I am running for Winter Springs City Commissioner to be the VOICE of Winter Springs!
I want Transparency, Honesty & Integrity!
I will bring a wealth of knowledge, resources and communication skills to the City!
I have 3 children in 3 different Winter Springs Schools, my priorities are the Children First!
Currently, Winter Springs is the only 1 of the 7 cities in Seminole County who is refusing to sign theInterlocal Agreement with the Seminole County School Board.
Why won’t the City cooperate with Seminole County School Board?
“Concurrency is not a tool to encourage or discourage a new development”
The afternoon started with a little rain, but the residents still came out and enjoyed the food trucks and community. The Trotwood Park pavilion provided excellent cover. After spending a few hours with the residents, it was time to head over to Tuscawilla Country Club for Meet the Candidate night. It was a fantastic day. The opportunity to speak with residents of our community is the fuel that powers my campaign. The things I hear and learn during these events are the very things I will be fighting for when I am elected. Collaborative leadership is what our city needs right now.
“We need to be a good steward of the land and also our neighbors as far as the school board, and the county and the other municipalities around us, and right now I am not hearing favorable things about our city and they’re begging me to win,” District 2 candidate Victoria Colangelo said.
“Let’s not rip down 100-year-old trees and then plant a tree that’s, you know, a seedling,” she said.
In the spirit of bragging about our strong financials, Kevin Cannon and our City Manager have ignored the lessons of the past. In 2017 during IRMA millions was set aside to avoid this situation, but it was never executed. We have a multimillion dollar Lake Jesup Waste Water Plant that has never worked right and we recently learned will never work correctly. So we brag about the money we save but watch our city’s infrastructure completely fail across the board? Not the advocacy we need for our community.
Please watch the video below.
Voting on Development to Increase Traffic
Although Commissioner Cannon (elected 8 years ago in 2014) made campaign promises to stop development and reduce traffic, here is a partial list of projects which have been passed while he has been in office since 2014, all of which a) he has voted to advance at some point or b) have passed through a commission whose votes he controls. These developments have overburdened our roads and water systems as we all saw during Ian.
How do you plan to deal with development in Winter Springs? Once a land owner/developer has a permit from the water management district, what can or would you do to minimize the impacts from that development-on the environment, on our roadways, on the sprawl we’ve been experiencing?
Trees: The City has the rights to the Trees. Therefore, I would make sure that the Trees are incorporated into the development; and the natural landscape is priority – more green space; more OLD trees.
Drainage: Make sure the drainage engineers are done right (Chao Medical- currently has issues and it was just developed)
Planners: The City of Winter Springs currently does not have a Planner and outsources it to the East Regional Planning Council; I will have a qualified expert in-house working directly with the landowner/developer on future site plans. This includes access roads, emergency exits, etc…. The current Aldi Development entrance by Chipotle is not acceptable. The Rise so close to the street! Hickory Grove, only saved 3 trees out of 1,000.
Most importantly, I want to be helpful to the landowner/developer; not giving them a run around (like what is currently happening at City Hall). I want to make it an easy process to work with The City; but also understand the high standards of working with the City of Winter Springs. Currently to get a permit to have a shed takes several steps with several departments. The residents are fed up with the red tape bureaucracy and want an efficient process!
At the City Commission meeting held on Monday, July 11, 2022, our Mayor and City Commissioners approved the 2022-2023 Property Tax Rate. The millage rate for the City of Winter Springs, Florida for the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 is set at 2.4100 mills. The tax rate remained the same as the previous fiscal year.
However they also claimed they are saving us money, when actually since our property values have increased, the amount of taxes we will be paying will increase too. They city could have rolled back the mileage rate, something that is not done often, but they could have done that and really saved us money. If they had rolled back the rate, they really would have saved us money since the approved budget is 9.2% above the roll back rate.
The City of Winter Springs payroll has ballooned from $7M only a few short years ago, to $9M today. Our City Manager almost makes more money than our Governor. Our longest standing City Commissioner Cannon has kicked the can on our water systems, body cams and what else? It’s time for change in City Hall.
FACTS:
The City of Winter Springs has adopted a measure to increase its property tax levy from $6.8 million to $7.6 million for this upcoming year.
This represents a 10.5% increase of taxes over the prior year.
The tax increase was passed by the commission unanimously, with all commissioners voting in favor of increasing taxes.
This vote directly contradicts the tax-payer funded social media campaign in which the commission wrongfully claimed they are “Saving you money”, when taxes are in fact being increased. (See tax increase notice Winter Springs placed in the Orlando Sentinel which was required by the State)
The City of Winter Springs has allocated $197,000 tax payer dollars for an election year marketing spree, which has included misinformation sites touting a science center which doesn’t exist, and the video below which claims the tax burden on residents was decreased (i.e. “Saving you money”) when the public notice above states taxes were in fact increased (i.e. “Notice of Proposed Tax Increase”).
Didn’t Winter Springs Commissioner Kevin Cannon make campaign promises to STOP development in Winter Springs?
Although Commissioner Cannon (elected 8 years ago in 2014) made campaign promises to stop development, here is a partial list of projects which have been passed while he has been in office since 2014, all of which a) he has voted to advance at some point or b) have passed through a commission whose votes he controls, giving him political cover while allowing the projects to continue:
SOME PROJECTS SINCE 2014
Southern Oaks (54 units)
The Blake Apartments (279 units)
Vistawilla ALF (77,000 SFT)
Integra 360 (360 units)
The Enclave at Dunmar (8 units)
Redbug (Morningstar) Self-Storage
Northern Oaks (35 units)
Tuscawilla Crossings (379 units)
Hawthorne ILF (145 units)
The Gatherings (108 units)
Dream Finders (114 units)
The Studios at Tuscawilla
Hickory Grove (132 units)
Winter Springs Marketplace (Aldi’s, etc)
FIRE THE CANNON:
At times the City tries to placate public pressure, “voting down” certain procedural elements, while allowing projects to continue. The most recent example of this is when Winter Springs Commissioner Kevin Cannon made a BIG DEAL “disagreeing” with some aspects of the Hickory Grove townhomes Winter Springs consisting of 132 units about to be added near Town Center, but then voted in favor of the motion to remove up to 1,000 trees, including some specimen trees, in order to allow the demolition project to move forward.
Does this sound like a man who “tried” to stop certain things from happen or a man who is trying to shift the blame for their own broken promises?
First off, I am a Mom of three wonderful girls….I am also a local business owner, concerned resident and advocate for Winter Springs! I spent my entire career protecting natural lands. My father was a city commissioner, and I knew when the time was right I would serve my community. My time is now.
Why do you want to serve the City of Winter Springs and what do you want to accomplish as Commissioner?
I want to serve on the commission because the residents have asked me to get involved. They have asked me to run and represent them. I am running because it is a great honor to have residents, past commissioners and mayors from not only Winter Springs but from the county believe in me and want me to run against someone who has been in office for 8 years and wants another 4 years. I believe in term limits. It’s time for change. I hope to accomplish the following:
Help guide us through challenges of growth and population increases and bring Winter Springs back to the top 10 best places to live.
Listen and respect all citizens.
Bring new ideas and young family perspectives to commission.
Be a STRONG advocate for our water systems (drinking and wastewater).
Bring back respect with other local municipalities.
Promote responsible development by selling a vision of what can be instead of what can’t.
Stop kicking the can on important issues.
What will you do if elected to meet your goals and objectives for the City of Winter Springs?
Once I am elected I will be the biggest advocate for Winter Springs this city has ever seen. First thing I will do is improve government communications. Not just PR propaganda of how great we are, but communication that allows for resident input not only at meetings. Dive into the water systems upgrades and demand that we are compliant 100% with federal agencies. Listen to residents who have issues with their water. I have black stuff coming out of my faucets and that is after a $5k water system. Open up social media comments like the other cities in Seminole county. Push for video at commission meetings so residents can be more engaged. Get with the times. Bring back collaboration with our school board and interlocal partners. Why is Winter Springs looked down on when only 10 years ago we were the crown jewel? Represent all citizens with dignity and class and bring respect back to our local government.
Thank you for visiting my website to learn more about me. It is a great honor to be here and I am excited for the future of our great city. We are going to launch winter springs and show the world what we can be, not what we don’t want (Walmart). It’s about vision, not restraint. We are on the doorstep of one of the largest and fastest growing universities, we have 2 international airports on either side of us, and we have the space coast an hour away, we have a bright future if we play our cards right! Thank you for your support and vote in November.
Cade Resnick sat down with me to talk about the issues facing Winter Springs. Cade has served on the City Commission before and his experience and knowledge about how the city is incredible. I invite you to view our full conversation below, thank you for watching!
City of Winter Springs Commissioner | Nov 2010 – Nov 2018
Adjunct Professor of Psychology – Stetson University
Seminole County Public Schools | Professor of AP Psychology and Economics 2007 – 2020
Cade Resnick sat down with me to talk about the issues facing Winter Springs. Cade has served on the City Commission before and his experience and knowledge about how the city is incredible. I invite you to view our full conversation below, thank you for watching!
I am pro economics, but also pro-environment!!!! I thought this commission didn’t believe in over development but then the past 8 years, my opponent has stood by and approved special exemptions to approve more new development.
I believe in smart growth that is sustainable! These projects that have been built don’t have the necessary infrastructure currently, and all the new development is taking a toll on our resources.
We need a VISION – a plan, and not just let ANY development. There only a few key pieces of land left in this city; Now i understand private property rights, but there is a great way, a good way and a bad way to do things… And I strongly believe that each development recently has not been impressive; such as the buffer by the townhomes and the new Aldi/Crunch development.
Winter Springs is a good place to live! We have an ideal location close to everything, two international airports on either side of us, a world class university on our doorstep and some excellent local parks and schools. But we can do better!
Here is my vision for the future of Winter Springs:
NO MORE APARTMENTS AND STORAGE FACILITIES
NO ZONING CHANGES
FOCUS ON THE AESTHETIC APPEARANCE OF THE BUILDINGS
HIRE A QUALIFIED PLANNER FOR THE CITY
WORK CLOSELY WITH THE WINTER SPRINGS BUILDING/PLANNING DEPARTMENT – AND KEEP THE RESIDENTS INFORMED ON PLANS!
ENHANCE THE OVERALLL DESIRABILITY TO KEEP THIS A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE AND RAISE A FAMILY!
Join Seminole County to review the draft vision for the next 20 years of growth, change, and conservation.
Evaluate proposed goals and strategies that will comprise the vision plan for unincorporated Seminole County over the next twenty years.
The team will share planning approaches to protect wildlife, maintain rural places, grow walkable communities, encourage active lifestyles, and support sustainability.
