The Apopka City Council took a step Wednesday toward bringing potential sweeping changes to City Hall, voting unanimously to put eight city charter amendments before voters in a referendum.
The council approved the measure on a first reading, with a second reading to follow at an undetermined date. The eight amendments include one that would change the city from its current mayor-council system to a council-manager form of government.
The city first adopted the proposed city charter amendments in August. However, in a reversal, the City Council voted 4-1 on Sept. 3 to postpone a special election, choosing instead to place the referendum on the March 2026 ballot, when voters will be voting on the mayor and two council seats.
The reasons commissioners cited for the delay were the cost of more than $53,000 for a special election and possible voter confusion among active military personnel.
Vice Mayor Diane Velazquez argued to move the charter amendment election to coincide with next year’s regular elections.
On Wednesday, Commissioner Nick Nesta, the lone dissenter on the Sept. 3 vote, said the date change was motivated by politics.
“I think it wasn’t the will of the people,” he said. “I think that was a political game, and I think it’s going to add a lot of confusion to a lot of our residents as they come to the ballot box.”
Velazquez recommended that the city use a QR code in the utility newsletter distributed to residents to educate them about the charter amendments.
“This is an opportunity for us to … have a town hall to kind of help educate and provide some more information for our constituents,” Velazquez said.
City attorney Andrew Hand warned that the city cannot use public funds to advocate for referendum issues, limiting the options for voter education.
“The [voter] education and what can be done is very, very strictly limited because of prohibition on recent public funds,” Hand said. “Of course, you do have First Amendment rights as individuals, in your elected roles.”
The eight proposed charter amendments are as follows: switching the form of government from mayor-council to council-manager, renaming the governing body from “Council” to “Commission,” clarifying the city clerk’s ministerial role in election qualifying, setting city elections for the first Tuesday in March, establishing term limits of two consecutive terms for commissioners and mayors, making all city employees at-will except those under contracts, requiring the city clerk and city attorney to be appointed by the City Commission, and implementing the public comment period before decision items on the agenda.
If the charter is amended to change the form of government from mayor-council to council-manager, it would take effect 120 days after Election Day.
The changed form of government would also revert the mayor’s salary to a commissioner’s and include the hiring and training of a city manager.