Editorial board offers endorsements for Orlando mayor, commissioner
Orlando’s voters will begin choosing a mayor and a new city commissioner for District 6 next week. Early voting begins on Monday and Election Day is Nov. 5. Here are the Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board’s recommendations in those races.
Mayor
If you’re planning to challenge a longtime incumbent, it’s a good idea to arm yourself with either a long list of failures by the person in office or a detailed plan for how you would do the job better. Ideally, you should possess both. The two people challenging Buddy Dyer for mayor of Orlando have little of either.
Sam Ings and Aretha Simons strike us as well-intentioned candidates but neither presents a compelling case for unseating Dyer, who has been Orlando’s mayor since 2003.
That’s part of the reason why we’re recommending that voters return Dyer to office for another four-year term. Another reason is that Dyer has continued to do a solid job of running a city that’s on the move.
Dyer’s had a hand in some of the most consequential moments in the city’s recent past: SunRail, a new arena, a new performing arts center and the Creative Village. He’s taken leadership roles in the effort to help the city’s homeless population and make Orlando a greener place.
Just as important, Dyer was a compassionate and steadying force during Orlando’s worst moment: The 2016 massacre of 49 people at the Pulse nightclub. We wrote at the time that Dyer “displayed a presence of mind — a touch of grit and grace...” He deserves gratitude for helping guide the city through such a dark time.
For all of Dyer’s successes, we’re not enthralled with the region’s continuing presence on a trio of lists that label Central Florida as the nation’s most dangerous for pedestrians, worst in affordable housing for the poorest and lowest in wages.
We understand these are regional failures, but Orlando’s by far the area’s largest city and is best positioned to take a leadership role in doing more about these problems.
We’re not campaign consultants here, but Ings and Simons could have made a mark in this race by developing detailed plans to make streets safer for pedestrians, housing more affordable for the poor and wages more livable.
Both, however, largely rely on naming the problems rather than outlining workable or innovative solutions to them.
Ings has been on Orlando’s City Council since 2006. He’s had plenty of time to come up with specifics. But his platform remains largely aspirational. Simons launched her campaign nearly two years ago, so she, too, could have developed specific plans for the problems she’s identified.
We don’t question the challengers’ motives or backgrounds. Ings has served the city honorably as a commissioner and, before that, on the police force. Simons served her country in the U.S. Navy.
But running for office requires that a candidate make a strong case for not only
what they want to do but how they’ll do it. Ings and Simons have not.
In this race, the incumbent remains the best candidate, which is why we’re recommending Buddy Dyer for re-election.
City Council, District 6
Sam Ings’ run for mayor created an opening for the District 6 seat he holds. Three candidates are seeking to fill it: Bakari Burns, Lawanna Gelzer and Gary Siplin.
All three candidates have close ties to their community but we’re recommending Burns. He’s president and CEO of the nonprofit Orange Blossom Family Health, which provides medical, dental and pharmacy services to underserved areas. That includes portions of District 6, which contains everything from long-established neighborhoods to Universal’s theme parks.
Burns’ occupation gives him a close-up view of the area’s needs, it’s trained him on how to run a large organization and it’s taught him how to solve problems. His ideas for doing something about more affordable housing and better transportation options are well stated, though not very refined.
Burns seems competent and coolheaded, the kind of person who can get things done. That said, we hope he’ll be a strong voice of dissent — when necessary — on a council that sometimes seems to go along to get along.
That’s one of the characteristics we liked about Gelzer. She’s a firebrand who spends hours and hours at city meetings, which gives her a strong grounding in city policy. Our chief concern is whether that would translate into an effective and persuasive voice on the council. We’re not convinced.
Siplin is clearly the most experienced politician in the race, holding the distinction of being the first African-American elected to the Florida Senate.
But political experience isn’t always a plus.
Siplin’s time in office was too often overshadowed by controversy and drama, most of it his own making. Siplin wasn’t always wrong on policy matters, but let’s not forget he once filed a bill that would have done away with a state law prohibiting lobbyists from showering lawmakers with gifts. There’s so much more, but no need to dwell on his past.
Bakari Burns is a serious person and a solid candidate. We recommend him for the District 6 seat.
Editorials are the opinion of the Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board and are written by one of its members or a designee. The Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Mike Lafferty, Shannon Green, Jay Reddick, David Whitley and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson.