Seminole District 2 hopefuls tout rural growth, safety issues

Protecting Seminole County’s rural area, supporting public safety and running government more efficiently are the top issues among the two Republicans, Don Menzel and Jay Zembower, who face each other in the Aug. 28 GOP primary for the District 2 County Commission seat.

The winner will face Democrat Katrina Shadix and independent candidate Paul Cooper in the Nov. 6 general election.

Commissioners must live in a district — District 2 stretches from the center of the county to the eastern border along the St. Johns River — but are elected and serve countywide. They earn $80,282 annually and serve four-year terms.

Who they are

Don Menzel, 41, of Winter Springs co-owns Precision Tax & Accounting in Longwood with his wife. He is a former chairman of the Seminole County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Jay Zembower, 57, of Chuluota is the owner of Zembower’s Auto Center in Altamonte Springs. He also is a consultant in automotive investigative forensics for law enforcement, government agencies and law firms.

Where they stand

Menzel said he decided to run out of “frustration” after Seminole commissioners in 2014 approved holding a countywide referendum on whether to raise the sales tax by a penny to 7 cents to pay for capital improvements on infrastructure projects and new school buildings. “For the county to come forward and ask for more money when they hadn’t spent all the money from the previous penny sales tax from 20 years ago, I thought that was disingenuous,” he said.

Menzel said he strongly supports protecting Seminole’s rural area and wants to focus growth within the county’s urban areas. “The infrastructure is not there [in the rural areas],” he said. “I stand on managed growth….I would be willing to work with developers to build within cities where there is a true need for housing.”

Menzel said the county is investing in projects that are unnecessary — such as the recent Orlando North marketing campaign to lure tourism — to the detriment of public safety and other county programs.

“Our firefighters are underfunded,” he said. “The Sheriff’s Office is understaffed. County services are lacking.”

Zembower said he wants to ensure that Seminole continues to be “a great place to live” by supporting public safety agencies — including the Sheriff’s Office and fire departments — and working with the school district.

“The quality of life in Seminole has been exceptional, and I want to make sure that stays intact,” he said. “I want to make sure that our law enforcement have all the tools and training and technology to protect our community.”

He called himself an “advocate for business” and said he wants to spur job growth and remove “burdensome regulations” on local businesses. “We need to cut back on all the red tape that is redundant or not necessary,” Zembower said. “We should streamline [the permitting process] and make it more efficient to reduce costs on the taxpayer.”

Zembower also advocates for protecting the rural area and preventing urban sprawl. “All the infrastructure is in and around the city centers, and those are the places that are most equipped to handle growth,” he said. “It’s not cost effective for the citizens to develop in the rural areas.”

How they differ

Menzel said he signed a pledge to not raise taxes, not give out “corporate welfare” or incentives to businesses and to protect the rural area.

Menzel defended himself after a mailer Zembower’s campaign was behind highlighted his criminal record, which includes four arrests for driving under the influence and two arrests for battery on a law enforcement officer. He said he did some “idiotic things” in the past but that he wanted to focus on the issues.

Zembower said he’s operated a business and knows what it takes to make a payroll. He also said he has worked with law enforcement “to make our communities safer.”