Jim Gray draws 2 challengers in Orlando’s largest commission district
Fast-growing District 1 is home to long-established Orlando neighborhoods in Conway and the sprawling planned community of Lake Nona lauded by city leaders as a hub for technology, medical research and new residents.
Incumbent Jim Gray, first elected in 2012, faces Bill Moore, a retired Orlando Police Officer of 20 years, and Sunshine Grund, a licensed real estate broker for a 4-year term on the city council.
The district is the largest by population and geographically, a product of Lake Nona where one out of every three building permits in Orlando are filed. It spans from the intersection on Conway and Curry Ford Roads, southeast of Orlando International Airport to Lake Nona.
“I think in Lake Nona we’re doing it right and nobody has to take my word for it. The market is telling them,” Gray said.
Both of his opponents have argued that the city council needs to be shaken up, arguing Gray and other longtime incumbents have been in office too long. They both support term limits.
“The city of Orlando has had continual problems with transportation and public safety,” Moore said. “It’s an ongoing problem and the same people have been in place for nine years in District 1, and other districts even longer.”
Incumbents generally fair well in city elections. An Orlando incumbent hasn’t lost re-election since Robert Stuart defeated Vicki Vargo in 2006. Since then, Gray, Regina Hill, Tony Ortiz and Bakari Burns won vacated seats on the council.
Gray has only spent about $4,000 of the nearly $40,000 he’s raised for the race, giving him an advantage over his opponents. Grund hasn’t fundraised, contributing $1,500 of her own money to cover the filing fee. Moore has spent about $2,400 of the $3,600 he’s raised.
Moore has contended that the police department needs more cops to effectively keep up with the city’s booming population growth of 20% over the past decade.
He said the city needs to aggressively recruit officers from out of state and could do so by offering incentives like property tax or utility breaks for those who live in the city. In all, he said OPD may need to hire more than 80 to account for shortages as well as officers leaving the department.
Grund said she’s supportive of thoughtful development in Lake Nona, but thinks city leaders need to focus more heavily on figuring out congested roads, and said she’d fight to protect wetlands from being built upon and would work to advance priorities of diversity and inclusion.
She criticized Gray for being funded by developers, suggesting he’s too cozy with the industry.
“Our best interests are not always being represented,” she said.
Moore also dinged the incumbent for not voting on some agenda items due to conflicts of interest. Gray has abstained from voting when clients are represented by the commercial real estate firm CBRE, where he works as the managing director of the Orlando office.
“When you start conflicting out, you’re not only not representing District 1, you’re not representing the city,” Moore said. “I think he needs to step down.”
Gray has said his work in real estate has been helpful in working with developers to either pare down unreasonable requests or to work with staff to find compromises that benefit neighbors and builders.
“Most of them know our rules and regulations and are reasonable and fair,” Gray said. “As a real estate professional, I can balance what they’re asking for and what our city codes are.”
Within the district, he said he’s proud of advancements in opening of regional parks such as McCoy Community Park and Heroes Community Park, paid for through a parks impact fee for which he pushed. He also said he was able to help negotiate an agreement to bring a public library to Lake Nona, which will be located on city land alongside a government building.
Grund said she’d support efforts to build affordable housing on land owned by the city, or subsidize builders who agree to keep units affordable. She also said she’d support housing the chronically homeless, along with providing services.
On the dais, Gray has been an outspoken critic of downtown Orlando, particularly its lack of fine dining and retail, and abundance of bars and taprooms. In an interview, Gray said he’s suggested the city hire consultants to help craft a plan to diversify downtown, such as plans to improve access to parking or offering reduced or free rent.
“We’ve built a beautiful arena and we’ve built a beautiful arts center. Tell me how many new businesses have opened and stayed open around those venues,” he said. “What’s happening now is [patrons] drive in from suburbia, they go to the show, they get into their car and go back home.
“Bottom line is we’re pouring way too much alcohol downtown ... we’re just out of proportion.”
Moore has criticized Gray for supporting a package of votes brought forward earlier this year to help address a rash of crime downtown. It included a focus on enforcing existing rules, such as the city’s sound ordinance and requiring sidewalk cafes to be permitted.
But it also came with a six-month ban on outdoor speakers facing sidewalks and streets in hopes of reducing crowds on roadways late at night. Money was also allotted to deploy more police and code enforcement.
Moore said the city could improve safety by stationing officers on each street corner on Friday and Saturday nights.
“That’s crazy,” Moore said of the ordinance. “If the sound coming from your speakers is over 70 decibels … code enforcement is actively going out there and fining businesses.”
How to vote
Vote by mail is ongoing now, and registered voters can request a ballot through the Supervisor of Elections website until 5 p.m. on Oct. 23, or they can be picked up in person until Nov. 2.
Vote-by-mail ballots must be returned by Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.
Early voting runs from Oct. 25 through Oct. 29. From Oct. 25 through Oct. 29, polling locations are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Oct. 30, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on Oct. 31, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Election Day is Nov. 2, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
