Apopka has had a strong mayor form of government for its entire 143-year history, but that could change after the municipal election on March 10.

The city’s form of government is the first — and most consequential — question of the eight that Apopka voters will have to decide at the ballot box.  

Under the current City Charter, the mayor acts as the chief executive officer who supervises the city’s daily operations and wields administrative authority in addition to holding a vote on the City Council. 

If voters approve question 1, the amendment would reduce the mayor’s role to a largely ceremonial position. The mayor would still have one vote on the commission, but a professional city manager would handle day-to-day operations, including hiring, firing and administrative oversight. 

All three mayoral candidates – Orange County Commissioner Christine Moore, incumbent Mayor Bryan Nelson and City Commissioner Nick Nesta – said they support keeping the current system. 

“I favor what we’ve had for 143 years, which is strong mayor,” Moore said during the Feb. 3 mayoral debate at Apopka High School, which was co-organized by The Apopka Chief and WESH 2 News. “I also favor, though, giving the commissioners and the people a whole lot more power.” 

Moore said she supports widening community involvement and council oversight through the creation of more advisory boards and having each council member make board appointments to them. She suggested boards or committees for parks and recreation, historical preservation and infrastructure. 

She said she also supports council ratification of the administrator and the clerk, although she lamented that the current interim city administrator, Radley Williams, could not get ratified permanently in his position. 

“They couldn’t even get it through this fractured council,” Moore said.  

Most importantly, Moore argued, voters should choose a mayor based on vision and leadership. 

“When you go to the ballot box and you pick one of us to be mayor, you’re picking a vision, you’re picking a plan,” she said, adding that under a manager-led system, residents would lose that direct executive leadership. 

Nelson said the strong mayor form has enhanced his ability to recruit businesses and jobs into the city because he serves as both chief executive and a voting member of the council. 

“When I go meet with somebody that’s looking to bring three or four or 500 jobs, or looking to bring a new restaurant into town, I’m going not only as the CEO, but I’m going as a voting member,” Nelson said. “If I like what the project looks like … they’ve got one vote out of three.” 

Nelson said that being involved in city operations allows him to better understand budgets and development proposals. He described the combination of administrative authority and voting power as “paramount to a great city” and suggested some municipalities regret moving to a council-manager form of government. 

Still, Nesta said residents should decide the form of government they want and noted that the amendment would not be on the ballot if not for public support. 

“The residents have been pushing for this for years,” he said. “I want to make sure that the residents voices, more than anything, is heard, and I want to serve in whatever capacity the residents want me to serve.” 

Co-moderator J.C. Derrick asked each candidate if they would commit to serve the full four-year term, even if voters changed the form of government. All three answered yes.  

At the Feb. 12 council candidate forum organized by Apopka Involved Voters, several candidates said they’re in favor of strong mayor form of government, including Seat 1 incumbent Alexander H. Smith and Seat 2 incumbent Diane Velazquez.  

In contrast, Angela Turner, Seat 2 challenger, said she does not support the strong mayor because she does not want to grant wide executive power to a single elected leader. Instead, she preferred a structure where commissioners share more authority and where additional citizen committees help shape city policy.  

“I would like to see other committees that are formed as a result of that, maybe for beautifying downtown, or other subcommittees,” Turner said.