by Beth Kassab | Mar 16, 2025 | City Commission, News, Taxes, Uncategorized
More commissioners signal interest in raising property taxes
At the board’s first budget work session of the year, city staff pitched a targeted increase to cover transportation or public safety costs
March 16, 2025
By Beth Kassab
With costs for police and fire, transportation and other city services continuing to rise amid stubborn inflation, commissioners discussed last week the idea of increasing how much residents pay in property taxes by a quarter mil.
The talks took place at the Commission’s first budget work session of the year where the elected officials heard an overview of anticipated revenue and costs for next year.
Warren Lindsey, who will be sworn in as a new commissioner in Todd Weaver’s seat later this month, attended alongside Weaver.
Commissioner Craig Russell voiced a willingness to consider a tax increase and pondered ways to get residents on board with the idea.
“It’s just a matter of telling the story,” Russell said. “We still have unfunded projects” and expressed concern about a decline in city services “where we won’t be a destination anymore, we’ll just be run-of-the-mill.”
Russell, who was backed by the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce and is up for re-election next year, said commissioners must talk about the needs with residents and “agree on whether we can market it so that the messaging is cohesive across the board with the public.”
Commissioner Marty Sullivan, who is also up for re-election next year and who proposed a property tax increase recently in a written message to residents, responded, “Craig, you stole my thunder.”
Sullivan said he didn’t mind if an increase is unpopular with voters. He said a .25 mil increase for many residents would be about $8 or so a month or “not much more than a cup of coffee at Barnie’s.”
“I’m OK with people hating me for it,” he said. “If 10 or 20 years from now they say they’re glad we did it.”
Commissioner Kris Cruzada, who was just re-elected last week and is often one of the more fiscally conservative voices on the board, said some older residents are “aging in place” and could be more concerned with increased costs.
He said he encountered a variety of viewpoints on the matter when he canvassed door-to-door ahead of the election.
“Some are more concerned,” he said. “I did get other residents who said, ‘I wouldn’t mind paying a little bit more,’ to make sure key performance indicators can be met,” such as police and fire response times.
“So it is a bit of a mixed bag with some of the residents,” Cruzada said.
City Manager Randy Knight said commissioners will be asked to set a tentative millage rate in July, the city’s typical practice. Then, in September when the budget must be approved, the board can lower the rate if there is negative feedback or if revenue estimates change.
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio recalled how the board attempted to push the rate higher in 2020 in response to the pandemic.
“And there was a public outcry and we brought it down,” she said.
Winter Park’s millage rate is 4.0923 and is the only local city that has not increased its tax rate “since the 2009 Great Recession,” according to last year’s budget document. The rate equals about $4.09 in taxes for every $1,000 of a property’s taxable value.
City Management and Budget Director Peter Moore told the group that potential new costs in the city’s more than $214 million budget could total as much as $5.6 million, but potential new revenues under the status quo could reach just $3.5 million.
The potential new costs include: $900,000 in general fund operating costs; $700,000 for public safety positions; $250,000 for equipment replacement, which he said could face increasing costs as a result of federal tariffs; $300,000 more in the general fund for building projects; $150,000 for IT software and $140,000 to update the parks master plan.
He said the property tax base for Winter Park is expected to remain strong, though growth could slow or at least level out.
He added that he expects harder-to-come-by federal and state grants and higher electric utility costs down the road.
“We’ve seen cities target specific things,” Moore told the group such as raising taxes specifically for transportation or police as some other local governments have done. “Allocating a quarter point to public safety would help.”
At the City Commission meeting earlier in the week the board voted to pause offering more money for local nonprofit grants until later in the year as they wait to get a better picture of the budget numbers and after DeCiccio raised that federal and state grants will likely dry up.
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by Beth Kassab | Mar 11, 2025 | City Commission, Election, News, Uncategorized
Kris Cruzada elected to second term and residents reject leaf blower ban
The incumbent fended off a challenge from a candidate who was endorsed by the Chamber of Commerce and far outraised him
March 11, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Commissioner Kris Cruzada won a second term on Tuesday night with 63% of the vote, defeating first-time candidate Justin Vermuth, who took 37%.
Cruzada, 51, was outspent by Vermuth, 43, by more than 4 to 1 in the race. Vermuth, who was endorsed by the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce and raised more than $86,000 compared to Cruzada’s $28,000, said he wanted to cut taxes and the city’s spending.
Cruzada, an attorney who was first elected to Seat 3 in March 2022, defended his record on the commission and warned that revenue and spending cuts could also mean a loss of quality in services such as parks, roads, utilities and more.
Neither Cruzada nor Vermuth, who is also an attorney and the lobbyist for the association that represents timeshares, immediately responded to requests for comment about the results.
Cruzada’s victory represents a win for a coalition of residents who consider themselves skeptical of new development that could alter the charm and character of the city known for its chain of lakes and the Spanish-Mediterranean architecture of Rollins College.
His supporters largely support the current version of the Orange Avenue Overlay development rules, which limit building height and density.
Cruzada’s donors included $2,000 bundled from Full Sail University Co-Chairman and CEO Edward Haddock and one of his companies; $2,000 from former Mayor Phil Anderson and Jennifer Anderson; $500 from former Commissioner Carolyn Cooper and $250 from David Odahowski, president and CEO of the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation.
Vermuth’s donors included $10,000 bundled by Golden Corral franchisee Eric Holm and his companies, $10,000 bundled by the Holler family’s companies, which own car dealerships and property impacted by the Orange Avenue Overlay; $2,000 from the tourism industry, $1,000 from Jacqueline Siegel, known as the “Queen of Versailles” and wife of timeshare magnate David Siegel and $500 from former Mayor Steve Leary’s political committee.
The chamber’s political action committee spent more than $30,000 for several mailers and other efforts on his behalf. Last year the chamber used a similar strategy to help elect Craig Russell, a football coach and teacher at Winter Park High, who won by 34 votes.
Justin Vermuth
Meanwhile, residents rejected a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers that the commission put into place in early 2022, but never enforced.
Voters said no to the controversial ban, which drew the ire of landscaping companies and state Sen. Jason Brodeur, with 55% of the vote.
The vote means a repeal of the ordinance that was set to take effect this summer.
A total of 4,638 ballots were cast in the Winter Park election, putting turnout at nearly 21%, the highest of the five cities in Orange County that held elections on Tuesday. Winter Park has 22,533 registered voters, including 7,858 Democrats, 8,449 Republicans, 5,590 without a party affiliation and 636 registered with other parties.
The turnout was lower than last year’s in Winter Park, which topped 30% and was boosted by Florida’s Republican presidential preference primary on the same ballot. This year surpassed turnout of 19% in 2022, when Cruzada was first elected.
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by Beth Kassab | Mar 5, 2025 | Uncategorized
Who is funding the candidates? More than $100k flows into Seat 3 race
Justin Vermuth’s campaign is powered by business interests while Kris Cruzada taps those who have advocated for a more reserved approach to development
March 5, 2025
By Beth Kassab
The latest donors to Justin Vermuth’s City Commission campaign include $10,000 bundled by Golden Corral franchisee Eric Holm and his companies, $2,000 from the tourism industry, $1,000 from Jacqueline Siegel, known as the “Queen of Versailles” and wife of timeshare magnate David Siegel and $500 from former Mayor Steve Leary’s political committee.
Vermuth raised $86,290, according to the most recent report filed, and spent $58,933 mostly on direct mail pieces, digital ads and political consultants. Vermuth, an attorney who works as the chief lobbyist for the national association that represents timeshare builders, did not respond to questions seeking comment.
Meanwhile Cruzada, also an attorney, reported a far smaller haul at $27,891 and spent just under $13,000 with the bulk going to mail pieces.
Justin Vermuth
Cruzada’s donors include $2,000 bundled from Full Sail University Co-Chairman and CEO Edward Haddock and one of his companies; $2,000 from former Mayor Phil Anderson and Jennifer Anderson; $500 from former Commissioner Carolyn Cooper and $250 from David Odahowski, president and CEO of the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation.
The donors to Cruzada’s campaign are largely, but not entirely, coalesced around the idea of a more reserved approach to future development in the city.
How redevelopment looks — in terms of building height, density and architectural style — along Orange Avenue, Fairbanks Avenue and other commercial districts will continue as key policy discussions over the coming years.
Each commissioner serves a three-year term as one of five votes who will help shape policy not only on development, but also on the city’s lake water quality, roads and Sunrail, the electric utility, historic preservation and how much residents and property owners pay in taxes and fees.
The election could represent a significant shift on the Commission. Last year Commissioner Craig Russell was narrowly elected with the financial backing of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce and its members.
This year Warren Lindsey, a local defense attorney and member of the chamber, was elected without opposition, an apparent testament to his ability to appeal to both enough chamber members and business interests as well as those who consider themselves watchdogs over Winter Park’s charm and future development.
Kris Cruzada
The chamber, however, is funding Vermuth against Cruzada with some of the same donors who helped Russell into office.
For example, $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. The family sued the city over changes to the Orange Avenue Overlay, a set of development rules that governs new construction in the key commercial corridor.
Cruzada said he favors the changes that the Hollers opposed because the new rules limit buildings to five stories and call for more green space.
Holm, who bundled $10,000 for Vermuth in the most recent campaign finance report, is a well-known Republican fundraiser and philanthropist in addition to his restaurants such as Golden Corral. In September, he hosted a fundraiser at his Lake Virginia home featuring now Vice President J.D. Vance that started at $5,000 per couple. Holm did not return a call seeking comment.
Cruzada, who is also a Republican, says he is hoping to show that the biggest campaign account doesn’t always win the most votes.
Warren Lindsey
“For many residents and business owners in our city, they want their public officials to listen to them,” Cruzada said. “And they may not have as much money, but they vote.”
In the fall, for example, former Winter Park Mayor Steve Leary far outraised Kelly Semrad by 4 to 1 in a race to represent District 5, which includes the city, on the Orange County Commission. But Semrad, a UCF professor who also advocated for spending more tourist tax dollars on local resident needs such as transportation, won by a 14-point margin.
Leary’s political committee during that race, which largely centered on potential annexations and development in rural east Orange County, gave $500 to Vermuth.
Leary was also heavily backed by development and tourism interests, who have lobbied to keep control over Tourist Development Tax dollars for the industry. The Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association has two political committees and each gave Vermuth $1,000, according to the most recent report.
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by Beth Kassab | Mar 4, 2025 | Election, News, Uncategorized
Kris Cruzada v. Justin Vermuth: The candidates answer questions
Both men say they want to run an efficient city government but have different ideas about spending and whether cutting property taxes is the right call
March 4, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Next week, Winter Park will choose between Kris Cruzada, an attorney and the incumbent in Seat 3 on the City Commission, and Justin Vermuth, a first-time candidate who is also an attorney and lobbyist for the timeshare industry.
Cruzada, 51, is married with two children and grew up in the area and has owned his home off the Winter Park Pines golf course since 2007.
Vermuth, 43, is also married with two children and purchased a lakefront home off South Lakemont Avenue in 2015.
Justin Vermuth
Vermuth, was endorsed by the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, and has accumulated a large campaign chest funded largely by real estate and business interests.
Cruzada, who was first elected in 2022, says he declined the Chamber’s financial support before Vermuth entered the race and is running a less funded campaign focused on door-to-door outreach.
Here are the candidates’ responses to emailed questions from the Voice. Some responses are edited for length and clarity.
Question: Can you tell me a little bit about your philosophy on parking? Does Winter Park have too much? Too little? What should be done in regards to parking policy?
Kris Cruzada: The city is balancing current needs with space efficiency. The city reduced parking minimums because of the over abundance of parking in some of the commercial office properties. At certain times, mainly lunchtime, there is a demand for parking along Park Avenue. A lot of patrons want to park within 1/8 mile to 1/4 mile from their destination. From a recent city study, data showed that there was sufficient parking within a 1.5 mile radius of Park Avenue and Morse Boulevard. From personal experience, I find myself parking at Capen or Whipple and walking in to Park Ave. In the future, I anticipate declining car ownership, the city has to balance future needs with current needs and multi-modal transportation options.
Kris Cruzada
Justin Vermuth: When it comes to parking, we need to take into consideration the needs of our small business owners in addition to the needs of residents. I believe we can balance protecting what makes Winter Park so unique with smart, well-planned parking options while prioritizing walkability. The Winter Park Chamber brought in Henry Grabar last year who offered up innovative ideas on how to address our parking dilemma.
Q: Do you support SunRail? What should the role of cities like Winter Park be in funding SunRail and wider transit options?
Cruzada: Yes. Currently, the city provides funding support [for SunRail] of $350,000, plus CPI [Consumer Price Index], per year. I would currently not want to fund more from the city due to our needs with our own Transportation Master Plan.
Vermuth: I do support SunRail! Between making it easier to travel to downtown Orlando and bringing in visitors who want to enjoy our restaurants and small businesses, I think SunRail has been a net benefit. I think that maintaining the Sunrail station in Winter Park is something that we can definitely do without raising taxes or increasing spending.
Q: Do you support the half-cent sales tax proposal (that’s been discussed by Orange County) for transit?
Cruzada: I would, if Sunrail and Lynx could coordinate a budget that would prioritize weekend ridership and extended hours that would relieve parking on the weekends in Winter Park (especially when the City has events) and assist the service industry employees in Central Florida.
Vermuth: This issue will once again be for the voters to decide. I would like a clearer plan for how the money would benefit Winter Park residents. Before adding something like this to the ballot, we should do everything we can to meet our needs by reviewing our existing budget, cutting spending, and being more efficient.
Q for Justin Vermuth: Your campaign materials say you want to “lower taxes” and “limit unnecessary government spending.” Which taxes, specifically, do you want to lower and by how much? When it comes to spending, what would you cut and how?
A: Right now, our City Commission is declaring victory because the millage rate hasn’t increased. We need to cut the millage rate and stop spending money on unnecessary items, like additional code enforcement officers.
Q for Kris Cruzada: Your opponent says he wants to “lower taxes” and “limit unnecessary government spending.” Is cutting taxes in Winter Park (lowering the millage rate) possible without cutting services and, if so, and how? When it comes to spending, would you make cuts?
Cruzada: With inflation running high, and no signs of letting up in the near future, it would not be prudent to cut our millage rate. Keep in mind, for every rise or drop in our millage rate by a quarter point, .0025, we would gain/lose approximately $2.25 million in property tax revenue. When it comes to spending cuts, I’d look at two areas to help make us more efficient. Analyze the overtime hours and explore cross-training within some of our departments. In analyzing cost cutting, I’d be pay close attention to how it would affect our key performance indicators. I do not want to jeopardize our level of service that our residents have come to expect.
Q for Vermuth: What are examples of the “government overreach that attacks our small businesses and homeowners” you mention in your campaign materials? Which policies would you change in this regard?
Vermuth: One big example was the ban on gas powered leaf blowers, which caused additional costs for businesses and homeowners. I oppose the ban my opponent put in place and will be voting yes to overturn it! Another is the hiring of additional code enforcement officers–while failing to hire school resource officers! My goal is to protect what makes Winter Park special. We can’t let our government or a few empowered elites become an overly prescriptive Homeowners’ Association, telling small businesses and homeowners what they can and can’t do.
Context provided by the Voice: Cruzada was not yet elected when the ban was adopted as part of an amendment to the city’s noise ordinance in early 2022. Winter Park did not threaten to take school resource officers out of schools. In fact, the resource officers continued to work on campuses throughout the city even without a signed contract with Orange County Public Schools. City Manager Randy Knight has said the issue is not whether the city will pay, but how much. The cost is being negotiated because several cities, including Winter Park, argue the school district should use more of the state dollars designated for safety toward school resource officer costs.
Q for Kris Cruzada: How do you respond to your opponent’s claims that the current commission is engaging in “government overreach that attacks our small businesses and homeowners?”
Cruzada: The City is always trying to find ways to improve our quality of life. The leaf blower ordinance originally came about prior to my term on the dais. It came about because of the many residents working from home, during COVID on Zoom or Microsoft Teams calls, that complained about the noise from leaf blowers. The ordinance had a provision to delay enforcement for local landscapers/lawn maintenance companies to adapt. However, as we came closer to the time to begin enforcement, many of the lawn maintenance crews complained that it was difficult for them to charge electric blower batteries in the field or in shops because of the sheer number they had to have to fulfill their workload. As a result, the Commission voted to have it go to a referendum. We have listened to the residents and the small businesses within the community and brought it to a referendum for residents to decide.
Q: What is the role of arts in the community?
Vermuth: Winter Parks’ arts and culture are a huge part of what makes our community so special. I will oppose cuts to arts and culture while using my platform and relationships to seek state and federal funding sources to reduce the burden on taxpayers.
Cruzada: The arts allows for people to see and hear expressive ideas, which often bridge gaps between people and diverse groups. Arts within a community allows people to connect and grow with one another by reflecting on shared experiences, emotions and values.
Q: Would you support new expenditures to the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center?
Vermuth: Yes, provided they don’t lead to a tax increase.
Cruzada: Not at this time. I’d like to focus on more of our local nonprofit art institutions within the city.
Context provided by the Voice: A previous City Commission voted to spend $1 million on the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando ($100,000 per year for 10 years) and that payment period has now ended.
Q: Any other specific elements of your platform that you want to share with readers? What other messages about your candidacy do you want to get across that help differentiate you from your opponent?
Vermuth: I have three kids who attend school at Brookshire Elementary. That’s why one of my top priorities is to ensure that the safety of our students, teachers, and everyone who works at Winter Park’s public schools comes first. In addition, I think that my campaign can appeal to families who have a story like me and Lindsay’s — people who have worked hard and saved up in order to buy a house here. I recently learned that 4 out of 10 Winter Park students qualify for free and reduced lunch. It’s clear that while Winter Park is a wonderful place to live and work, there is more that we can do to make sure that every family feels safe, supported and secure.
Cruzada: My platform reflects a balanced approach to managing a full-service city. Winter Park residents and businesses expect a high level of service, along with a great quality of life. My goals are to stay focused on maintaining our quality of life. I have taken the initiative to go out to meet the residents by canvassing. As I have campaigned, I have met so many residents on their doorstep. Sometimes, residents talk about their history of living in Winter Park and how they first came to Winter Park. Winter Parkers are passionate about their city and are always seeking ways to improve it. Whether they live in Brookshire Heights, Kenilworth Shores, Waterbridge, Orwin Manor, Lake Bell, Park Grove, Lake Forest Park, Windsong, Arbor Park, College Quarter, Virginia Heights, Killarney Estates, The Shores of Lake Killarney, (so many neighborhoods that are too many to list), I have learned so much from the residents and their neighborhoods and know that they care about the city.
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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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