"Local news worth reading" — The New York Times
SUBSCRIBE
The independent voice for West Orange County news
Ocoee Tuesday voted unanimously to throw its official support behind Map 2 in the Orange County redistricting process.
The Orange County Mid-Decennial Redistricting Advisory Committee has been working since February to carve eight districts from the county's six existing districts, following a November ballot measure mandating additional representation on the Board of County Commissioners.
Ocoee joins Winter Garden, Tildenville and the West Orange Chamber of Commerce in supporting Map 2, which groups Ocoee, Winter Garden, Oakland and Apopka together in District 2 and maintains Horizon West in District 1. The commission agreed to send a letter to the redistricting advisory committee stating its support.
City commissioners said their priorities were for Ocoee to remain unified with a single commissioner in a District 2 that includes Winter Garden. In April, Ocoee Mayor Rusty Johnson and Winter Garden Mayor John Rees sent joint letters to the redistricting committee indicating their preference to be districted together. Ocoee and Winter Garden are both century-old cities with a shared history and mutual interests.
Angel de la Portilla, the District 2 representative on the redistricting advisory committee, walked city commissioners through the seven maps accepted by the committee (out of 15 submitted) for further consideration.
He said that Map 2 had his support and that he’d spoken during advisory committee meetings “about the benefits of keeping three municipalities with common interests in one district.” He added that he believed that, based on public comment, Map 7 had “the most support.”
Ocoee had been split between Districts 1 and 2 in 2011, then consolidated into District 2 in 2021. Keeping Ocoee whole within a single district remains a priority.
“What this map is doing is bringing Winter Garden in with Ocoee,” de la Portilla said. “I believe at a minimum Ocoee should be in District 2. If we can bring Winter Garden with us, that will work. But we want to remain in District 2 because we work well with Apopka. And the city of Winter Garden has expressed interest in joining District 2. “
District 2 City Commissioner Rosemary Wilsen concurred, saying that of the seven maps, Map 2 was her “personal choice” and that it “does a lot of what we want,” particularly keeping Ocoee with the “sister cities” it works with.
“To me it all comes down to the commissioners for the districts and what they’re going to do to help the district,” said Mayor Rusty Johnson. “I just don’t want to see us back in two districts.”
Asked by Johnson for his take, City Manager Craig Shadrix said that he looked at the redistricting without the politics and focused on environmental protection, transportation planning, utilities planning, downtown master planning and growth planning. He advocated for backing Winter Garden in their support for Map 2.
“We are working very closely with Winter Garden on a number of things, and their commission has expressed interest in remaining with Ocoee in a map. We work closely with Apopka as well … Your safe bet is to express support for a map that shows solidarity with Winter Garden and … covers your bases otherwise.”
