Less than a week out from Election Day, both Orange County mayoral candidates faced off Wednesday night in a final televised debate on WFTV.
Former Orange County Clerk of Courts and county commissioner Tiffany Moore Russell is running against entrepreneur Chris Messina for the mayoral seat. The winner will replace outgoing mayor Jerry Demings, who also previously served as the county sheriff and, before that, Orlando’s Chief of Police.
Much of Messina’s platform has focused on tackling affordability concerns, and solving them in part by attracting more technology-based jobs and trades education opportunities to the county. On Wednesday, Messina doubled down on that affordability focus.
“No, we will not raise people's taxes. I will commit to that,” Messina said. “In fact, I'm committed to cutting taxes. If Amendment 3 fails, we'll try to find some other ways and other places where we (can) cut taxes.”
Amendment 3 is a proposed constitutional amendment before voters that would expand homestead exemptions for non-school district property taxes, reducing government revenue.
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Moore Russell pushed back on that promise from Messina, saying it’s not one he’ll likely be able to keep. She said she won’t commit to cutting taxes right now, while not in office.
“I won't sit here and tell voters today that I'm going to cut a particular program, when I have no idea: are they serving a certain need today? What is the impact, and who is going to be impacted if that program is cut?” Moore Russell said.
If elected, Moore Russell said she’ll explore different ways to ensure the county’s budget is stable. For example, she said, instead of cutting certain capital improvement projects outright, perhaps some could be delayed, depending on how big of a priority they are.
Both candidates also shared ideas on how to address the county’s housing challenges. Moore Russell said, as mayor, she’d focus on improving and expediting the county’s process for approving permits to build more affordable housing.
“We have to make some critical changes internally,” Moore Russell said. “Because the longer a permit sits on someone's desk for approval, the more it’s costing to that project.”
Messina spent two months living on the streets as a teenager, he said, making homelessness a personal issue for him.
If elected, Messina said, he plans “to redevelop, to call in developers proactively, and redevelop the blighted strip malls up and down Orange County.” Those redevelopment plans would include some mixed-income housing along with commercial businesses, he said.
The mayoral race is non-partisan, but each candidate is a member of a different political party. Moore Russell is a Democrat and Messina is a Republican.
Moore Russell led August’s primary election, earning nearly 32% of the vote. Messina took second place, with just over 27%.
Early voting continues in Orange County until 8 p.m. Sunday. Election Day is Tuesday.
