Plakon, Rachel

Editor’s note: Plakon did not respond to Oviedo Community News’ phone calls or emails.

Age: Editor’s note: If Oviedo Community News could not confirm the age for each candidate in a race, we omit the ages for all candidate in the race out of fairness.

Registered political party: Republican 

Where they live: Lake Mary

Where they work: Plakon is currently a fulltime real estate broker and is the president of Southeast Ingenuity Investments, Inc.

Prior work experience: Plakon was a reporter/writer for an independent contractor, real estate agent for KW Commercial/Classic Reality and a land specialist for NAI Realvest. 

Prior political experience: Vice Chair of the Planning and Zoning Board for the City of Winter Garden and worked as a community liaison/spokesperson for the Governors Mentoring initiative for the state of Florida 

Summary of their campaign finance report: Plakon had $79,205.50

Summary of their voting record at BillTRack50

Campaign website


Candidate Q&A: This candidate did not respond to multiple requests to answer questions that were based on voter questions and expressed priorities. Each of the candidates within a race were asked the same questions and given the same amount of time to respond. OCN reporters emailed, texted and called the candidate who was given several weeks to respond.

Author

Megan is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Oviedo Community News, the only independent news source for Greater Oviedo and Winter Springs. She oversees editorial content, policy and staff. She attends meetings, sends out the e-newsletter and curates conversations in the community to understand the information gaps that OCN needs to fill. She also works to create partnerships that can strengthen the bond between community and newsroom.

She has served as an award-winning community journalist for more than 20 years, including as associate editor for the East Orlando Sun and a reporter for the Seminole Voice, the Winter Park-Maitland Observer and Orlando Magazine.

In 2024, Megan was named Editor of the Year by the Society for Professional Journalism. With the Central Florida Foundation and Central Florida Public Media, she co-found the News Collaborative of Central Florida, a collective of independent local news outlets and aligned partners working toward a more informed and engaged Central Florida.

She served as treasurer for the Florida Press Club for seven years and has won awards from the Institute for Nonprofit News, the Florida Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalism. Megan holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism (now called the Reed College of Media) at West Virginia University.

Megan also loves yoga, running and playing board games with her family.

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