Photo by Sarah Merly
Key Points
- Kamia Brown and Mike Crabb discussed their visions and priorities for northwest Orange County during a Tuesday night forum
- Both candidates prioritize infrastructure and public safety, emphasizing septic-to-sewer conversion and support local neighborhood groups.
Former state Rep. Kamia Brown and county Commissioner Mike Crabb discussed their visions and priorities for northwest Orange County during Apopka Involved Voters’ Orange County Commission District 2 runoff forum Tuesday night at Victory Church.
The two candidates are vying for the seat vacated by Christine Moore, who resigned last April to run for Apopka mayor. In August, Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Crabb, who was already running for the seat, to fill the rest of Moore’s term. Brown (32%) and Crabb (25%) received the most votes in the August election, although neither reached the 50% necessary to win outright.
Local resident Hank Dunn moderated the forum, which was sponsored by law firm Maynard Nexsen. To watch the full livestream, visit The Apopka Chief Facebook page or YouTube channel.
Business Opportunities and Industries
While both Brown and Crabb supported business development, Brown detailed particular industries she would like to flourish in Orange County, including hospitality, manufacturing, and technology.
“I would want to bring in industries where we are able to build a pipeline, so they’re able to go to school here, but also get a good-paying job here in this area,” she said. “We have so many of our young people that are interested in an array of opportunities in technology, and so I would definitely love to bring in many of those tech jobs — no data centers, but definitely many jobs relating to technology, because that is the way of the future.”
Crabb, who said he voted for a moratorium on data centers but does not hold to one side of the issue, focused on creating a friendlier atmosphere for businesses of all types to flourish in Orange County.
“We need to understand what business and economic development brings to us,” he said. “We need to be encouraging and have an atmosphere that is open and inviting for businesses. Once we do that and we get businesses here, then we could talk about incentives — there’s things that we could do to get some larger businesses here.”
Public safety and infrastructure
Although Crabb, who spoke about his 30 years in law enforcement, named public safety and infrastructure as his top two priorities outright, both he and Brown discussed those priorities, with each one highlighting the septic-to-sewer issue in particular.
“It is a public health issue, and it’s important that we make sure we do all that we can to prioritize clean water,” Brown said.
Brown also voiced support for the STAR Plan, which “would establish a countywide framework to study, secure funding for, and develop rapid transit for eight high-volume transportation corridors,” according to sunriseorlandofl.org.
“I think it’s a very key infrastructure project that could really bring impact here in this community,” she said.
In addition to the septic-to-sewer conversions, Crabb said the expansion of roadway capacity and enhancing intersection safety would play a key role in ensuring the county’s future quality of life.
“We need to prioritize infrastructure and find the money within our $9.1 billion budget and make hard decisions, because the infrastructure part is one of two things that local government owes you — and that’s public safety and infrastructure,” he said.
Both candidates also thoroughly supported the neighborhood groups championed by Moore, who was in attendance
“Lockhart’s doing well, Clarcona’s doing well, and Wekiva’s doing well — I really want to focus on South Apopka,” Crabb said. “I’ll get some insight from Commissioner Moore on what she worked through to get that going, and work with some community leaders in South Apopka.”
Attendee Bev Winesburgh said she appreciated the event and what it highlighted about the two candidates.
“It gave me a really full perspective of command of an audience, of command of the subject, of how committed you are to certain topics,” Winesburgh said. “I just was very interested in their perspective and their long-range view and their personalities.”
The District 2 forum came one day after mayoral candidates Chris Messina and Tiffany Moore Russell presented their visions for Orange County at a separate forum at Victory Church.
Both elections are scheduled for Nov. 3. The registration deadline is approaching Oct. 5, and the deadline to request a mail ballot is Oct. 22. Early voting runs Oct. 19 through Nov. 1.
Voters can check their registration, request or track a mail ballot, and find voting locations at voteorangefl.gov.