Legislature could alter Winter Springs charter, eliminate one commissioner, give mayor a vote

An annual meeting of the Legislative Delegation for Seminole County this Thursday could change Winter Springs’ charter and give more power to the mayor ahead of next year’s contentious election. Data in the bill shows it may have been written by a rumored candidate to fill the mayor’s seat.

According to documents obtained by Oviedo Community News, the delegation will consider what’s called a Local Bill at the Legislation Delegation meeting, which is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon Thursday, Oct. 23 at the Board of County Commissioners chambers, 1101 E. 1st St. in Sanford. The bill, if ultimately passed by the Florida Legislature and signed by the governor, would change it so the Winter Springs mayor is a voting member of the City Commission; currently, the mayor only votes to break a tie.

It would also eventually eliminate one city commissioner’s seat. 

“It replaces the outdated non-voting mayor system with a unified and accountable five-member City Commission that includes a voting mayor,” a supporting document with talking points about the bill reads. “(It) eliminates the mayor’s veto authority, ensuring decisions reflect the will of the majority.”

You can read the proposed bill here:

Read the Winter Springs Local Bill packet here:

According to the metadata embedded within the documents, both documents were authored by Jesse Phillips, the former vice chairman of the Republican Party of Florida and the Seminole County Committeeman for the Republican Party.

Phillips is also the cofounder of the Winter Springs Community Association, which describes itself as a “grassroots advocacy” organization. Critics, including the current mayor, say the group is  an “unlicensed political action committee,” citing its candidate endorsements and targeted political attacks during prior elections.  

In an interview, Phillips said he did write the Local Bill Packet, which has the bill’s summary and the list of talking points. But he denied drafting the actual bill himself.

“The language of the bill was drafted by a committee in Tallahassee,” Phillips said. “I am not the author of that (bill) language. I probably forwarded that PDF file to the district aide of (Representative) Doug Bankson’s office. That was part of the emails going back and forth. But the content of the language was from the legislature.”

Metadata is information stored in a file showing data like who was the author and when modifications were made. Metadata can be edited, though simply forwarding an email would not change the document’s metadata. Phillips has previously taken credit for documents created and submitted to the state’s Joint Legislation Audit Committee about Winter Springs.

Phillips did say he shared ideas with members of the Seminole County legislative delegation.

“What do you mean by helped write? I mean, yeah, I shared ideas for sure,” Phillips said in an interview with Oviedo Community News. “But as far as the drafting process of it, my understanding is that this was drafted by the committee in Tallahassee, which cross referenced all the places in the charter that would need to be changed, etc. But no, I was definitely in communication with Representative (Rachel) Plakon’s office and sharing ideas and providing information, yeah.”

Mayor Kevin McCann says changes should come from the people, not the state

Winter Springs Mayor Kevin McCann said he doesn’t have a problem discussing possible changes to how Winter Springs’ charter handles the role of mayor. But he doesn’t think those changes should be done through an act of the Florida Legislature.

“I see it as the former vice chair of the Republican Party using his political clout to shove this down the residents’ throats. (In) all Florida history that I’m aware of, when there are charter amendments, it’s put on the ballot and the residents vote for it,” McCann said, adding that he thinks Winter Springs residents should be able to vote on this.

 The city’s charter does explicitly say amendments “may be proposed and adopted by the legislature of the State of Florida,” or by the City Commission or by voters. 

McCann said ultimately this would help developers in the city.

“Ultimately, who does this serve the most? It serves Jesse Phillips, my opponent in the next election, who’s pushing for this thing, and it’s serving developers, right?” McCann said. “This is a power grab. They know it’s a lot easier to control a smaller group of people.”

Multiple sources with direct knowledge have confirmed that Phillips is planning to run for mayor in 2026. But Phillips told Oviedo Community News he has not yet made a decision. 

“I think my answer is exactly the same,” Phillips said. “I’m being encouraged to do so, and like anything you know, I’m praying it through.”

Ken Greenberg, a former City Commissioner, cofounder of the Winter Springs Community Association and close confidant of Phillips, said Phillips is running next year.  

“Jesse Phillips is going to run, yes,” Greenberg said. 

Does proposed charter change open the gates for a strong mayor?

Winter Springs currently has what’s known as a “weak mayor” form of government, which is not unique in Florida cities. 

The Winter Springs charter, which is basically a city’s constitution, defines the role of the mayor. The mayor is in charge of running City Commission meetings, and acts as the representative of Winter Springs to other governmental bodies. The mayor only votes in the rare instance when there’s a commissioner absent from a meeting and a tie vote among the remaining four commissioners, or if a commissioner abstains from a vote. 

“Our mayor is like the Queen of England, primarily ceremonial,” Greenberg said. 

The mayor does have the ability to veto ordinances passed by the Commission, although that ability has only been used a handful of times in the last few decades. It’s never been used by current mayor McCann, although he wanted to veto a decision by the commission to allow a developer to cut down trees without paying arbor fees. McCann wasn’t able to veto the arbor fee decision because he can only veto an ordinance –  basically a local law – and the arbor fee decision technically wasn’t an ordinance.

The last veto was in 2019 when former Mayor Charles Lacey – another cofounder of the Winter Springs Community Association – vetoed a moratorium on apartments and most commercial development the commission put in after the 2018 election. Former mayor Paul Partyka also vetoed a budget in 1998. 

Bill would add more changes to mayor, could allow Commission to fast track more changes

The Local Bill to change Winter Springs’ charter would strip the veto ability from the mayor.

By charter, the City Commission can only vote to hire and fire constitutional officers: The City Manager, the City Clerk and the City Attorney, and only with a super-majority of four votes. The bill to change Winter Springs’ charter does not explicitly give the mayor hiring and firing ability, which would be what’s known as a “strong mayor” form of government, where the mayor is the city’s chief executive officer and can hire and fire staff, like in Apopka. 

But the bill does add language that seems to give the Commission the ability to change that at any time. 

“The mayor shall be recognized as the head of city government for all ceremonial purposes and by the governor for the purposes of military law and shall have no administrative authority over city employees, except as expressly provided by this charter or by ordinance,” the draft bill reads. 

That line – or by ordinance – seems to open the possibility that the commission could vote to give the mayor more authority down the road. Phillips disputes that, saying the charter delegates hiring and firing of city staff to the city manager. 

“I would imagine that if the commission tried to pass an ordinance, I don’t think that would override the charter,” Phillips said. 

A request to City Attorney Anthony Garganese to clarify city governing documents was not returned before Tuesday’s press deadline.

The bill also explicitly says that none of the current City Commission members would have their terms cut short. Instead, starting in 2026, the mayor would become a voting member – which would make the commission have an even number of votes during the two-year transition period. 

The new commission boundaries would then need to be made after the 2026 election, and be put in place before the 2028 election, when the commission would go back to having five voting members on the dais. 

But for those first two years, there would be six voting members, opening up the possibility of tie votes. 

“One thing is, for sure, the way that thing is written, it doesn’t work,” McCann said. 

Former Winter Springs Mayor Lacey said the changes need to happen before the next election, because otherwise it would take four or six years for the changes to go into effect. Lacey said he was the one who told Phillips that an act of the Legislature could change the charter. 

“The need to be expedient and to have it happen fairly quickly, outweighs any of the negatives that go with asking legislature to intervene,” Lacey said.

When asked what the negatives were, Lacey said it was, “that the electorate feels like they’re being preempted. But that happens all the time.”

City Commission also to discuss changes to mayoral position next week, after Thursday’s special meeting

On Thursday, Seminole County’s Legislative Delegation will meet and possibly change the foundation of Winter Springs government.

The meeting will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at the County Commission’s chambers in Sanford. If the legislative delegation approves the Local Bill, it wouldn’t end there. 

Local bills still must get approval from the full Florida House and Senate, like any other bill, and the bills could get committee assignments. Typically, though, that doesn’t happen with Local Bills that only affect one jurisdiction. If none of the legislators have objections, it could be on a fast-track to get approval as a batch of non-contentious Local Bills. 

Check here for a document explaining how Local Bills work:

Want to weigh in? Residents can contact Madison Wagner, District Aide for Rep. Doug Bankson, by email at Madison.Wagner@flhouse.gov or by phone at 407-598-8470.

Seminole County’s Legislative Delegation includes:

Sen. Jason Brodeur, Senate District 10

Rep. Rachel Plakon, House District 36

Rep. Susan Plasencia, House District 37

Rep. David Smith, House District 38

Rep. Doug Bankson, House District 39

What local officials say about it

Oviedo Community News reached out to every member of the Seminole County Legislative Delegation, either by phone, text or email. Brodeur responded when asked if the bill to change Winter Springs charter was definitely coming before the delegation Thursday. 

“I predict some form of it will be contemplated by the delegation, but I don’t know what those contents will be,” Brodeur said. “I think it’s Plakon’s bill.”

Plakon said by text message that the bill to amend the Winter Springs charter will definitely be on the agenda Thursday; you can view that meeting online here. Seminole County’s delegation only requires a simple majority to pass a Local Bill. 

Regardless of what happens at the delegation meeting, McCann said the Winter Springs City Commission will discuss possible changes to the mayor’s role at next Monday’s meeting. 

“It will be on the next City Commission agenda, whether it passes or fails (Thursday),” McCann said. “It will be discussed at the next City Commission meeting, and we will have an open conversation that the residents can attend or watch on YouTube.”

Phillips said he would also prefer that voters get to decide. 

“Well, what they’re doing is they’re stepping in and doing the job for the residents that our guys have not done, our city council has not done,” Phillips said. “So I look at it as a necessary part of democracy to ensure that our voices are heard.”

When asked if he viewed it as coercive, Phillips said he is allowed to put pressure on politicians. 

“Look, free speech and my ability to show up and provide pressure on politicians to do the right thing – is that coercive?” Phillips said. “That’s our first amendment right, you know?”

McCann said that, in his view, the Winter Springs Community Association is an unlicensed political action committee. 

“When you form an LLC, you endorse candidates, you’re out helping raise money for candidates, you’re holding campaign events – that makes you a political action committee by my definition,” McCann said.

Oviedo Community News also reached out to all five Winter Springs Commissioners about the Local Bill. Commissioners Paul Diaz, Cade Resnick and Sarah Baker did not respond to interview requests before press deadline. 

“I’m against it altogether, because the residents are the ones that should have a say in it,” said Winter Springs City Commissioner Mark Caruso. 

Caruso said he didn’t think the local delegation will ultimately support the bill.

“I got a feeling you’re going to hear them talking about it and saying that this should not be a decision by the state,” Caruso said. “It should be in the hands of the residents. That’s the vibe that I think that they’re going to put out.”

Phillips posted an editorial on the Winter Springs Community Association site arguing that the Winter Springs City Commission should pass an ordinance and put it on the ballot in 2026. 

“If our commissioners want to claim local control, there’s a clear path: pass the ordinance, put the charter reforms on the ballot to bring our city in line with other better-run local cities, and let residents decide,” Phillips wrote. “That’s how you prove you believe in democracy — not by hiding behind talking points, but by trusting your own voters.”

Greenberg put it more bluntly. When asked why not do it as a charter amendment that citizens vote on, Greenberg said that’s the ultimate goal. 

“Love to, love to, and that’s the goal. Let me be very clear,” Greenberg said. “If the City Commission agrees to put this on the ballot for the residents to vote on come November (2026), if they’ll put it on a ballot, this gets [removed]. This legislative bill gets [removed] immediately, from what I understand.”

Seminole County Commission Chairman Jay Zembower will open Thursday’s delegation meeting and talk about the county’s requests for the coming legislative session. He said already more than 100 people have registered to talk. 

“If nothing else, Thursday will be interesting,” Zembower said. 

Abe Aboraya is a Report for America corps member.