Developing Story: Council takes the next step toward a city manager-council form of government

The Apopka City Council, at its January 10th Charter Review meeting, gained a consensus to take the next step towards transitioning from a strong mayor form of government to a city manager-council form of government. The consensus triggers Apopka City Attorney Cliff Shepard to draft language specific to a city manager-council format to be reviewed by the Council at the next charter review meeting.

Commissioner Kyle Becker gave a presentation outlining his support for the weak mayor format. One of his points was the vast majority of municipalities in the state use this form of government.

"Why should we do something that is outside the norm in the state of Florida? Becker asked. "Out of over 400 municipalities, 12% of those have a strong mayor form of government... out of the 69 municipalities in Orange, Lake, Osceola, Seminole, Volusia, and Brevard counties, which we commonly call a central Florida area, only six have a strong mayor form... four of those six have populations less than 3,000—the other two are Orlando and Apopka. My opinion is there's a Goldilocks zone where it's appropriate to have a strong mayor, and Apopka is not one of them. It's for a small municipality with small populations or large municipalities with large population centers and large budgets to be able to satisfy many layers of executive and organizational design."

Commissioner Nick Nesta also wanted to see the city manager-council form move to the next step - ultimately allowing the Apopka voters to decide.

"I haven't had anybody reach out to me and say, 'No, we want to keep it exactly how it is. We are not interested in exploring different forms of government at all.' Most people who reach out to me are interested in a manager form of government. So, I represent the people. That's why I would like to see that language go forward. The only question or comment that I would like to say is that Commissioner Becker, you made a lot of points about one specific mayor, but if you had a visionary, that power could go a long way in that seat and do a lot of good. So there's a balance there, too, to do that. And that's all I'm saying. But it's for the people in the end. So, I've not heard one person say they don't want to explore a manager form of government. So, that is a yes for me to move forward."

Commissioner Diane Velazquez also supported handing it to the voters but had reservations about a city manager-council format because she has no experience with it.

"I don't want our form of government to change based on the current leadership," she said. "Let us work and set our council up for success in the future. In doing this, maybe it'll change for some of us that are still here. But let's set up a form of government so as our city grows, we can have a government that's going to be successful in serving our city. And the residents have to be the ones to decide that at this point."

Commissioner Alexander Smith was the only commissioner to express a negative view of moving the weak mayor format forward. He also expressed a possible interest in being mayor in the future, albeit hypothetical.

"There are always advantages and disadvantages," Smith said. "Commissioner Becker presented some benefits, but he didn't present anything as far as disadvantages. And the other thing is that the comments were directed at the person who's currently sitting in the seat (Mayor Nelson). So what happens if we get another person? Are we going to come back and change the charter again so we have a strong [mayor] form of government? I might decide to run for mayor one day... so are we going to change it again? I just don't see... you've got to show both sides. So now with its benefits, it's also disadvantages as well. So we need to see both sides."

Although a date for the second Charter Review Meeting was not announced during the first meeting, it is presumed to be in early February.

This developing story will be updated in future editions of The Apopka Voice.