George Smith enters Apopka City Commission Seat #2 race with call for transparency and smarter growth

 

 

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George Smith didn’t come to Apopka politics through the usual route of endorsements, insider relationships, or years spent building alliances inside City Hall. He came to it the way he says he approaches most things - by paying attention, asking questions, and showing up when it matters.

 

A Navy veteran originally from the Chicago area, Smith moved to Central Florida in 1996 and says his career path has given him a front-row seat to the region’s transformation — from the population boom to the development pressures that have reshaped Apopka in just a few years. After leaving active duty, he worked as an eminent domain paralegal and later built a career in real estate, an experience he says helps him understand how growth decisions affect residents in Apopka.

 

“I may be new to the political side of doing things in Apopka,” Smith said, “but I’ve always been involved just one way or the other in regards to the growth.”

 

Now, after about a decade living in Apopka, Smith is running for City Commission Seat 2 with a message he returns to again and again.

 

“Apopka needs more transparency, stronger accountability, and smarter growth,” he said.

Smith describes himself as coming from a structured, military-rooted family. “Heavy on the military side,” he said. “Dad was Army, my brother was Army… I call him my second dad, but he was Marine Corps.”

 

Smith chose the Navy, a career that took him from the Seabees to aircraft carriers like the USS Kitty Hawk and USS Constellation, and later to an admiral’s staff in Hawaii.

“I started with the Seabees out of Mayport,” he said. “Then I got to the Kitty Hawk… worked in the captain’s office. So I was like the right-hand man of the commanding officer of the ship.”

 

He said that experience shaped his approach to leadership and his beliefs about how public officials should carry themselves, especially in disagreement.

 

“My dad growing up taught me to treat the janitor the same way that you would treat the President of the United States, with the utmost respect,” Smith said.

Outside the military, Smith said his early civilian work in eminent domain gave him insight into how decisions about land, roads, and development can ripple across a community. He later graduated from UCF and earned an MBA, building a life that blends business experience with a deep commitment to service.

 

Smith said he has always wanted to be involved in civic leadership, but between work, family, and community responsibilities, the timing never felt right — until it did. He described his decision to run as something that came together quickly, even unexpectedly. When he called the city clerk’s office with basic questions, he learned it was qualifying week.

 

“I was just having a general conversation, and she said, ‘Oh, well, you’re in luck. It’s qualifying day,’” Smith said. “I’m like, ‘What?’… Something just got me up. I said, ‘Hey, let me just call to see.’”

 

He said he chose Seat 2 partly because of personal symbolism — his late father’s birthday is November 2 — and partly because he felt drawn to the moment.

 

“I always had this thing with two,” he said. “I’m hearing this… I’m feeling this. Two is it.”

He also emphasized that he isn’t a career politician and isn’t pretending to be one.

“This is my first ever political anything,” Smith said.

Although careful not to accuse current leaders of wrongdoing without evidence, he doesn’t hide his belief that Apopka’s system is vulnerable — and that residents are right to question how decisions are being made.

“The biggest issues facing Apopka right now? I think the corruption,” he said, “I see it as 'corruption-ish,” not proven corruption, but a climate where the city’s procedures make corruption easier.”

 

To Smith, the problem isn’t always the vote itself. It’s the process surrounding the vote — what the public knows, what they don’t know, and whether transparency is real or just a slogan.

 

“It’s procedurally, the protocol,” he said. “It’s the opportunity to increase the proper protocol… It’s not, ‘Be my way because I said so.’”

 

He said the city government should operate with a level of openness that leaves no room for rumor or speculation.

 

“You can’t hoard information,” Smith said. “You’ve got to be transparent… you’re for the people.”

 

Smith believes Apopka needs a stronger internal structure — including committees that create checks and balances and allow issues like traffic, development, and public safety to be studied more deeply before decisions are made. He says he’s concerned about how quickly Apopka is expanding — and whether the infrastructure is keeping pace. He pointed to areas near large apartment developments and corridors, saying the city is already feeling the strain.

 

“At 5 o’clock, I will get out… I’m just gonna drive to Publix,” he said. “The whole 600-unit apartment complex is not even finished yet… and yet the traffic is terrible already?”

Smith said he’s not opposed to development, but he believes the city needs to demand more from developers and be more honest about what roads, utilities, and services can realistically support.

 

“You’re not gonna stop growth,” he said. “So let’s get smarter. There has to be some solutions in place, some smart solutions in place.”

 

Asked whether he would approve new development projects if elected, Smith didn’t hedge.

“I’m gonna give it six months,” he said. “The first six months will be all about getting educated and catch-up time. And guess what? I’m not voting yes for anything.”

 

Smith said his first priority is public safety — but not only in the traditional sense of police and fire services. He wants the city to communicate more directly with residents and provide consistent, practical information tied to everyday life.

 

“How about a safety awareness tip every month when I get my water bill?” Smith said. “I think that can be an easy thing to do.”

 

He described himself as someone who doesn’t just listen to complaints and move on. If a resident says a road feels dangerous, he wants to see it for himself.

 

“I’m not just gonna have that conversation,” he said. “I’m going to get off the phone, and I’m going to ride down around that same time… because I want to see it, I want to experience it.”

 

He believes city leadership also has to change in tone — with less ego and more listening.

 

“I am a people person first,” Smith said. “You’re talking to every adult as an adult… keep it even keel… be effective, explain yourself and then… be a good listener.”

 

Smith sees Apopka at a crossroads — a city growing fast enough that decisions made now will shape the community for decades.

 

“2026, you have to make the decision,” he said. “Do you want it to be… bustling like that?… Or do you wanna… be more conservative in regards to these decisions on development?”

He says the city should grow, but intentionally — without losing the people and character that built Apopka.

 

“We have to identify ourselves as a small town with a small feel,” he said. “We’re willing to grow, but… we don’t want to go from Apopka to Chicago… in five years.”

And while much of his platform focuses on process and accountability, Smith says he also wants Apopka to think bigger about what it can become — including a stronger downtown identity anchored by community spaces.

 

“A library… tends to bring in the community from all sides,” he said. “You can make $5,000 a year, or you can make $500,000 a year.”

He also suggested strengthening and expanding the city’s historical presence, using a more developed civic hub as a focal point for Apopka’s future.

 

“Have that be the focal point of where you want the city… to look like 10 years from now,” Smith said.

 

Smith says he isn’t running to see what happens, and he isn’t interested in politics as a stepping stone.

 

“I don’t test the waters on too much of anything,” he said. “This is a serious move for me. I’m in it to win it, and in it to win it for the people.”

 

His message, repeated in different ways throughout the conversation, comes back to one central idea: city government should not require blind trust — it should earn confidence through transparency, structure, and public accountability.

 

“There are too many individuals,” Smith said. “Individuals, I, I, I. There’s no I in Apopka.”

 

And if he wins Seat 2, Smith says voters will know exactly what they’re getting: a commissioner who wants to listen first, slow things down when necessary, and make city government easier to understand — not harder to follow.

 

• George Smith is running for Apopka City Commission Seat 2.
• Smith is a Navy veteran who served with the Seabees and on aircraft carriers, including the USS Kitty Hawk and USS Constellation.
• His professional background includes eminent domain work and real estate, which he says informs his views on development.
• Smith says Apopka needs more transparency, stronger accountability, and smarter growth.
• He believes the city is at a pivotal moment and wants to slow development approvals to better understand long-term impacts.