Editor's Note: Over the course of a week, The Apopka Voice Managing Editor Reggie Connell sat down with several elected officials and candidates for office in Apopka. The second feature from those interviews is Apopka City Commissioner Nick Nesta.
In the early-morning hustle and bustle that defines a Canon Coffee experience, Nick Nesta is in his element. The first-term Apopka City Commissioner burst through the door, smiled, said hello to a few people, and walked with me into my unofficial office in the corner of the coffee shop for our October interview. Nesta reflected on his time sitting in Seat #4, a journey marked by victories, frustration, and a persistent commitment to accountability.
Nesta, 33 years old, is the youngest member of the Council. He has been married to his wife, Lauren, for eight years. They have twin daughters, Aria and Bella - both two years old.
Nesta's term concludes in 2024 after winning a special election for a vacated seat in 2022 with only two years left on its term. And despite not yet announcing a run for re-election, he already has a familiar opponent - Eric Mock. Nesta beat Mock with 61.46% of the vote, but now there are new issues and platforms to run on in this cycle.
Although it seems imminent, Nesta has not officially made an announcement about a second term.
"It's something that, of course, we're going to discuss because it's coming up," he said. "But talking within my family, making sure that it's the right thing. We want to make sure that it's the best thing for our family as well as for the city of Apopka. Do the residents still want me to represent them? And that's why we want to make sure that we're not wasting anybody's money that may donate to the campaign. We want to make sure that if the residents feel that I've represented them that their lives are better because I'm elected... then I'll run again."
Nesta's entry into the City Council brought with it a much-needed, full-throated approach to addressing critical issues. Renowned for his meticulous research and a penchant for posing questions with answers already in hand, Nesta's style is proactive and insightful.
He has also been the proverbial thorn in the administration's side since his arrival.
One defining moment of that thorniness occurred in a December 2022 City Council meeting, where Nesta vehemently criticized a press conference called by Apopka Mayor Bryan Nelson and events related to the AFD safety committee.
"I'm tired of being embarrassed as a City from what we're dealing with... the issues we're dealing with at the press conference today," Nesta said. "And the fact that we're getting this after the press did is embarrassing. How you talked about Austin Duran during that press conference, I feel, was disgusting. And the fact is... to kind of piggyback on Commissioner Becker, the fact that we're putting money, any sum of money above lives, it blows my mind. We are here as a council, as a committee, and as a city to promote the health and safety of our people, staff, residents, and visitors. To be putting lawsuit litigation, pending litigation, above an investigation that could save anybody, anything at any time, anywhere in the future... it's disgusting. It makes me sick to be up here. It's embarrassing to be called a commissioner when we have to represent that we can't do an investigation into this because there's pending litigation. It's disgusting. And that's all I can say about it. This can't continue as a board, as a commission, as a council. This needs to change. We have to figure out how to move on from this and actually lead and not just be reactive to what's going on."
Nesta's assertiveness also extends to the proposed Charter Review, where he advocates for a thorough examination and emphasizes the importance of public input at the upcoming workshops.
"There's been references that maybe we'll skim through sections of the charter and maybe not touch it at all and move on," he said. "For me, if we're going to do this, we're going line by line, we're touching every word, you're touching every sentence, especially now that we had some verbiage being questioned on just one word. I'm taking a deep dive into every single one, and that's how we should properly do it. We haven't done it in decades. So, let's make sure we're doing it correctly. I don't have anything specific other than I want to hear a lot of public input. What does the public want? How are they seeing our city grow? And that's what I want to be hearing... and then, we'll apply that to the changes within the charter."
Another topic making its way through local social media discussions and even onto City Council and public comments is the possibility of switching from a strong mayor form of government to a city manager system. Nesta remains open-minded on the idea.
"Nothing's off the table. I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other. I think it always depends on who's sitting in that seat. It can change your opinion in one way or the other. So it's what actually progresses our city. What makes our city grow correctly without losing is its historical significance. So it's combining both of those together."
In his first term, Nesta pushed the City to shop around for better interest rates on its massive reserve accounts. At the time of his request, the City's funds were divided and deposited into three different banks: Seacoast Bank (approximately $5 million), One Florida Bank (approximately $30 million), and Synovous Bank (about $80 million). Nesta made a motion to merge all the funds into Synovus because the returns on investment with Seacoast and One Florida were at 4.7%, while Synovous was at 5.3%. He said this percentage differential equals thousands of dollars in monthly interest rates.
"What I would like to happen is to move the other two accounts into that one account now or into Synovus saving account with similar yield as that's what our investment policy dictates," Nesta said. "We are leaving a lot of money on the table, and this helps to pay for what we need."
He also believes funds were incorrectly used in multi-million dollar transfers to banks over the years. And although he will not disclose his specific claims, he is unapologetic in his demands for a forensic audit.
At the Council's August 16th meeting, Nesta, who in several previous meetings called for a forensic audit of City financial documents, again made his plea after alleging he found "inaccuracies and inconsistencies" in documents provided to the Council by Finance Department Director Blanche Sherman.
"It's been requested that I narrow my scope exclusively because of cost, which by no means do I want to waste taxpayer money on something, but at the same time, I'm not a forensic auditor," he said "So there are some things that will be found that even if I looked at it, I would have been like, no, that's not an issue. And they (auditor) would say, No, it is an issue... where did it go?":
Nesta referenced one instance where $150,000 earmarked for a homeless initiative was unaccounted for in the City's budget.
"Similar to the homeless money that was allocated... where did that go? And on the news, the administration said, 'Yeah, we should probably find that, shouldn't we?' That's one of the many just small things, small being $150,000, relative to an over $160 million budget. Where's that money? And where else are we losing it? There are a lot of real estate deals recently, too, that I've done some research on within our city that they didn't make sense. One very similar, specific example is Sandpiper on Rock Springs Road, the southeast corner... which we sold for $1.1 million. A year later... they did nothing to it, they sold it for a million dollars more. So you're telling me that it increased... it doubled in price, basically, in a year? Or do we undersell it and not understand what we are doing? Or were there things going on in the background that gave somebody a discount?"
Before he was on Council, the City was involved in an attempt to swap two parcels on Harmon Road in exchange for the golf course lands at Rock Springs Ridge, which would, in turn, be purchased by the RSR Homeowners Association for $2.45 million. At the time, Nesta argued as a private citizen that those parcels were worth well over that price. As a realtor, he brought an offer from one of his clients of over $6 million for the two parcels... which was followed by a similar offer from investor Tony Benge. Those offers effectively killed that deal but made Nesta's case that they were selling city-owned land at a discount.
"So much of the Rock Springs Ridge deal of purchasing the Harmon Road properties for millions less than what it was actually worth than what active offers were coming in at. So again, either you know exactly what you're doing, and you're selling it too low, or you don't know what you're doing... and that's even worse. So there's a lot of those that don't meet up, or is this actively trying to hide money? There are many of those examples. And so what I'm working on now is getting a narrower scope. And this means taking a deep dive, and from there, I've had some residents reach out to me, and I'm glad that I made that request at the last meeting. So, it's nice to have residents reach out because they have more context in some of these things. So, I'm working on a narrow scope. I'm not done yet with it, but it'll be presented at some point."
In less than one term, Nesta's impact has extended beyond the rhetoric and is demonstrated by his proactive initiatives. From reshaping real estate deals to advocating for improved interest rates, his deep dives into the city's finances have left an indelible mark on Apopka's financial landscape.
As Nesta pursues a forensic audit to uncover potential misuse of funds, he remains undeterred by the challenges.
He has been a symbol of resilience, accountability, and a fervent commitment to the city's progress. He has established himself as a transformative force within the City Council.
