by Beth Kassab | Mar 7, 2025 | City Commission, Election, News
Senator and commissioner duel in final days before vote on leaf blower ban
Ahead of Tuesday’s election, voters are hearing from Sen. Jason Brodeur and Commissioner Todd Weaver about the ban on gas-powered leaf blowers
March 7, 2025
By Kathryn Brudzinski
In the final days and weeks leading up to Winter Park’s election on Tuesday, a state senator and a city commissioner faced off with dueling emails and campaign ads over the ballot question about a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers.
Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, used a political committee he controls to pay for ads that call the ban “bad for local businesses.”
Brodeur, who got involved in the controversy over the ban last year and forced commissioners to put the issue on the ballot by threatening state action, told the Voice this week he didn’t think the commission adequately addressed the needs of the business community and the “obvious burden” to consumers through increased costs.
“If people want battery powered blowers, they can just hire them now,” Brodeur said in a text message. “A ban on choices in the marketplace is a slippery slope. Next it will be trimmers, then lawn mowers, then they’re telling you what color your house is and that you must have a brick mailbox. They are not a homeowners association, they’re a city commission.”
Jason Brodeur
Brodeur is the chairperson of Citizens for Solutions, the political committee that sent the mailers and emails.
In a Feb. 28 email signed by Brodeur, the committee argued that the ban was “not just about leaf blowers – it’s about stopping unnecessary regulations that hurt working families and small businesses.”
Commissioner Todd Weaver, one of the most outspoken advocates for the ban, sent an email to residents this week and questioned what he called Brodeur’s “strange attention to local issues,” while so many critical state issues loom such as low wages and homeowner insurance rates.
“One must wonder why we have a state senator, who lives in Sanford, and who continues to meddle in local Winter Park affairs,” read the email from Weaver, who opted not to run for re-election this year.
In January, Brodeur sent residents emails to argue against an unrelated city matter, but one also personal to Weaver. He urged residents to speak out against Weaver’s request to add his home to the city’s historic register. The request was ultimately tabled.
Brodeur’s mostly Seminole County district folds in a small piece of Orange County, including Winter Park.
Weaver argued the commission provided contractors “ample time” to make the equipment switch by delaying enforcement multiple times since the leaf-blower ordinance was first passed in 2022.
He also emphasized the long-term cost and public health benefits electric blowers can offer, despite the equipment being more expensive up-front.
“The energy to run electric lawn tools costs about ¼ of what gasoline currently costs,” the email read. “This does not translate to higher costs for customers as Brodeur implies. Worst case: the cost difference is a wash … More importantly, it is about the health of landscaping workers using gas-powered tools.”
Voters will find the question on their Tuesday ballots along with the race for City Commission Seat 3 between incumbent Kris Cruzada and candidate Justin Vermuth.
Todd Weaver
A “yes” vote will repeal the ordinance and lift the ban on internal combustion, or gas-powered, leaf blowers. A “no” vote will allow for the ban to remain in place. If voters keep the ban it would take effect in July.
The ban was unanimously approved by the commission in January 2022, but has never been enforced.
Other Florida cities like Miami Beach, Naples, Palm Beach, South Miami, Key Biscayne and Pinecrest have similar ordinances to reduce noise from leaf blowers.
Winter Park’s ban received major pushback from local landscape companies in the months before it was set to take effect last year. They complained about the cost of changing equipment and concerns about battery power that would slow them down and hurt business.
That’s when Brodeur stepped in as the state Legislature was still in session. He threatened to write a law that would cancel out the ban if the city didn’t once again delay enforcement and put the question on this year’s ballot for voters to decide.
The result was a 3-2 decision by the commission in April 2024 to place the issue on the ballot. Mayor Sheila DeCiccio, Commissioner Craig Russell and Cruzada voted in favor. Commissioner Marty Sullivan and Weaver voted against.
Brodeur still added language to the state’s budget attempting to prohibit cities from enacting gas-powered leaf blower ordinances until after a $100,000 study on the life cycle of gas-powered versus battery-powered blowers was completed.
The study was vetoed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
During the commission’s April 2024 meeting DeCiccio and others voiced their concerns about Brodeur’s approach and the future impacts of the referendum.
“I am worried about the precedent that this will set if any time someone does not like what the commission does, they can complain to the senator and threaten preemption,” DeCiccio said.
She also said that landscapers had nearly three years to make the transition to electric leaf blowers from the time of the original ordinance.
Weaver said during that meeting that in addition to numerous noise complaints, severe health and environmental impacts associated with the use of the gas-powered lawn equipment were also cause for concern.
“The reason this tool was picked out, not only for the noise, is because it’s the only one of the arsenal of gas-powered tools that almost always run at full-throttle,” Weaver said, adding that he was concerned Brodeur had not effectively researched the issue.
The ordinance came following noise complaints, which intensified as more residents worked from home during the pandemic, and environmental and health concerns. The commission gave residents and their landscape contractors 30 months to make the switch to alternative equipment like electric leaf blowers.
The city offered a one-per-household $50 rebate for electric leaf blowers purchased between Jan. 15, 2024 to Jan. 1, 2025 that would be applied as a credit to a resident’s utility bill.
Gas-powered leaf blowers typically use a two-stroke engine that mixes gasoline with oil to operate, burning a portion of the mixture and emitting the rest as an aerosol exhaust. Studies have shown public health concerns related to the exhaust because it contains known carcinogens and can be linked to diseases such as cancer.
Another concern is the level of noise the equipment produces. A 2017 study found that the sound produced by gas-powered leaf blowers can travel long distances in a community at “levels known to increase the risk of adverse health effects.”
Populations like workers, children, the elderly, the sick, those who work from home or work overnight shifts are considered most vulnerable to the impacts.
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Kathryn Brudzinski is a reporter based in Orlando and a University of Central Florida graduate with a degree in journalism, as well as a certificate in public and professional writing. Her work has appeared in Oviedo Community News, VoxPopuli and The Charge.
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by Beth Kassab | Feb 25, 2025 | City Commission, News
Judge rules lawsuit can proceed against Winter Park police officer who killed man at wedding
The federal judge noted in his order that Daniel Knight “posed little serious danger to two armed police because he was unarmed and drunk” when he was shot by an officer at the Winter Park Events Center in 2022
Feb. 25, 2025
By Gabrielle Russon
The Winter Park Police sergeant who shot and killed Daniel Knight at his niece’s wedding is not immune from a wrongful death lawsuit, a federal judge ruled recently.
U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton Jr. said Knight’s family had “sufficiently pled that the use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable under these circumstances” and denied a motion to dismiss Sgt. Kenton Talton from the lawsuit filed last year by Knight’s family.
“Here, Knight’s family begged the officers to slow down and pleaded that he was not hurting anyone, but Talton shot him less than two minutes after arriving on the scene,” Dalton wrote in his Jan. 28 order. “Yet the initial crime for which (Knight) was approached was relatively insignificant—at best, drunk and disorderly. He posed little serious danger to two armed police because he was unarmed and drunk. He was not a flight risk given that he was surrounded by family.”
It’s the latest court update after Knight was shot and killed in 2022 at the Winter Park Events Center.
The Orange County State Attorney cleared the police officers of any criminal wrongdoing in 2023.
Nearly one year ago, Mellisa Cruz, who is the mother of Knight’s two children, sued the City of Winter Park, Winter Park Police Chief Timothy Volkerson, Talton and Officer Craig Campbell in a federal lawsuit. (Daniel Knight and family pictured above.)
Dalton wrote police’s use of force must be “proportional to the need.”
“… Shooting an unarmed man seven times at point-blank range within just a few minutes of arriving on scene, without first trying to de-escalate, investigate, or use less-than-deadly force, is also ‘so far beyond the hazy border between excessive and acceptable force that the official had to know he was violating the Constitution even without case law on point,’” Dalton wrote.
Meanwhile, Dalton ordered Campbell, who had also been involved in the scuffle that night, to be removed as a party from the lawsuit and the claims dismissed without prejudice, which means Cruz could retry again in court.
“Campbell is a different story,” the judge wrote. “Campbell did not shoot Knight, nor is there any suggestion in the Complaint that Campbell intended for Talton to do so. … So on these facts, Talton is not entitled to sovereign immunity, but Campbell is.”
The officers, the judge wrote, did not identify themselves as police when they arrived at the wedding and asked Knight to put his hands behind his back. It was also dark so wedding guests could not see the officers’ uniforms, the judge also said.
Knight’s sister stood in front of her brother to defend him as the incident quickly escalated. Campbell grabbed her and that’s when Knight hit Cambell to defend his sister. Talton and Knight got into a ‘brief scuffle’ and then Talton fired, the judge wrote in summarizing what happened.
The judge acknowledged Knight struck Campbell but wrote “that must be placed in the context that the police did not announce themselves and he was defending his sister from an apparent stranger who grabbed her.”
The officers first attempted to deploy a taser on Knight, but missed, according to police reports.
Some of the claims in Cruz’s lawsuit accused police of violating Knight’s constitutional rights. Dalton dismissed the 14th Amendment, but ruled Cruz’s 4th Amendment claim can continue to be litigated. The lawsuit contended Knight had been deprived of his life, liberty, and due process of law as well as the constitutional right to be free from excessive force.
Cruz’s attorney said he was pleased with the judge’s ruling which allows all but one of Cruz’s claims to move forward even though he said he disagrees and believes Campbell played “a key role in escalating the encounter.”
“The Court’s ruling allows us to continue to fight in the pursuit of justice for the entire Knight family, as Daniel’s life was taken far too soon and without justification,” Paul Aloise Jr. said in a statement Tuesday.
Talton and Campbell’s attorney Joshua Walker filed a motion last year to dismiss the lawsuit, urging the courts to “keep in mind” police are required to make quick decisions under high-stress circumstances.
“Knight had reportedly engaged in violent, drunken altercations with wedding guests inside the venue before the officers arrived. He was drunk, irate, resisting anyone with authority, acting violently and throwing the wedding guests to the floor. Knight continued this aggression when the officers arrived, and when he was told to place his hands behind his back, he immediately punched Ofc. Campbell, then engaged in a ‘brief scuffle’ with Sgt. Talton. This created a pressing emergency that required Sgt. Talton to act fast in order to protect himself, his fellow officer, and the surrounding citizens,” Walker wrote in his motion to dismiss. “Sgt. Talton and Ofc. Campbell were undeniably placed in a tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving situation. This is precisely the circumstance in which officers are afforded deference in carrying out the most difficult aspects of their service.”
Walker did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday on the judge’s ruling.
In a response filed last week, Talton denied the lawsuit’s allegations and continued to blame Knight for the shooting.
Talton argued “Daniel Knight was more than 50% at fault for the incident” and was guilty of negligence causing his own death since Knight drank alcohol “to the point of intoxication,” behaved aggressively, ignored policers’ instructions and committed felonies against the police officers.
City spokeswoman Clarissa Howard declined to comment for this story because of the pending litigation.
Knight’s family had regularly spoken out at Winter Park City Commission meetings since their loved one’s death.
“The police just ignored us. They want to talk about all the commands they gave us. They don’t talk about how they escalated the situation by getting louder and louder and getting into an argument with a drunk person who wasn’t even committing a crime,” said Katrina Knight, who described her brother as a loving father who had a fiancé.
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Gabrielle Russon is a former Orlando Sentinel reporter who began freelance writing in 2021. She lives in Orlando with her family and writes about politics, education, theme parks and the courts.
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by Beth Kassab | Feb 18, 2025 | City Commission, News, Uncategorized
Up to $100k in city grants available for Winter Park nonprofits via proposed new process
Like many local governments, Winter Park has long supported local organizations, including $1 million to the Dr. Phillips Center. Now it’s looking to formalize how it selects which nonprofits receive money
Feb. 18, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Winter Park nonprofits will be able to compete for a slice of the $100,000 in public funds previously designated each year for the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts under a new process likely to be established this spring.
Commissioners agreed at a workshop last week to form a committee made of volunteer members from other city advisory boards to review and rank applications for $10,000 grants of the available funds.
The city paid $1 million to the arts center in Orlando over 10 years and made its final payment last year.
A new committee process, which is likely to come before the City Commission next month, is the result of months of discussion over how to set clear and fair parameters for disbursing the money to local nonprofits now that the $100,000 each year is available for other uses.
The city’s current policy calls for 0.25% of revenues from the General Fund, Water & Wastewater fund and Electric fund or about $420,000 each year to be dedicated to supporting local nonprofits. It’s not uncommon for cities and counties to use a portion of their budgets to help local service and arts and culture groups.
Under the plan, six nonprofits that have existed as a line item in the city budget for years would remain there and be “grandfathered in” rather than be part of the competitive process.
Those organizations and their current allocations are:
United Arts: $19,000
Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens: $27,000
Winter Park Day Nursery: $41,000
Mead Botanical Garden: $98,000
Winter Park History Museum: $93,000
Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts: $12,000
Two other groups are included in this year’s budget but will not be grandfathered in: Men of Integrity at $18,000 and the Winter Park Institute at $25,000.
Kathy Ramsberger, CEO of the Dr. Phillips Center in downtown Orlando, appeared at last week’s commission meeting to report on the venue’s work so far and ask for more dollars in the future. Winter Park contributed $1 million to the $625 million project, which now includes the Walt Disney Theater, Steinmetz Hall, the Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater and Judson’s Live (pictured above). She talked about plans to build an additional 750-seat theater and other spaces such as an outdoor amphitheater.
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio told Ramsberger at the end of the presentation that the commission could potentially discuss the arts center when the city’s annual budget talks begin this summer.
DeCiccio told the Voice that the arts center would be required to apply through the new process, if it’s approved, just as any other nonprofit would be asked to do.
At the workshop commissioners appeared supportive of requiring the groups seeking grants to be based in Winter Park.
Commissioner Craig Russell questioned why the focus appeared to be on arts and culture rather than social service organizations.
Peter Moore, director of the city’s management and budget department, said the reason is because the social services category is so large.
“That’s OK,” Russell said. “There is a significant need.”
Russell, a Winter Park High School teacher and coach who runs a nonprofit aimed at needy students and families, said he would never apply for the dollars because of his role on the commission, but noted the good the dollars could potentially do in that sector.
Moore said the grant program could be revised to more explicitly include education and social service missions.
The commission is set to consider a formal proposal on the new grant process in March.
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by Beth Kassab | Feb 14, 2025 | City Commission, Election, News, Uncategorized
Endorsed by the Winter Park chamber PAC, Justin Vermuth builds campaign chest
Incumbent Kris Cruzada said he is relying on mostly smaller donations from residents
Feb. 14, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Justin Vermuth, who is challenging Kris Cruzada for Seat 3 on the City Commission, is leading the fundraising contest so far, bolstered by at least $10,000 in contributions from companies related to the Holler family and the attorney for the prominent landowners and car dealers.
Vermuth, who was endorsed this week by the political action committee affiliated with the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, reported $24,515 in contributions through Feb. 4 while Cruzada, the incumbent, raised $16,400 ahead of the March 11 election.
The bulk of Vermuth’s money, or $20,000, came in $1,000 donations — the maximum allowed per donor per campaign cycle.
For example, a total of $10,000 comes from companies associated with the Holler family such as Holler Hyundai, Holler Honda, Classic Mazda, Audi North Orlando, Classic Honda and Driver’s Mart Sanford. They gave $1,000 each.
So did Frank Hamner, the longtime attorney for the Holler family. Hamner, who serves as spokesman for the family, did not return a phone call or email seeking comment.
Asked about his relationship with the Holler family and how he met them, Vermuth said via email that he’s proud “to have support from residents, small businesses, and community leaders across Winter Park.”
“We’re building a broad coalition of supporters, many of whom have chosen to donate to my campaign,” he said. “I’m also proud to have an outstanding campaign team for advertising and polling.”
He declined to share the results of his polling so far.
Bundled contributions from companies related to the Holler family will seem a familiar strategy to those who follow Winter Park politics. Last year the family’s companies contributed in a similar way to Craig Russell, who won Seat 2 over Jason Johnson, by 34 votes.
The Hollers, along with landowner Mary Demetree, sued the city of Winter Park alleging that a series of development rules known as the Orange Avenue Overlay, where the family owns property, were improperly overturned in 2020. The new rules still stand.
Last year the City Commission, including Cruzada, approved the Holler’s proposal for a portion of its property at Fairbanks Avenue and Denning Drive that involved providing a piece of land to the city to widen the road and make improvements at the busy intersection.
Another similarity to last year’s election cycle: Vermuth, like Russell, has the support of Winter PAC, the political action committee affiliated with the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce. The PAC has raised more than $85,000 since the start of last year’s campaigns and spent more than $40,000.
It’s most recent expenditure on Feb. 10 is listed as nearly $8,000 for mailers related to a candidate paid to MDW Communications, which shares the same Lake Worth address as a political consulting firm called Claughton Consulting. Vermuth’s campaign has paid more than $11,000 to Claughton Consulting for polling, palm cards, e-mail services and yard signs, according to financial reports.
“The Winter PAC board of directors voted to endorse Vermuth because they believe he will bring a needed perspective shift in leadership, and he has personal experience with issues families in our community are facing,” read a press release from the PAC released this week.
Cruzada said he was approached with a potential contribution from the chamber PAC before Vermuth entered the race in mid January, but declined because he said he felt more comfortable taking contributions from individuals.
A chamber spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a question from the Voice about whether Cruzada was offered the group’s support.
“I think I have a record that shows I have worked with the Winter Park chamber,” Cruzada said, noting that he helped the group lobby for arts dollars in Tallahassee and also supported changes to the city’s parking code pushed by the chamber to reduce the amount of parking spaces developers must build in certain instances. “I was more about individual donations versus, say, a PAC … My supporters who walked neighborhoods and campaigned for me, I didn’t want to leave them behind at all. They are very well informed voters and participants in Winter Park policy.”
Less than half of Cruzada’s $16,000 campaign fund — about $6,000 has come in the form of $1,000 checks. His top donors include two former mayors — Phil Anderson and David Strong and Sally Flynn, a local resident and an organizer and volunteer for his campaign. (Full disclosure: Strong and Flynn are key supporters of the nonprofit Voice, which is solely supported by community contributions. See our editorial policy here.)
Most of Cruzada’s contributions come in the form of smaller-dollar amounts from more than 45 individuals, mostly Winter Park residents.
Vermuth’s other contributors included $3,000 from Seth Heller and his financial services companies in South Florida. Jason Gamel, president of the American Resort Development Association, also gave $1,000.
Vermuth serves as a senior vice president and chief lobbyist for the association that represents timeshare companies across the nation.
Two lobbyists from the firm The Southern Group — Kelly Cohen and Kaley Slattery — gave a combined $300. The firm represents a list of influential clients from Walt Disney World to Tavistock Development Company, which is seeking to develop large tracts of land in east Orange County.
About 20 Winter Park residents contributed to Vermuth’s campaign, including former Commissioner Sarah Sprinkel and chamber officer Carroll Goggin, according to the reports.
Update: This story was updated to include comments from Vermuth.
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by Beth Kassab | Feb 7, 2025 | City Commission, News, Uncategorized
Kris Cruzada and Justin Vermuth spar over budget to win votes for Commission Seat 3
Both men look to distinguish themselves ahead of the March 11 election
Feb. 7, 2025
By Beth Kassab
In the first candidate forums ahead of the March 11 election, Commissioner Kris Cruzada attempted to fend off a challenge from first-time candidate Justin Vermuth, who said the city needs to rein in spending and asserted “there’s plenty of pork” in the city’s budget, though he was light on specifics.
Cruzada, who was first elected in 2022, defended his record on the commission. He cited his contemplative approach to development such as working with residents on the west side to achieve a more palatable design for a new rental complex to be built near Winter Park Village as well as the city’s low electric utility rates, investment in the arts, improved parks and Winter Park’s solid financial position.
“I disagree with Justin’s opinion about our finances … they’re good,” Cruzada said. “We have $21 million in reserves, we have a balanced budget and we will continue to do so … we are succeeding.”
In back-to-back debates at the Winter Park Library on Thursday evening and at the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce on Friday morning, Vermuth mentioned at least three times that he’s “read all 267 pages” of the city’s budget.
“There’s plenty of pork in there that we can cut without impacting city services without impacting residents whatsoever,” he said, though each time he brought it up, he stopped short of detailing what or how he would cut spending or explain what he considered to be “pork.”
After the library forum put on by high school students through the new Winter Park Youth Council, the Voice asked Vermuth for specific examples.
He said he does not agree with the current City Commission’s decision to pay $3.8 million to buy land to help the nonprofit Winter Park Playhouse and generally did not agree with the city using public funds to acquire property.
An $8 million grant from Orange County is actually covering the cost of the Playhouse purchase and renovation along with $2 million to be privately raised by the professional theater, which will operate the venue.
Cruzada highlighted investment in the arts as essential to the city’s identity, recalling how he watched his own daughter grow in confidence after participating in a music program at Rollins College.
“I think for every one dollar we spend on arts we get a 10-fold return,” he said, noting another county TDT grant will also help build a new Rollins museum.
Vermuth signaled a willingness to cut back on arts spending.
“From a fiscal standpoint, we need to look at the arts programs holistically and see which ones make sense,” he said. “We need to lift up the arts community, absolutely, but we also need to do what’s right. We have a fiscal responsibility and we need to evaluate each of those programs as a group and individually to see which ones make sense to support in our community.”
The city provided $2.3 million last year in direct support to groups like Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts, which is now leasing the old library, United Arts, the Winter Park Historical Association, the Polasek Museum and the library, which took the bulk of the funding.
Kris Cruzada
Vermuth also said he is against the $4 million purchase of the land and buildings rented by Michelin-starred Soseki and Austin’s Coffee to make way for road, park and stormwater improvements. The acre on the corner of Fairbanks Avenue and Denning Drive has long been part of the city’s strategic plan and the commission voted unanimously in the fall to move forward on the purchase.
The businesses that rent space on the property have been outspoken about their investments in the buildings and their desire to stay put. The city has said it will honor the current multi-year leases.
“This isn’t a ‘Make Winter Park Great Again’ campaign … everyone knows Winter Park is great,” Vermuth said. “This is a ‘We can do better campaign’ … we can do better with the budget, with the way we treat our residents, the way we engage our community and bring the city government to them.”
The city budget totals more than $214 million, with growth in revenue driven by climbing property values that are expected to level off in coming years. Police, fire and public works take up more than half of the $83 million general fund.
At both forums, Vermuth cited the 10-year pro-forma in the budget document as evidence that Winter Park is heading in the wrong direction and that its reserve fund will dwindle from just under 27% of expenditures today to about 5% by 2033.
But a city spokeswoman explained the pro forma is intended as an exercise in looking ahead at hypothetical variables and what could happen if the commission didn’t make adjustments each year.
“A pro-forma shows what would happen if no management intervention happens from year to year,” she said. “But management intervention happens every year. The City Manager gives the Commission a balanced budget every year. The City Commission weighs the wants and needs for city services and capital spending against the resources available and adopts a balanced budget, usually without drawing down on any reserves. Part of managing any business is to look ahead so there are less surprises and so you can head off bad outcomes early. That is what these pro-formas help us do. They are not like audits, that are looking at actual numbers, and they certainly are not prescriptive that this is what we are going to do. They are planning tools to help guide the future so we can address negative trends early.”
Justin Vermuth
After a series of devastating hurricanes in 2004, the city’s reserve fund hit about 6% and the commissioners at the time set a goal to bring the fund back up to 30%.
Since then, the reserve fund has grown, reaching the 30% mark in 2020. But the percentage slipped in recent years to 26.6% because of soaring expenses caused by inflation, according to the budget document. The actual dollar balance of the reserve fund today is higher than ever at $21 million.
“Only eight years ago, reserves stood at $8 million, a significant improvement given the pandemic occurrence just a couple years ago,” the document says.
In a recent public message to residents, Commissioner Marty Sullivan called for a property tax increase of .6 mills to generate an extra $5 million a year.
Both Cruzada and Vermuth said they opposed such a plan. The city hasn’t increased the rate at which property owners pay taxes since 2008.
The candidates also agreed on the referendum that will appear with their names on the March 11 ballot. Both said they would vote to repeal the city’s ban on gas-powered leaf blowers.
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by Beth Kassab | Feb 1, 2025 | City Commission, News, Uncategorized
In first 'State of the City,' Mayor Sheila DeCiccio highlights strong financials
The annual event drew a large crowd and also honored Winter Park’s employees of the year, including a school resource officer from Winter Park High
Feb. 1, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio underscored the city’s solid financial footing and pointed to a future of business growth and enhanced services such as flood prevention and the completion of the undergrounding project by the city’s electric utility in her first State of the City address on Friday.
DeCiccio, who made history last year when she was elected as the first woman to the office, spoke to a packed crowd at the Winter Park Events Center, including local officials such as U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost and state Rep. Anna Eskamani, who recently announced her bid for Orlando mayor.
She highlighted Winter Park’s strong financial position with growing residential and commercial tax bases and a robust reserve fund as part of the city’s $214.4 million annual budget.
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio and City Manager Randy Knight shake hands on stage Friday morning as commissioners Todd Weaver, Marty Sullivan and Craig Russell look on.
“We’ve kept our millage rate the same for 17 consecutive years and we have the strongest tax base in all of Orange County,” she said, pointing to AAA ratings by Fitch and Moody’s.
Fitch upgraded the city to AAA in August citing, “financial resilience given amble budgetary flexibility and Fitch’s expectation that the city will maintain reserves at or above 10% of spending.” The reserve fund sits at about 29% today, just below the city’s goal of 30%.
DeCiccio listed the recent expansion of the Community Redevelopment Agency, which allows Winter Park to keep more dollars that would otherwise be siphoned off to Orange County, as a way the city will shape development and increase tax revenue off Fairbanks Avenue near Interstate 4.
She also cited the undergrounding of electric wires, which sits at 80% completion and is slated to be finished by 2030 as a key factor in how Winter Park has kept the lights on during storms while other communities sat in the dark and lauded a year-long study that has helped prioritize flood-prevention projects.
DeCiccio gave credit to the city’s staff, which she said routinely pull off a number of events that make Winter Park a regional draw.
Last year’s holiday decor and events were just one example.
“It was said it was like being in a Hallmark movie,” she said.
Earlier in her address, DeCiccio nodded briefly to the less feel-good side of Winter Park. The town of about 30,000 people along a picturesque chain of lakes is also known for bitter political fights over everything from development to gas-powered leaf blowers. (A ban on the noisy machines will appear on the March ballot along with two candidates for Commission Seat 3.)
“Our shared commitment to unity and nonpartisan government has allowed us to rise above divisiveness,” she said.
Defense attorney Warren Lindsey, who was just elected to City Commission Seat 4 without opposition and will take office in March, was in attendance. Also in the audience was Justin Vermuth, the attorney and timeshare lobbyist who is challenging Commissioner Kris Cruzada for Seat 3.
Other highlights included:
Founders’ Award. DeCiccio recognized former Mayor David Strong with the 2025 Mayor’s Founders’ Award for his role in steering the city during the 2008 recession and helping protect Central Park from development from a proposal to build a hotel there. Strong, a third generation Winter Parker, whose dad was also mayor in the 1980s, entered the real estate business after graduating from Winter Park High and Vanderbilt University, where he received a football scholarship. DeCiccio also cited his work on Howell Branch Preserve, Casa Feliz and numerous philanthropic activities such as supporting local arts and museums. (Full disclosure: Strong is also a financial contributor to the Voice.)
Officer Christopher Belcore speaks to the crowd.
Employees of the year: Police Chief Tim Volkerson named Christopher Belcore, a school resource officer at Winter Park High School, as officer of the year. Belcore, he said, has served at the school for two years and received numerous accolades from parents about his ability to establish an authentic relationship with students while also leading key investigations. Belcore’s work was instrumental, Volkerson said, in the conviction of a student who Belcore learned had access to weapons and could have posed a threat to the school.
Winter Park Human Resources Director Pam Russell also recognized Jeanni Ruddy, who has helped grow the department’s wellness programs, with the 2025 honor. Winter Park Fire Chief Dan Hagedorn named Lt. Brandon Williams, who is also a paramedic, as fire employee of the year.
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