Who will be Ocoee's next mayor?

Editor’s note: Following longtime Ocoee Mayor S. Scott Vandergrift’s retirement in July, three candidates have entered the special election, which will occur Oct. 27. Those candidates are District 3 Ocoee City Commissioner Rusty Johnson, pastor and business owner Ronney Oliveira and longtime resident and business owner Jim Sills. All candidates were asked the same questions. Here are their unedited responses.

AGE: 69

FAMILY: Married to Marilyn for 41 years; five children, Tim, Michelle, Mark, Lisa and Lesley; 11 grandchildren

PROFESSION: Retired from U.S. Postal Service; Manheim; currently at Gosselin Realty. Sergeant in the U.S. Army and a Vietnam veteran

OCOEE RESIDENT: Since 1955

BIRTHPLACE: Savannah, Georgia

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Ocoee city commissioner; charter member and president of the Ocoee Jaycees; Ocoee Little League executive board; executive board member of the Ocoee Bulldogs Pop Warner Program; president of the Ocoee Junior High Athletic Program; president of the West Orange High School Diamond Club; vice chairman of the  National League of Cities Small Cities Council.

What do you believe makes you the best candidate for Ocoee mayor?

I am the best candidate for mayor because I am in touch with the citizens.  I try and spend a lot of time with citizens and in understanding what people would like to see and I feel I have the ability to lead the way to see it accomplished.  For years we have had opportunities as a city commission to position the City of Ocoee to grow in a smart way and there are several items that mayoral leadership always seemed to fall short on in the past when it came to keeping pace with growth.  I have long fought to represent the people of the City and feel that I have an understanding of how we can facilitate growth and over time lower taxes.

In this time of significant growth for Ocoee and the region, how would you balance development with the many effects it produces?

More development brings with it more people and more traffic, in addition to impacting the services that the City is able to provide.  The key to maintaining a balance between development and its effects is sound budgeting and leveraging public and private dollars to continue our same excellent level of service in parks, utilities, public works, and other basic services the City provides.  We have a comprehensive plan that manages growth and a capital improvements element that identifies the infrastructure necessary to accommodate that growth.  There are a number of things that we can do so that neither the City nor the developers bear more than their fair share of the costs.

I will tell you that we as a City have been slow to put in necessary infrastructure in various places and this is a main catalyst of quality development.  One of the reasons that I am running for mayor is that I would like to see the City commit to infrastructure (roads, utilities) necessary for smart growth.  In years past, the City has had opportunities to put in infrastructure and those things never seemed to gain enough traction with past mayors to warrant spending the money.  Infrastructure only gets more expensive.  We should have built certain roads and put in certain utilities 20 years ago.  Had that happened, we would have a much lower millage rate now than we have, because we would have more of a balanced tax base between non-residential and residential development.  We still can make some great things happen, and I hope to help as mayor.

Physical improvements to any city require investment. With the city budget standing as it does, what financial means would you pursue to improve the city and how would the millage rate be affected?

There are several things we can do.  In the previous question I alluded to key infrastructure and that will cost significant dollars.  We need to be smart and co-locate utilities at the same time roads are being constructed.  This will apportion costs in a way that lowers strain on funds affected by tax dollars.  We also need to become more aggressive in seeking state funding with certain projects, something we have not put enough emphasis on that will help our dollar go further.  And, when prudent, we need to borrow money for necessary infrastructure.

We have a master plan for our Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) on State Road 50 and we now have a master plan for the 429 interchanges.  We know based on market analysis that there are opportunities for major growth that could help burden the tax strain of citizens. We need to focus on the return on those investments.  The millage could be slightly affected early, but once the developments start increasing the non-residential tax base it will allow us to lower the millage far more significantly down the road than if we simply do nothing and maintain status quo.  I feel like most citizens would be fine with paying a slightly higher tax bill if they thought the City would actually lower it significantly when presented with the opportunity.  If you look at the success in Winter Garden over the past 25 years, you will see a pattern of higher millage, borrowing, construction, and then lowering of the millage after all of the quality development came in.  The same formula will work in Ocoee.

What do you see as the future for downtown Ocoee, and what do you intend to do to help make that happen?

I have long been a proponent of revitalizing the area of our historic downtown, which sadly looks like a weathered version of itself from the 1920s.  I have already pushed for the necessary studies for beginning this revitalization in years past, and we now have several key things positioned for a major downtown redevelopment effort to occur.  I feel like we also have a commission that understands the return on investment in doing so, and expect that we can finish what we started for a change.  We have to listen to our citizens, and they want a downtown to congregate, recreate, dine, and be entertained without having to drive somewhere out of town.  I have been a part of pushing to get the 429 study done, which will help bring in higher wage jobs that will support the residential and retail growth needed.  I pushed for and our commission voted to finish the drill and take the downtown ideas from the 429 study and begin designing our revitalized downtown.  I voted to set aside funds to build the infrastructure needed to make this happen.  I voted to continue our excellent economic partnership with the City of Winter Garden to help make this a reality someday.

We are in great position to move the downtown project forward.  Winter Garden is poised to continue growing their downtown east towards us, and we are getting ready to start with a downtown that begins at the Lake Front and moves west towards Winter Garden (and State Road 429).  The difference this time around is that we are committed to doing what it takes, and I feel that we are in position to keep this moving, but I think it will take consistency and commitment to carry it out fully, and that is one of the reasons I am running.

Within plans for the future comes a consideration for history. What is important to recognize about Ocoee's history and to preserve for future generations?

My family has been in Ocoee for a long time, and its funny sometimes when I share with people that I remember when certain roads used to be dirt roads, and there were orange groves in place of certain built properties.  While I am all for the growth that we need to be able to achieve a balanced economy, I will tell you that the context and character under which it occurs is very important.  We have a rich agricultural heritage and I feel like we can preserve some of that through strategic economic development and grow at the same time.  We share a similar heritage in the citrus industry as Winter Garden and our agricultural heritage can be a part of outstanding growth if we are committed to it, just like our neighbors.

With data showing economic growth for Ocoee, how will you ensure financial benefits reach all of the city and its people?

We have an economic development partnership with Winter Garden and Apopka.  In our economic service region, there are over 200,000 people, and there is tremendous capacity to add high wage jobs to our region, based on the national expert hired to study this.  What happens to everyone else when all of this growth occurs? Well, over time as we are able to build more non-residential tax base, it allows us to lower millage rates and begin to really focus on revitalization of all areas.  In the near term, however, we have to plan for growth in ways that enhances the experiences of all families here, including improvements to our Parks system, adding a trail system, continuing to improve utilities and their costs.  However, if we are able to move forward with what we have started, property values of everyone will begin to increase, a benefit that would occur citywide.

What makes Ocoee a place people want to be as residents, local visitors or tourists from around the world?

Ocoee is one of the few places left that is over 40,000 in population where people are still very friendly and where you still see a lot of families doing things together.  In Ocoee, we have excellent schools, an excellent housing base, excellent parks, and a rich agricultural heritage.  We have incomes in our demographics ranging from moderate to wealthy.  One thing that is common is that everyone is friendly and you still feel a connection despite our population.  We need to work to provide more places for tourists and local visitors because of our positioning so near to Disney and Universal, as well as being only minutes from Downtown Orlando. Those are benefits that we have yet to fully unlock, but will realize as we get our downtown project going and as we create more lifestyle centers in the CRA.

How would you describe the identity of Ocoee, and how would you like to see it change through the next 10 years?

I would describe Ocoee as a mixture of good people, young and old, in a nice suburban bedroom community with a heritage of hard work and values.  I would like to keep the feeling that we have while adding a vibrant downtown with character, high wage companies in the 429 corridor, and a vibrant CRA along state Road 50.  If we do it right, our identity will be that Ocoee is an even better place in which to live.

If there were one thing about Ocoee you could change today, what would it be and why?

If I could change Ocoee today, I would turn the clock back and add trails, water and sewer, and build key roads that would have resulted in the same great place but one with more restaurants, shopping, entertainment, and mixes of housing.  In other words, we would have “grown up” quicker.  I think we can catch up and I hope to help lead this effort as mayor.

AGE: 43

FAMILY: Father of four

PROFESSION: Founder of Total Brick Pavers, pastor

OCOEE RESIDENT: Since 2002

BIRTHPLACE: Brazil

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Co-chair of the Latin American Advisory Committee of Orange County Policy Department; co-chair of the Hispanic Civic Alliance in Florida; counsel representative of Brazilians Abroad

What do you believe makes you the best candidate for Ocoee mayor?

I can assure you I will apply all means necessary to improve the city and its administration.

I think I differ from my opponents because I like to think of myself as a doer, I am going to bring a new energy to this administration. The people running this office for the past years got stuck in time. 

I run a business that I started from nothing. I know the cost of things and how to do business with people.

I am very successful at it and I will bring this new energy to this administration.

What do you see as the future for downtown Ocoee, and what do you intend to do to help make that happen?

I have envisioned a lot of projects for this City. Such projects would help the city to grow to a level were investors would feel compelled to bring their business here.

I would like first to acclimate to the new position and learn what would be the city priorities for now.

But if you take a look out of the window now you will see all these empty buildings. Why does Ocoee look closed for business?

I intend to make things better and more profitable for the city. 

How would you describe the identity of Ocoee, and how would you like to see it change through the next 10 years?

I see the city of Ocoee as a quiet and peaceful place to live. This is the reason that first brought me here. I wanted to avoid the rush the city of Orlando was turning to. But that was more than ten years ago and now I realize that our city needs to grow and for that we will have to embrace the ways of the future and everything that comes with it. I would like this city to continue enjoy the quietness and peace for the families living here, but also would like to see people that lives here not having to go to another city in order to get a job or go to college. This is the grow that I would like for this city in the next 10 years.

If there were one thing about Ocoee you could change today, what would it be and why?

I would say the administration. As I see the current administration had a long time to prove themselves effective but I don’t see this city grow as we see the neighbor towns do. This is the time to change and grow.

AGE: 71

FAMILY: Wife, Cathy; two daughters; one son; five grandchildren

PROFESSION: Ocoee business owner since 1976

OCOEE RESIDENT: Since 1976

BIRTHPLACE: Dunn, North Carolina

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Former original member and chairman of COCOPD; former member and chairman of Code Enforcement; former Chairman Equity Study Commission; former chairman and current member or Planning and Zoning; current chair of Community Grant Review Board; former president and current board member for the Ocoee Lions Club; member of Winter Garden Elks Lodge; honorary member of GFWC Woman’s Club of Ocoee

What do you believe makes you the best candidate for Ocoee mayor?

My years as a business owner, property owner in Ocoee as well as the experience gained through serving on the various Boards with the City of Ocoee and civic organizations. I have a vested interest in the Community.

In this time of significant growth for Ocoee and the region, how would you balance development with the many effects it produces?

Traffic, police and fire protection, schools, recreation facilities and the balance therein for all future growth is imperative. A comprehensive review of any and all projects is necessary to ensure that the balance Is maintained even if turning down a lucrative project is the result. Growth is needed however it must be managed to meet the needs of all citizens.

Physical improvements to any city require investment. With the city budget standing as it does, what financial means would you pursue to improve the city and how would the millage rate be affected?

I believe the we are at a point in time that grants must be considered or looked for to aid in funding of improvements. I believe that if the City Commission is committed to making Ocoee the best it can be it is imperative to work together to set aside reserves for projects and not veer off course.

What do you see as the future for downtown Ocoee, and what do you intend to do to help make that happen?

It has been discussed and discussed for years that sanitary sewer is needed for any of the vision for downtown to be realized. However, no plan has been put into action to make this happen. A study was done years ago for the lakeshore all the way to downtown that met with the approval of the property and business owners and the Commission. Due to the size of the project, it was put on a shelf. I feel that a plan needs to be put into place and if it has to be done in phases then that should be the course that is followed. I, as a downtown business  and property owner , will pledge to work with other downtown business and property owners with the City to move forward to create a downtown all will be proud of.

Within plans for the future comes a consideration for history. What is important to recognize about Ocoee's history and to preserve for future generations?

Ocoee was known as a stopping point and vacation area in the day. It is still and can continue to be with the proximity to the attractions and major highways. The Friends of the Withers Maguire House play a vital role in keeping the history and heritage of Ocoee alive.

With data showing economic growth for Ocoee, how will you ensure financial benefits reach all of the city and its people?

As the City grows it is important to maintain quality roads, infrastructure and needs of the older sections of the City as well as making sure the levels of service of parks, recreation areas, schools police and fire are provided and maintained to both old and new growth areas. I will work with City Manager, Staff and Commission to review regularly the needs of all citizens.

What makes Ocoee a place people want to be as residents, local visitors or tourists from around the world?

Ocoee continues to maintain a "small town" feel while growing in leaps and bounds. Easy access to surrounding areas good schools remain an attraction for Ocoee to be called home.

How would you describe the identity of Ocoee, and how would you like to see it change through the next 10 years?

To some, Ocoee is still regarded as a "hick" town. I would like to see that perception changed to be more of a progressive City with a safe, friendly environment in which to raise a family or be a respite from the hustle and bustle of large cities but still offering amenities that people are looking for.

If there were one thing about Ocoee you could change today, what would it be and why?

Perception of developers that choosing Ocoee is cost prohibitive and Ocoee is difficult to impossible to work with. Much commercial development has passed by Ocoee due to this stigma. The growth in surrounding Cities could lend some truth to this perception. I would like to work diligently with Staff, Commission, Community Relations to revamp or possibly make some changes to ordinances or policies in place  before Ocoee is completely overlooked with the exception of gas stations and fast food locations.