The election season is upon us — or at least so in the Seminole County cities of Longwood and Oviedo. They are the only cities to step out with candidates to elect for city office on Tuesday, November 3rd.
Here on Central Florida Matters, we’re making plans to speak with each candidate in the weeks to come. Yet, before we present the candidates and their platforms to you, we’re thinking it’s time to first be sure we become smart voters prior to casting our vote at the polls.
We start this process now… in a recurring feature we’re going to call “Voting Smart.”
Thomas G. Walters is a 61 year old retired US Air Force colonel, having served 28 year in officer positions, most recently as Vice Commander of the 62nd Airlift Wing at McChord Air Force base in Tacoma, Washington.
Former Mayor Tom Walters’ 6year term of service gave him and his city council members a fairly unprecedented period of success, growth and prosperity. Walters served as mayor in the 4th largest city out of 7 cities in Seminole County. With a population in 2007 of 32,000 residents, Walters’ timing could not have been better in leaving office just before evidence was being encountered of a challenging economic recession looming over the county and the cities. His 6 year term in office lent itself well to many of our questions kicking off our “voting smart” series.
In what you’ll hear in a wide-ranging interview covering media, ethics and the Sunshine Law to name just a few, we first ask former mayor Walters to set the scene for what candidates and voters face on this road to “voting smart.”
Pictures & Extended interviews
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Former Oviedo Mayor Tom Walters (red shirt)
and Stephen McKenney Steck Extended interview (56:10)
Friday, September 4, 2009 |
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