Letter to the editor: A look at the Winter Park election

How lucky we all are to live in this fantastic gem of a city — Winter Park!

While it may seem to most of us that this place just is what it is, the truth is something far different.

It takes the dedicated effort of so very many people to make it so. Mayor Leary and our dedicated commissioners are significant among these. Anyone who has attended even a single commission meeting has likely come away thinking something like “You couldn’t pay me enough to do that,” at least not on any sort of a regular basis.

These city meetings often last many hours and the preparation for some has got to be mind bending. Nonetheless, multiple citizens offer themselves up to perform this service and at this time we find ourselves in the midst of an election cycle.

I saw something on Wednesday evening that truly gave me pause. I attended one of the official forums for the city commission races expecting to see all four candidates for office. Guess what? Only two candidates showed. And, they were the incumbents, McMacken and Cooper.

Macejewski and Weldon gave the excuse that they do not approve of the sponsor of the forum, The Winter Park Voice. They made no similar comment about the entity that conducted the debate itself, The League of Women Voters.

My thoughts roiled…For a critically important position, would I hire an applicant who failed to appear for a long scheduled interview? Barring serious illness or death in the family, cancelled flight, birth of baby, I know I would not. And that goes double for someone who wants to sit at the governing table of this fabulous gem of a city. And triple for anyone who asks me to entrust them with my vote.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes you get cancelled for rain...but you dress out for them all. Weldon and Macejewski are not ready for prime time.

- Beth Hall, Winter Park