Endorsements: In Winter Garden, Mueller, Maciel and Sharman in commission races
Winter Garden and Winter Park are easily confused because of they have similar names.
They share other qualities: Both have reputations as competently run cities that retain their charm despite development pressure.
In Winter Garden, voters are electing three city commissioners on March 9. Here are our recommendations for candidates we think are best able to preserve Winter Garden’s best qualities.
District 2
Two political newcomers are running for the District 2 seat being vacated by long-serving Commissioner Bob Buchanan.
We think Ron Mueller is better prepared to take on the challenges of governing Winter Garden than his opponent, Iliana Ramos Jones.
Mueller, a U.S. Navy veteran, points out that he’s attended every Winter Garden City Commission meeting for the past four years.
As if that weren’t enough, Mueller says he also a regular presence at meetings of the Planning and Zoning and Code Enforcement boards. He also served on the city’s charter review committee. He also served as an alderman in Pacific, Missouri, a small city near St. Louis.
As anyone who regularly attends municipal meetings can attest, all those meetings require stamina, patience and dedication. You can’t attend that many meetings and not have learned a thing or two about how government works.
Ramos Jones, on the other hand, has less involvement and likely less familiarity with how government works. She’s familiar with the city after living there for 20 years and doing business through her exterior
finishing company. But after two decades in Winter Garden, her resume of involvement is surprisingly thin.
We think both candidates have their flaws: Ramos Jones for her lack of experience and Mueller for seeming too rigid, particularly when it comes to his opposition to approving apartment buildings in the city. We see affordable apartments as an important part of almost any city’s housing stock.
Still, on balance, we see Mueller as a hard worker who enjoys learning about the intricacies of government and how it works. That kind of curiosity leads to better decision making.
He’s the better candidate in Winter Garden’s District 2 race.
District 3
Winter Garden is the city many other cities would like to be.
It’s well managed, has a thriving downtown scene, is considered a desirable location to live and doesn’t make headlines for the wrong reasons.
That in itself argues for keeping Mark Maciel on the City Commission representing District 3, and it’s why we’re recommending voters return him to office.
Maciel has been a steady hand since joining the commission in 2017. He’s been part of the decision-making that’s retained the qualities people look for in a place to visit or live.
Maciel works as a real estate developer, which has drawn fire from his opponent, Bobby Olszewski, whom Maciel replaced on the commission.
Olszewski has been busy since leaving that office. He lost a bid for an Orange County Commission spot, then served briefly in the state House before losing that seat in the 2018 election. Now he’s back, seeking his old seat on the Winter Garden City Commission.
We don’t begrudge Olszewski’s political ambition, but Maciel wasn’t elected to keep the seat warm for Olszewski.
Olszewski has made Maciel’s real estate work a campaign issue, saying he’s trying to make a profit from the office.
We found no evidence that’s the case. Maciel has one project in the city that he had to recuse himself from voting on. He owned another piece of property downtown but sold that in 2016, before taking office on the commission.
We do have some discomfort when people who make their living from development are in a position to influence development. But their actions, not their profession, should determine whether that’s disqualifying.
Maciel’s actions have not disqualified him, though we would encourage him to continue exercising caution so his work doesn’t become entangled with his public service.
Until that becomes a genuine issue, Maciel should be judged by his service, and so far he’s served plenty well enough to earn another term.
District 4
A lot of people like what Winter Garden has become over the past 15 years: A destination.
The city flourished as it made the most of having the West Orange Trail cut right through the heart of downtown. It’s become a rural version of Winter Park thanks to smart planning.
That’s partly due to wise decision-making by people who have been leading the city for a while, people like District 4 Commissioner Colin Sharman.
Sharman, whose worked in heating and air conditioning in different capacities, entered public life as part of a group opposed to a big commercial development. Judging from his actions since first joining the commission in 2006, it appears Sharman has remained true to his belief that Winter Garden needs to grow responsibly.
Sharman’s opponent is Dawn Antonis, who is newer to Winter Garden. Antonis said she brings a fresh perspective to the job, along with plans to listen to constituents. We hear that from time to time from candidates, but find those themes are unpersuasive compared with a specific vision based on a deep understanding of the city, its issues and how it works.
We saw no reason why Sharman shouldn’t continue to help guide the city along its current path. We endorse him for reelection to the District 4 seat in Winter Garden.
(Winter Garden has single-member voting districts, so only those living in each district can vote in that race. Early voting is March 1-5. Election Day is March 9.) Election endorsements are the opinion of the Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, which consists of Opinion Editor Mike Lafferty, Jennifer A. Marcial Ocasio, Jay Reddick and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Sentinel Columnist Scott Maxwell participates in interviews and deliberations. Send emails to insight@orlandosentinel.com. Watch candidate interviews at OrlandoSentinel.com/interviews.