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Since March, the 15-member Orange County Mid-Decennial Redistricting Advisory Committee has met nearly every week to work on restructuring the county’s existing six districts into eight.
The committee was formed in January following passage of a November ballot measure to expand the Board of Commissioners by adding two more commissioners who will be elected in 2026. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings appointed three people to the committee while each of the sitting six county commissioners named two. There’s a deep bench of knowledge here with committee members who served on the 2021 Redistricting Advisory Committee along with local community leaders, former politicians, political consultants and business leaders.
It’s a daunting challenge. Committee members have spent weeks listening to constituent concerns, such as equitable redistricting practices, fair minority representation, population data accuracy and more. Residents and city officials from across the county — including Pine Hills, Winter Garden, Ocoee and Horizon West — have also lobbied the committee to either maintain or realign district lines to improve their own communities' representation.
Earlier meetings even saw some constituents protest the redistricting process as a whole, demanding it be halted and suggesting committee members were responsible for the process legally required by the state. But despite the occasional difficulties, committee members appear to have taken everything in stride. In fact, the bipartisan group’s meetings run efficiently, encourage public comments and are devoid of political in-fighting or personal attacks.
While discussions about potential maps usually include many opinions on how the county’s newest districts should be created, discussions among members are refreshingly civil, even friendly.
Here’s more about who the people redrawing Orange County are.
This is Perez’s second go-round chairing a redistricting advisory committee — he co-chaired the 2021 Redistricting Advisory Committee for the county after the 2020 U.S. Census.
An attorney, former government relations lobbyist and local political commentator for his own WDBO radio show “Talkin’ With Tico,” Perez has been president of the Orlando Utilities Commission, chair of the Orange County Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission and president of the University of Central Florida Alumni Association. An Eagle Scout himself, Perez also served as the ninth National Commissioner of the Boy Scouts of America.
Perez attempted a run for the U.S. Senate in Florida’s 8th Congressional District during the 2000 Republican primary, but withdrew before the election. He later ran unsuccessfully in the 2003 special election for Orlando mayor. He holds a B.A. from the University of Central Florida and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
Contact Perez at tperez@ab.ocfl.net.
Evans is reprising her role as Redistricting Advisory Committee co-chair, having served in the same capacity on the county’s 2021 Redistricting Advisory Committee. She also chaired the county’s Charter Review Commission in 2020, helping to determine which charter-related questions appeared on the election ballot. She currently serves on the county’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
Evans is the founder and managing partner of Endow Law, a minority-owned firm with offices in Orlando, Atlanta and Philadelphia that focuses on corporate and financial matters. Evans has also co-chaired the board for the West Orange Political Alliance, West Orange Chamber of Commerce and the American Heart Association. She currently serves on the board for the Foundation for a Healthier West Orange.
She holds a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a law degree from Florida State University College of Law.
Contact Evans at cevans@ab.ocfl.net.
Jones serves as political director for 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, the largest nursing home and hospital workers union in Florida. She is also president of the southern region of SEIU's African American Caucus.
Jones managed Democrat Todd Christian’s 2010 campaign for District 40 in the Florida House of Representatives and Alvin Moore’s 2011 re-election campaign for Eatonville Town Council. She has also served on the 2019 Orange County Housing For All Task Force; as secretary of the Metropolitan Orange Democratic Black Caucus; and as a field organizer for the 2008 Eatonville Obama Campaign for Change. She holds a B.A. from Hampton University.
Contact Jones at cjones@ab.ocfl.net.
A 20-year Orange County resident, Jackson is an accountant as well as a board member and treasurer for the Horizon High School Parent Teacher Organization. She served on last year’s Orange County Charter Review Commission. She has degrees in business management from the University of Missouri-Columbia and accounting from Florida Southern College.
Contact Jackson at ejackson@ab.ocfl.net.
Olszewski is the vice-president of government and community relations for Global-5, the public relations, marketing and advertising firm based in Longwood.
Known affectionately as “Bobby O,” Olszewski also chaired the board for the Orange County Community Action Agency and served as corporate partner consultant for Special Olympics Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed him to Valencia College’s District Board of Trustees in 2021.
Olszewski served as Winter Garden’s commissioner for District 3 before vacating his seat to run in a 2017 special election for the Florida House of Representatives in House District 44. The Republican served one year before losing the seat in 2018 to the late Sen. Geraldine Thompson.
He holds a B.A. from the University of Central Florida, an M.A. from Rollins College, an M.S. from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a Ph.D. from Northcentral University.
Contact Olszewski at bolszewski@ab.ocfl.net.
The founder of Kilsheimer & Associates, a local government strategies and public relations consulting group, Kilsheimer is also the executive director of the Florida Waste-to-Energy Coalition, a membership group of local governments and private businesses that own, operate and support waste-to-energy facilities. He served on the 2021 Orange County Redistricting Advisory Committee.
Kilsheimer was a reporter with the Orlando Sentinel for 20 years and later got into local politics. He served as an Apopka city commissioner for two years and was elected mayor in 2014, serving until 2018 when he was defeated in the municipal election by Orange County Commissioner Bryan Nelson.
Kilsheimer holds a B.A. from the University of Central Florida.
Contact Kilsheimer at jkilsheimer@ab.ocfl.net.
The president and CEO of Central Florida Strategies, an Orlando-based government consulting and public affairs firm, de la Portilla has served on the 2008, 2012 and 2024 Orange County Charter Review Commissions.
In 2021, DeSantis appointed de la Portilla to the Valencia College District Board of Trustees. He was also on Demings’ transition team in 2018 when he was mayor-elect, serving on the customer service and business development task force to improve the county’s development approval and permitting process. An Ocoee resident, de la Portilla was appointed by the city commission to serve as District 3 commissioner in 2015 to fill a vacancy until the municipal election was held the following year.
De la Portilla attended Florida International University.
Contact Portilla at adelaportilla@ab.ocfl.net.
Arias was a member of the county’s 2021 Redistricting Advisory Committee and served on the county’s Charter Review Commission last year. A 30-year veteran attorney, he worked as a prosecutor with the 18th Judicial Circuit Courts in Sanford and now is in private practice, focusing on immigration law. In 2016, he ran for Orange County Court judge but lost in the Group 5 primary.
Arias has an undergraduate degree from the University of Central Florida and a law degree from Florida State University College of Law.
Contact Arias at marias@ab.ocfl.net
Callan has been a member of both the 2021 Orange County Redistricting Advisory Committee and the county’s 2024 County Charter Review Commission.
Now a private practice attorney who has represented the Orlando Utilities Commission, Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority, Palm Beach County and AT&T Florida, Callan’s 40 years of experience has included stints as Orlando assistant city attorney for land use and transportation and Palm Beach County assistant county attorney for land use.
Callan holds a B.A. from DePauw University and a law degree from the University of Florida Levin College of Law.
Contact Callan at tcallan@ab.ocfl.net.
The vice president of the hospitality management group Skyline Hotels, Bagga served on last year’s Orange County Charter Review Commission. Bagga previously worked as an assistant state attorney in Miami-Dade County and he’s currently of counsel to The Grosshans Group, a construction and commercial law firm based in Winter Garden.
Bagga was president of the South Asian Bar Association of North America. Now he sits on the board of governors for the association's advisory council as well as the Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Sciences at the University of Central Florida. In 2023, he ran for the Florida House of Representatives in the District 35 special election, but lost in the Democratic primary.
Bagga holds a B.A. from the University of Central Florida and an M.A. and law degree from the American University Washington College of Law.
Contact Bagga at rbagga@ab.ocfl.net.
The CEO and founder of J & Washington, a local political consulting firm, Washington worked on Gomez Gordero’s campaign for commissioner, Bagga’s campaign for House District 35 and Wilson’s first campaign for the Orange County Commission in 2020. He is an advisory board member for the Orange County Building Code Board of Adjustment and Appeals and chairs the civic engagement group Orange County Watch.
Washington spent more than 20 years as a public services administrator in Lake County, Illinois, before moving to Orange County in 2015 to work as a child protection investigator for the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Washington holds a B.A. from Chicago State University and an M.S.W. from the University of Illinois Chicago.
Contact Washington at dwashington@ab.ocfl.net.
A local ecologist with GAI Consultants and Lotspeich and Associates Inc., Spears sits on the board for the Orlando Bike Coalition. In 2008 and 2012, he was elected to the executive committee of the Orange County Democratic Party and served as a member of the Orange County Planning and Zoning Commission. He’s also served on the board of trustees for the The Mennello Museum of American Art and the nonprofit Ivanhoe Village Inc., an organization of residents, local businesses and local government officials committed to good stewardship of the community. Spears holds degrees from Auburn University and Rollins College.
Contact Spears at jspears@ab.ocfl.net.
Auffant served as vice-chair for the county’s Charter Review Commission in 2020 and as a member of the 2021 Orange County Redistricting Advisory Committee. He’s also been a member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for Orange County, the United Cerebral Palsy Board and the Valencia College District Board of Trustees.
An Orlando attorney, Auffant worked for the Legal Aid Society of Orange County and the Orange-Osceola Counties Public Defender's Office before going into private practice. In politics, Auffant has served as the Florida Democratic Party’s secretary and as state committeeman for the Orange County Democratic Executive Committee. In 2000, he ran for state representative in District 35, but lost. He tried again in 2014, running for Orange County Clerk of Court. He lost in the Democratic primary. Auffant holds B.A. and law degrees from the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico.
Contact Auffant at jauffant@ab.ocfl.net.
A developer and CEO of the AMP Group, which owns and operates commercial ventures such as the Orlando Crossings retail center and the I-Drive Perfumeland Megastore, Pezzini helped establish the Orlando location for the Brazilian consulate and was the District 6 appointee for Orlando’s Redistricting Advisory Board in 2022.
He currently serves on the boards for the International Drive Chamber of Commerce and Florida Citrus Sports. Last year, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer appointed Pezzini to the International Drive Business Improvement District Advisory Board.
Contact Pezzini at apezzini@ab.ocfl.net.
Henry is the district director for Congressman Maxwell Frost of Congressional District 10. Prior to that, he ran communications and policy for the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness and coordinated communications for the Orange County Property Appraiser. He's worked as the executive aide to Orlando District 6 City Commissioner Bakari Burns and as a field organizer for Charlie Crist during his 2014 gubernatorial campaign. Henry was president of the Orange County Young Democrats and ran as a candidate himself in 2012 for the Florida House of Representatives in District 46. He lost in the Democratic primary. Henry holds a degree from Virginia College.
Contact Henry at jhenry@ab.ocfl.net
