‘I’m all for the fight’ – Winter Springs abandons voting mayor referendum, but Tallahassee could still act

Winter Springs has abandoned plans to ask voters to give the mayor more power at the request of Tallahassee lawmakers, with one commissioner saying he’s “all for the fight.”

The Seminole County Legislative Delegation approved a local bill in October that would give the mayor a vote and, eventually, remove one city commission seat. The bill would still need to be approved by the Florida Legislature and signed by the governor, and would then require a majority of voters to approve it in November of 2026.

Winter Springs City Commissioners had said they planned  to head that off by passing their own referendum to eliminate the mayor as an elected position and instead have the five city commissioners choose a mayor.

But Monday, Winter Springs City Commissioner Cade Resnick said local lawmakers would not agree to those changes. 

“They are adamant they want us to use their language,” Resnick said. “We would have to go to four districts and a mayor.”

The Legislature’s bill also includes language that the mayor has no ability to hire and fire city employees, except what’s in the charter “or by ordinance.” That line has led commissioners to worry that it sets the stage for a “strong mayor,” enabled to have hiring and firing powers in the future with just a majority vote of the City Commission. 

That language could be eliminated, Resnick said – but that was all. 

“Those are our handcuffed two choices,” Resnick said. 

See below for a video where Winter Springs City Commissioners vote on what to do with the voting mayor issue.

Why are state lawmakers getting involved in Winter Springs?

Winter Springs has a less common form of government. 

There are six members on the dais: Five city commissioners, and one mayor. The mayor does not vote on regular city business, except in the rare case of a tie vote. The mayor can veto an ordinance, although that’s only been done a handful of times in recent decades. 

Every decade or so, a group of citizens are typically appointed to review the city’s charter, which is the city’s constitution that sets the framework for how its citizens are governed. That group will usually spend a year or more studying the document to decide if changes should be put to voters. 

During the last charter review, the idea was floated to give the mayor a vote – but it never made it out of the idea stage. Now state lawmakers are getting involved. 

Why? According to metadata within the bill document, the first draft of the bill giving the mayor potentially more power was written by Jesse Phillips, the founder of the Winter Springs Community Association. Phillips has said he’s “considering” a run for mayor in 2026, although people close to him have confirmed he is running. 

Phillips denies writing the bill, but said he did write a talking points memo defending it and “shared ideas” with Plakon’s office on the bill. 

“I’m the mayor – I will benefit from this,” said Winter Springs Mayor Kevin McCann Monday. “I’m not against the idea or the conversation, but the way this is being handled by someone running for the mayor’s position is appalling. I’ve got to be careful, I don’t want to cross a line here, but this is awful.”

McCann said there will also be a cost to putting it on the ballot. If state lawmakers want the change put to voters, “let them pay for it,” he added. The city would not be charged the cost of running a referendum during a regular election year, though. 

Commissioner Sarah Baker said the city shouldn’t stand by while the state takes away home rule, the principle in Florida’s Constitution that local governments have authority to pass laws unless the state preempts them. 

“Let them do it,” Baker said. “We’re being strong-armed, we’re being reactive. We’re doing their bidding for them by bringing it forward. I don’t think they have a strong choice to truly bring it forward themselves, which is why they’re asking us to do so.”

Commissioner Mark Caruso agreed. 

“I’m also a hard no on that,” Caruso said. “The state should not tell us what to do. No one took any effort to go door to door, get the residents opinion, get a petition, anything. I’m all for the fight.”

Ultimately, no vote was taken. The consensus from the board was to drop the idea of getting a referendum to voters in 2026. 

Still, multiple members of the Winter Springs City Commission said they were worried the issue could affect the city’s chances of getting appropriations from the Florida Legislature. The city is working with a lobbyist to secure appropriations in 2026.

“We do not want a fight with our state legislature,” McCann said. “Let me be really clear, we really don’t. …  We will lose. Having an argument back and forth with our delegation could do some real damage.”

Meeting turns ugly as Diaz accuses Resnick of ‘playing both sides’

No one on the City Commission was in favor of putting a referendum before voters. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t disagreement over the handling of the situation. 

Commissioner Paul Diaz asked why Resnick was the one speaking with the delegation.

“Nobody appointed Commissioner Resnick to be reporting anything to anyone,” Diaz said. “I don’t know why he’s negotiating on behalf of this body or the city. No one appointed him to anything.”

Diaz called Resnick’s behavior “unbelievable” and a “hypocrisy.” He accused Resnick of playing both sides of the issue. 

“I’ve seen pretty low things, Commissioner Resnick, from you, but this really set the new bar,” Diaz said. “This shows what being on two sides of an issue looks like. You get to say, ‘Oh look, no one wanted to vote for it, nobody wanted to push it forward, I tried.’” 

Earlier, Diaz had been the lone no-vote against Resnick continuing to be the Deputy Mayor in 2026.

“The hypocrisy, the cynicism, the reeking of just political corruption with bringing this up the way you’re bringing this up,” Diaz said. “Commissioner Resnick, that’s exactly why I voted against you for deputy mayor. You shouldn’t even be up here, sir. What you just did is shameful.”

The mayor stepped in. 

“Easy, easy,” McCann said. “There does need to be a certain level of decorum. I would respectfully ask that we not insult each other during a meeting.”

Resnick waved Diaz forward. 

“Why don’t you go ahead.” Resnick said. “It’s your night.  Go ahead.  Let it go. Let it all out. Come on. … I would like to hear the rest of this.”

Caruso laid a hand on Resnick’s arm, seemingly to try and calm him down.  

“Here’s the grooming of the psychologist,” Diaz retorted. “You see how he’s trying to bait me to go ahead and fight him? This is why our city is so toxic, Commissioner Resnick. Because of people like you. I’ve explained to residents, there is no off-ramp to these fights.

See video of the argument between Diaz and Resnick at 2:09:30 of the video below. 

“Please, Commissioner Resnick, trying to egg me on,” Diaz continued. “You know what, you’re a real piece of work.”

McCann later said that, as mayor, he didn’t feel comfortable speaking with Seminole County lawmakers about the issue directly. 

“You (Resnick) have a relationship with them,” McCann said. “I appreciate you trying to provide an olive branch.” 

You can read a draft of the bill below presented to the Seminole County Legislative Delegation in October. As of press deadline, Rep. Rachel Plakon – the bill’s sponsor – still had not filed a bill. Plakon did not respond to requests for comment before the deadline.

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

Abe Aboraya is a Report for America corps member.