The format for the Monday, January 31, debate between Apopka’s two mayoral candidates has been set.
The questions will be drawn from a pool submitted by members of the public and each candidate will have two minutes to answer the question and his opponent will have one minute for a rebuttal. There will be a 30-seconds-left reminder for each answer and rebuttal.
The debate will be held at the Apopka Community Center/VFW, 519 S. Central Avenue. Sponsored by the Apopka Area Chamber of Commerce, the evening will begin at 5:30 p.m. with registration and refreshments.
The debate between Mayor Bryan Nelson and Commissioner Kyle Becker, who is challenging Nelson, will be held from 6-7 p.m.
Those wishing to register to watch the debate online should register at https://bit.ly/3r5o0Fy and click on the green register button on the right side of the web page.
Cate Manley, president and CEO of the Chamber, said the moderator for the mayoral debate has been chosen, but she will not release the person’s name. She said the person lives out of town, does not know either Becker or Nelson, and is not familiar with Apopka.
She said that she hired the moderator without assistance from anyone else on the Chamber staff or board of directors, and that she is the only one who knows the person’s name.
The city election is scheduled for March 8 and will also have races for Seat 2 and Seat 4 on the City Council.
Manley said a second debate for the two city commissioner seats is scheduled for Monday, February 7.
Commissioner Diane Velazquez is running for re-election in Seat 2. She is facing a challenge from Wes Dumey. Nick Nesta and Eric Mock are running for Seat 4 that is currently held by Commissioner Becker, who has resigned from the seat to run for mayor. Becker’s resignation is effective April 26, the day that the election winners will take office.
With qualifying for the city election ending earlier this month, no one filed papers to run against Commissioner Alexander Smith, who will be automatically re-elected to Seat 1. Doug Bankson, who is the Seat 2 commissioner, is not up for re-election this year.
The current mayor’s salary is $127,000, while commissioners are paid $16,200 annually.
The Apopka Chief and The Planter are weekly community newspapers, independently owned and family operated, that have served the greater Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923 and 1965 respectively.
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