Orange mayoral candidates face off during Tiger Bay Club debate

Orange County’s three mayoral hopefuls were polite and agreed on most topics including the need to lift the region’s low wages and improve transportation Wednesday in their first public forum since candidate qualifying ended.

County Commissioner Pete Clarke, Winter Park businessman Rob Panepinto and Sheriff Jerry Demings also all supported a November referendum on a constitutional amendment that would increase the homestead exemption, saving homeowners money on their tax bills but potentially costing county government about $25 million.

However, Demings changed his position during a debate hosted by the Tiger Bay Club of Central Florida.

In a candidate questionnaire submitted to the Orlando Sentinel, he said he opposed Amendment One — which would give homeowners with homes valued at more than $100,000 an extra $25,000 homestead exemption — because the county needed “all resources available” to deal with complex issues including the lack of affordable housing and school safety.

After the debate, Demings explained that his view changed when he saw the county increase in property values. The tax roll this year increased 9.3 percent, up $11.2 billion from last year. Many local governments already are making plans for absorbing lost property-tax revenue, figuring the measure popular with voters.

“We can absorb it,” he said of the effect of Amendment One.

All tiptoed around a question asking them to differentiate their leadership styles from that of current Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs without criticizing the two-term mayor, now a candidate for Orange County School Board chair.

Clarke said he’d be accessible to the community and perhaps drop in on neighborhood meetings as he does now in his commission district. He credited Jacobs for laying “a good framework for us to build on.”

Panepinto, who described Jacobs as “extremely detailoriented, very thoughtful and will be