Windermere candidates tackle town issues at forum

Windermere residents last week had the opportunity to hear from five candidates vying for spots on the Windermere Town Council. 

The town of Windermere hosted a Candidates Night Forum Thursday, Feb. 6, at Town Hall to give candidates an opportunity to share their views of the town and what they would do if elected. 

Candidates Mandy David, Tony Davit, Frank Krens, Jessica Lee and Tom Stroup all were present at the forum, which the West Orange Chamber of Commerce moderated. 

David, Davit and Stroup currently serve on Town Council. 

Topics covered in the forum included the candidates’ skills and capabilities they would consider to be an asset to the town; what they considered the top challenge facing the town and how they would address it; what they believe the town has done right in recent years; what the town could have done better in recent years; their main priorities; and how they would ensure residents stay informed and engaged. 

After questions from the moderator, residents also had an opportunity to ask questions. 

Residents wanted to know where the candidates stood on the boathouse issue. In September 2024, the town of Windermere approved a resolution to authorize the town attorney to proceed with a lawsuit filed against occupants of the boathouses. The issue stems back to 1986.

Davit, Krens and David all said they simply want the issue to be resolved, but it’s up to the courts to decide the result of the issue. 

“I don’t care what happens as far as determination of ownership — whether it’s the residents of the boathouses or the town,” Davit said. “What I don’t want to happen is for my kids to be sitting on Town Council in 20 years trying to resolve the same issue. I want it to be resolved.”

Lee questioned the legality of the original lease of the boathouses.

“We all know that if you can’t prove ownership of something, you can’t then go and write a lease for that property, and so we need to figure out if that original lease was actually valid in the first place, because if it wasn’t valid in the first place, this entire thing goes away,” she said. 

Stroup said he wished the matter would have been resolved before going to trial, but now that it is, he hopes everyone can be amiable regardless of the result.

Another resident posed a question regarding the restrooms planned close to Town Hall and adjacent to the town’s ADA parking spots near Town Hall. Residents wanted to know if candidates would consider a different location.

The council approved the Town Hall renovations and restroom construction at its Dec. 19 meeting. 

Lee said she would be open to changing the location of the bathrooms “as long as it is in a centralized location” so people going to shops or restaurants or going for a walk can access them easily. 

Stroup, David and Davit said they all like the location of the restrooms, because they are easily accessible from the parking lot, close to the handicap parking spaces and can’t be seen from the front of Town Hall.

Davit said “a lot of design dollars” already have been spent on the project and “taking a step back would just be a waste of that.”

Residents also asked whether candidates support making the traffic flow through town easier or if there should be deterrents to discourage more traffic.

Stroup said the solution to noise and traffic is dependent on every driver as well as education and awareness. 

David said although she selfishly wants to make it harder for drivers to come through Windermere, it’s not realistic. 

“We’re going to have to figure out a way to make it an ease of flow, because I just don’t think realistically we’re going to be able to say, ‘Go the other way,’” she said. “I would love to be able to do that, but I think we need to have some more discussions and figure out the ease of going through town versus making it more complicated for all of us.”

Davit suggested rather than making it easier or more difficult to drive through town, the solution is getting traffic out of town. He said the town should work with its municipal partners, MetroPlan Orlando, Orange County and surrounding areas to get traffic out of Windermere. 

“We can sit here and contemplate solutions all day long, but until we get traffic counts down entering town and leaving town, it won’t matter,” he said. 

Krens said the town should find ways to discourage people from traveling through Windermere to limit the traffic in town, such as educating people on other paths to travel. 

“We don’t want to stop traffic, but we also don’t want to encourage more,” he said. 

Lee said the town should find ways to deter more traffic, such as using blue lights around town, but the town also should make the flow of traffic easier.