By Reggie Connell, Managing Editor
You will not find a stronger advocate than The Apopka Voice for annexing South Apopka into the City's borders. Since 2015, we have called for it and stated why in multiple articles and editorials:
So, you would think our news site would be thrilled to see the Apopka City Council discuss a possible vote for annexation at its most recent meeting on December 4th. Unfortunately, for a multitude of reasons, we are not.
First off, there is the timing.
During the middle of the long-awaited charter amendment reading, Mayor Bryan Nelson dropped in a discussion on annexation. of South Apopka as if he were ordering an appetizer for his table.
"I know the one that was obviously important to Commissioner (Alexander) Smith was the South Apopka annexation, which is, I don't think we're there yet either. So I don't know what. Have we ever gotten down to an actual boundary?"
Because of Sunshine laws that do not allow Council members to discuss city-related issues in private, I'm assuming Smith was taken aback by Nelson's suggestion of putting the annexation of approximately 5,000 people to a municipal vote without a discussion in months, but his response definitely moved the bizarre discussion forward, and away from the Charter.
"I think the last time that we addressed that... the boundary that originally I asked was that we go all the way to McCormick Road, and through the conversations with some of the other departments, it is suggested that we stop at Keene Road. And so that was the boundary that we were asking for. Okay. So to Keene Road, to the South, from Piedmont Wekiva to the East, and Vineyard to the West."
"So the one we kind of flushed out last, the first time," said Nelson. "Okay. Okay. All right."
It's a fascinating evolution for Smith, who, in 2020, said he would be willing to spend $10 million of City reserves to annex South Apopka and then called for a five-year plan in 2023. So far, the City has spent nothing on annexation and formulated no plan to annex, let alone have a timeline attached.
Finally, Commissioner Nick Nesta asked the duo to tap the brakes a bit and explain how this landed in the discussion.
"Is that (annexation) part of this (Charter), though?" Nesta asked.
"The annexation, I don't think, is part of the city charter," Vice Mayor Diane Velazquez said.
"Did we discuss this during that process? During the charter review process?" Nesta asked.
"Well, we've talked..." Nelson said.
"No, you did not," said City Attorney Cliff Shepard. "No, not as a part of the charter review."
"Correct," said Nelson.
"That was a separate meeting," said Smith.
"Right, right," said Nelson.
"I'm just confused about why it's being brought up right now," said Nesta.
It was Nelson's thought that the charter amendments and annexation votes could be taken in a special election sometime in 2025.
"It's going to be a special election anyways," Nelson said. "We have nothing for March, so if we have to push it back to April, it is not going to change anything."
Commissioner Nadia Anderson agreed with Nelson and thought it would save taxpayer money to add the annexation vote to the charter amendment vote.
"I think we just need to start the process of annexation because we are kicking that down the road as well," she said. "I just don't understand what would be the cost benefit of two separate elections."
That's also a fascinating evolution for Anderson, who took office in May 2024. Since that time, there has been 15 Council meetings, with no significant mention of annexing South Apopka made by Anderson, or any member of the Council.
With all due respect, Commissioner Anderson, but you aren't kicking the can down the road. The can is still in the middle of the road, and has been for the entire time you have sat in Seat #3 on the City Commission.
As a candidate for Seat #3, Anderson said this about annexing South Apopka in an interview with The Apopka Voice in October 2023:
"I feel that there has not been enough education in regards to the annexation of South Apopka. I'm collecting data and I'm meeting with different leaders within the South Apopka community so I can understand. And from my experience and from the data I gather, when I sit down and I speak with – and to be clear, I don't live in South Apopka... so I don't think it's fair for me to speak to if they should be annexed. I don't know what the choice – what the entire body of – the majority, I should say, of South Apopka want. In the time I've spent gathering the data, a lot of them don't understand the pros and the benefits of annexation. They don't even know what that is. They don't have the education. They don't have – when I say the education, they don't have all the information needed to understand the pros and cons of both. So one of the things that I would want to do... I would definitely want to have an educational session with the pros and cons so they can make a decision if South Apopka should be annexed. A lot of them don't know. Maybe a few of them, but a lot of them, when I spoke to them, they were like, what does that mean and how does that affect me? They didn't know. They would say, somebody came to them and said, oh, yes. Somebody said, okay. They really don't know. So for me, it's really whatever they want for South Apopka because I'm not a person living in South Apopka."
With all of the data collection and meetings with South Apopka leaders, you might think some of that insight would have come up during the first discussion about annexation since she took office... or that she might call for an educational meeting for the residents. Yet Anderson instead agreed with Nelson and Smith to attach an annexation vote to the Charter amendment votes.
What's most perplexing about this entire issue is why a mayor who is on record as being against annexation would bring up the idea during an unrelated agenda item and call for a special election that is almost a certainty to have low turnout and limited information on what annexation would mean for Apopka and South Apopka.
It's as if he did it so the measure would fail at the ballot box.
"I'm just worried how politics could come into play and muddy these waters," Nesta said.
Or maybe they already did.
Despite the bizarre timing, it does bring the annexation subject back to the Council. Unfortunately, given the current set of circumstances, The Apopka Voice recommends tabling annexation.
The City Council has a lot on its plate. It must hire a fire chief, economic development director, and several other important posts. It needs to square away those charter amendments. Until the City's budget is in order, and a new administration and Council is in place who sincerely sees the value of a merger between Apopka and South Apopka, annexation is probably not going to happen.
However, if the Council sincerely wants to take action, go back to your last discussion on the subject, form a South Apopka Annexation Committee, give it a budget, and let it create a plan to move forward. After its findings are presented, calling for a vote in March or November 2026 might be a better timeline than this hasty, chaotic plan you discussed during an unrelated subject.
Unfortunately, for annexation to become more than a political talking point, Apopka needs a mayor and Council (or at least a majority) who want it to become a reality.
