Dinky Dock and the dog park have not yet been set but could be in the range of $2 to $3 per hour. The pilot program is expected to start later in the year after a company is selected to administer it.
Motorists who park along the curb facing the wrong direction, overstay the allotted time at a curb or otherwise park in an unlawful manner will now face a $30 fine, up from $25.
Commissioner Elizabeth Ingram pushed for even higher parking fines, noting that the discussion occurred during a meeting that lasted more than five hours, with a substantial portion devoted to parking concerns related to a proposal to build a synagogue and daycare downtown.
She said she was “shocked” to learn that parking fines are only $25 and suggested they could be as high as $75 or even $150 to help change motorists’ behavior.
“It doesn’t hurt enough to teach someone,” she said.
City Manager Randy Knight warned that complaints would pour in if fines were raised that high.
“We get complaints about $25 all the time, and so if you go to $75 … maybe you each get to serve as cashier one day a week,” he said in jest.
Police Chief Tim Volkerson said his team issues parking fines every day and noted that Orlando recently raised its fine to $35.
The commission settled on a $30 fine for parking violations.
The group also raised the fines for violating the new micromobility ordinance to $35 for a first offense and $75 for a second offense.
When it came to the portion of the budget — about $480,000 — that the city spends on local nonprofit groups, a proposed $45,000 allocation for Men of Integrity was reduced to $20,000.
Commissioner Warren Lindsey said he wasn’t comfortable with the amount, given that the group is already provided free space at the Community Center and because commissioners are being forced to make some cuts that he called “painful and uncomfortable.”
Men of Integrity 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. An administrator for the program provided the Voice with a copy of Men of Integrity’s most recent tax form, which shows that the group’s revenues are typically less than $50,000.
Ingram attempted to restore some funding for Blue Bamboo in response to pleas from one of the group’s leaders but did not win enough support.
Officials from the Winter Park Library also asked the commission to consider restoring a $25,000 cut to its budget but did not win support.
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 city’s main budget and the Community Redevelopment Agency budget, for a total of $2.5 million.
The second required vote on the city budget is scheduled for Sept. 23.
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