Where Triplett, Baker stand in mayor’s race
Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett, who is seeking his third term in Tuesday’s election, and challenger Pasha Baker present sharply different views of the state of the Seminole County city. Baker, who is making her first venture into politics, said Sanford leaders in recent years have spent too much money and effort into redeveloping the downtown district at the cost of neglecting many residential neighborhoods.
Triplett said that’s not true. He points out that Sanford has invested millions in beautification and infrastructure improvements in many neighborhoods, including within the historic black community of Goldsboro.
Triplett fell just short of winning a majority of the votes cast in the Aug. 28 city election to win re-election outright. Triplett, who received 49 percent, was forced into a runoff with Baker, who placed second with just over 23 percent. Trailing the field were Victoria Robinson and Nancy Groves, each with 14 percent.
Sanford’s mayor serves a four-year term and receives a yearly salary of $9,000, plus $7,200 for expenses.
Triplett, 49, is employed at JEL Site Development in Winter Park, in addition to serving as mayor.
Baker, 37, is a third-generation Sanford resident. She is the director and chief executive officer of the Goldsboro Community Historical Association Inc.
Calling Sanford “a tale of two cities,” Baker said city leaders have made great strides in attracting economic growth into the downtown area but have turned a blind eye to other residential neighborhoods, including those along U.S. Highway 17-92 and State Road 46.
“There is trash and weeds along the roads,” Baker said. “There are abandoned buildings; a lot of foreclosures on both sides of those roads. But that isn’t the case downtown. It really is a tale of two cities.”
Baker said she wants the city to promote local entrepreneurship, saying it’s vital to help local residents start businesses.
Incorporated in 1877 and one of the oldest cities in Central Florida, Sanford has a wealth of historic homes. Baker said she would use that history to lure visitors as part of an “historic tourism” effort. In another effort to draw visitors, Baker said she would work to promote Sanford’s arts community.
Triplett said Sanford, which has grown 10 percent since 2010 to 59,000 residents, in recent years gas invested millions of dollars in improvements to residential neighborhoods besides its downtown district.
He pointed to a recently completed $2.1-million streetscape project in the Goldsboro community that added wider sidewalks, street pavers, decorative lights, new benches and a small park along Historic Goldsboro Boulevard.
He also added about recent infrastructure repairs along U.S. Highway 17-92. Those, and other recent improvements, eventually will lead to new businesses moving in, Triplett said.
“It takes time after you’ve put in public money into renovations for the public sector to catch up,” he said.
Sanford also is moving forward with building the Eastside Community Center on eight vacant acres at the northeast corner of Mellonville and Celery avenues.
Similar to the city’s Westside Community Center on Persimmon Avenue in Goldsboro, the new community center would offer athletic fields and a 10,000-square-foot building for youth and adult programs, Triplett said.
“We need a place on the east side for our kids to go to after-school programs, to work on computers, to meet with mentors,” he said. “This has been my baby for a long time.”
Baker said that although Sanford’s downtown has thrived, the rest of the city has stagnated. And she wants to bring a new vision.
“The rest of Sanford has fallen by the wayside,” she said. “The gap between both areas as gotten wider and wider. We’ve taken 10 steps backwards.”
Triplett said that as mayor since 2012, he has helped transform Sanford into a thriving community today. And with his financial background, he has helped keep the city in good financial shape.
“I’ve been around the block,” he said. “I’ve got the experience, and that sets me apart.”