Three options for District 6 City Council seat.
Siplin, Burns, Gelzer seeking seat on council
When voters in southwest Orlando go to the polls starting Monday, they won’t see an incumbent on the ballot in the District 6 City Council race for the first time in more than a decade.
The decision by Commissioner Sam Ings, who has held the seat since 2006, to run for mayor opened up a three-way race. The district covers neighborhoods including Holden
Heights, Washington Shores and MetroWest, as well as areas around the Mall at Millenia, International Drive and Universal Orlando Resort.
The candidates are Gary Siplin, the former state senator whose spent more than a decade in the Legislature, Bakari Burns, the CEO of Orange Blossom Family Health and Lawanna Gelzer, an outspoken community activist.
Early voting begins Monday and Election Day is Nov. 5. If none of the candidates receives
more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election will take place Dec. 3 between the top two vote-getters. City commissioners serve four-year terms are paid $63,374.77.
Siplin is the race’s bestfunded candidate, taking in $136,725, according to city records. The most recent campaign finance records show he’s spent $101,812 thus far. An attorney, Siplin was elected to the Florida House in 2000, and then spent a decade in the state Senate.
Burns, a first-time candidate, is the CEO of the Healthcare Center for the Homeless, which operates as Orange Blossom Family Health. It provides health-care services to the uninsured and underinsured, serving about 20,000 patients annually on a $14.5 million budget, Burns has said.
His campaign has received $41,392 in contributions and has spent $20,591 so far.
Gelzer is the Central Florida president of the National Action Network and owner of a daycare in Parramore. She’s often at public meetings and is known as an outspoken critic of city spending and decision making.
She’s mostly self-funding her campaign — about half of her money, $10,980, has come from loans — while also taking donations from family and friends. She’s raised $23,080 and spent $6,186.87.
The candidates agreed infrastructure upgrades and regular maintenance were needed, including sidewalk repairs and stormwater drain upgrades.
Siplin said he’d set up a neighborhood tour with high-ranking city officials and his own staff, to ensure needs are met and also would set up “mobile” office hours throughout the district to make sure he’s accessible to constituents.
To address affordable
If you go
Early voting will take place Monday-Nov. 3. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Supervisor of Elections Office, 119 W. Kaley St.
housing, Siplin said he support continuing to require developers include affordable and workforce housing in multifamily development. Amid gentrification fears, he said he supports revitalization in Parramore and surrounding districts, but wants to maintain the character of the neighborhoods.
Burns said the city should partner with other governmental entities to look at dozens of bankowned properties in the district to encourage repairs and renovations to put them back into the market.
While the district debated use of community land trusts earlier this year, Burns said the tool can be effective to stabilize housing prices.
He also proposed the city consider a program to give a break to seniors and low-income residents on utility bills to make living there more affordable, and for regular maintenance of the district’s infrastructure.
Gelzer said maintenance of pipes, drains and other infrastructure pieces are a necessity before more problems arise.
On police relations, the three candidates each called for improved relations with the community. Siplin and Gelzer said the board should have subpoena power — however the new three-year collective bargaining agreement the city inked with its police union mandates the board can’t impose or modify discipline.
Burns suggested incentives for officers to live in the communities they’re assigned.