Managing Oviedo’s growing traffic woes, which often cause snarls and gridlocks within the city’s corridors, is one of the key topics among the candidates vying for the mayor’s seat in the Nov. 7 election.
Mayor Megan Sladek, who is seeking a third term, faces challenges from candidates Judith Dolores Smith, who served on Oviedo’s City Council from 2019 to 2021, and Brady Duke, who sought a Congressional seat in 2022.
Oviedo’s mayor is elected at-large and serves two-year terms. The position pays $14,401 a year.
Natalie Teuchert was elected to a second two-year term on the Oviedo Council after not drawing an opponent in this election.
The central Seminole County city currently has just under 40,000 residents, but its population is expected to grow to 50,000 in 15 years, according to city data. About 80% of developed property within Oviedo is residential.
That growth forecast, and its effects, has long been a key discussion point in Oviedo elections.
“If there was a way to have growth without traffic, that would be great,” said Sladek, an attorney and real estate broker. “But there’s no way to avoid traffic, as long as you have growth. Multimodal is the solution. That’s the cure.”
Instead of building more roads or adding more lanes to existing thoroughfares — which take up a considerable amount of space and land — Sladek advocates for more multimodal pathways that would invite and accommodate pedestrians, bicycles and golf carts.
Alafaya Woods Boulevard, for example, a four-lane road that curves around and through several residential neighborhoods between Mitchell Hammock Road and State Road 434, could be narrowed to two lanes, according to Sladek.
“There’s a humongous amount of space there where we could create a safe, multimodal path,” said Sladek, noting that 19% of planned trips are less than two miles. “If we can get people who are going two miles or less [to] feel like they [can] use something other than their cars.”
Smith, a former business owner and retired social worker, said every election season, candidates talk about growth and traffic. However, the effects of growth are here to stay, so maybe now, it’s time to try something new, she said.
“Let’s change the conversation,” she said. “I would like people to start asking different questions, because we’re not a small town anymore. … There’s no way we can put the genie back in the bottle. But if we change the conversation and ask the right questions, then we can make this a nicer place to live. We still have that small-town flavor.”
Smith is an Oviedo native whose maternal grandfather settled in the area in the early 1900s. She would like the city to work more closely with the University of Central Florida and Seminole State College — whose campuses sit less than five miles from downtown Oviedo — to help residents improve their education and job skills to eventually earn higher-paying jobs.
“We have UCF right next door. But I don’t think we’re utilizing it as much as we can,” she said. “Many people are having a difficult time affording their housing. Perhaps we need to encourage and help people increase their income.”
Duke is a former Navy Seal, a minister and small business owner. He ran for the U.S. House District 7 seat as a Republican in 2022, but lost in the primary to U.S. Rep. Cory Mills.
Duke — who grew up in Chuluota and Kissimmee — moved to Oviedo with his family about three years ago after finishing his military career. He said he wants to inspire “people in the community to live out their fullest potential.”
One of his top priorities as mayor is supporting Oviedo’s police and fire departments, Duke said. He referred to recent comments from city officials about possibly looking into the cost benefits of contracting with Seminole County for fire services.
“For me, that’s nonnegotiable,” Duke said. “There are a lot of benefits to having our own police and fire departments. … What happens after a Hurricane Ian? That’s a big reason how Oviedo got its power back so quickly because of our city’s public safety. … The county does excellent work, but we can better rely on our own public safety [departments].”
Regarding traffic and growth, Duke said that’s a sign of a growing economy. However, there are impacts, he said.
“Traffic isn’t a problem, it’s congestion,” he said in support of widening roads and other measures. “I think there are ways to minimize the congestion, to make traffic move more efficiently. Then, the traffic is not going to be felt as much.”
On their ballots, Oviedo voters also will have a chance to decide a bond referendum about whether the city should borrow $35.5 million to help pay for the costs of building a new and larger police station.
In 2016, Oviedo voters approved a similar bond referendum to raise up to $11.4 million for a new police headquarters. However, a space-needs study commissioned by the city a year later determined Oviedo would need more money for the project. Therefore, the bonds for the $11.4 million were never issued, or the money raised.
If the current bond referendum is approved, it would raise up to $46.9 million for the new police station by adding the two bond amounts.
The bond would be paid from property tax collections each fiscal year.
mcomas@orlandosentinel.com
