Hear remarks offered at the 2010 State of the Cities address presented by the mayors of the city of Oviedo and Winter Springs, Florida, at the Oviedo Winter Springs Regional Chamber of Commerce monthly membership luncheon. Speakers are Charles Lacey, mayor of the city of Winter Springs, and Dominic Persampiere, mayor of the city of Oviedo. Geographically, the cities adjoin each other in the south eastern portion of Seminole County.
Feature Length — 01:13:31

Jim Spaeth, President of Remora Partners and Vice president of the Chamber’s governmental affairs committee, begins the program with introductions of the mayors.

Winter Springs mayor Charles Lacey speaks first. His remarks run 29-minutes, during which he addresses the challenges of meeting resident’s needs amid a down economy and a correspondingly declining tax base combined with an 18% decrease in city staff during this time. As evidence of Winter Spring’s responsiveness to residents, Lacey will describe low crime rates, unique community policing initiatives, and a commitment to transparency in public access to city documents. Lacey will note his intention not to support any increase in the millage rate during his term and he will offer examples of the city’s focus on working to more favorably redistribute the current tax burden by aggressive recruiting of new businesses to locate within the city boundaries.

Oviedo mayor Dominic Persampiere speaks for 18-minutes. Below, we have provided a link to the slides to which he refers. Persampiere addresses budget challenges, reduced staffing levels and a sustained delivery of city services in spite of fewer city resources. He will describe the status of community redevelopment areas known as Oviedo on Park and the newly coined Historic Downtown district, plus he will offer an update on the development progress by prospective partners to locate a hospital within the city limits. Persampiere notes improvements he observes at the struggling Oviedo Mall – which he states some describe as a “gem in the weeds.” He reviews the status of Alafaya Utilities recently purchased by the city and the H2O water conservation program initiated by the city, and he closes with a description of the city’s newly published economic development brochure.

Due to event time constraints, no audience questions were taken by either mayor.

The Mayor’s remarks are followed by a 9-minute event sponsor message from Seminole State College of Florida’s president, E. Ann McGee. A copy of her slides is also on our web site.

The event concludes with a Student of the Month recognition given to Gabriella Guevara a 12-th grade student at the Master’s Academy in Oviedo and introductions of new chamber members and guests.

As a special addition at the conclusion of the event, you’ll want to hear a brief interview with newly elected chamber board president, Todd Cluxton who will address the chamber’s scope of activities for the year.

This presentation was recorded Thursday, January 20, 2011 at the monthly membership luncheon of the chamber of commerce at the Tuscawilla Country Club in Winter Springs, Florida attended by more than 100 chamber members and guests.

Key Participants

Luncheon Sponsor

Facilitating Participants

	Jim Spaeth President of Remora Partners and vice president of the chamber’s governmental affairs committee Web		Cory Skeates Executive Director, Oviedo Winter Springs Regional Chamber of Commerce Web
	Todd Cluxton commercial loan officer, Citizens Bank of Florida, and President Oviedo Winter Springs Regional Chamber of Commerce Web

Student of the Month Presentation

Pictures

After you launch the slideshow below, click “Next” and “Previous” to rotate through the photos.

Additional Feature Information

This presentation marks the start of the second year of a collaboration Carroll McKenney Public Media has initiated during with the chamber and it is the 10th podcast in a series of on-going programs staged by the chamber to address a range of important issues relevant to the business community and the general population in the Oviedo and Winter Springs communities served by the chamber.

Chamber programs on the Heard in Central Florida web site:

• Oviedo and Winter Springs mayor’s “state of the cities” address (1/27/2010)
• High-tech innovation along the 417 Corridor (2/24/2010)
• State constitutional amendments (4/01/2010)
• Donnie Jones, new head coach of the University of Central Florida Men’s basketball team (4/22/2010)
• Broadband technology and it’s potential for the community (6/01/2010)
• Summary by 3 local legislators on the results of the 2010 session of the Florida Legislature (6/30/2010)
• Business Incubation in Central Florida (9/27/2010)
• Oviedo City Council Seat 4 Candidate Forum (10/14/2010)
• State of Law Enforcement in Seminole County (11/29/10)