Apopka’s newly-elected Mayor Nick Nesta has announced a “temporary hiring pause” for most vacant city positions — just days after the city’s new communications director started at a salary far higher than Nesta and many counterparts in local governments.
A notice posted Wednesday on the city’s website, Facebook and Instagram pages said the pause would remain in effect through Oct. 1 as officials continue planning for the new fiscal year that starts on that date.
“We understand this may raise questions, particularly for those who have recently applied for a position with the city,” it stated. “This temporary pause is part of a broader review of how city government is structured and how we can best position our employees and departments to serve our growing community as efficiently as possible.
“The goal is not simply to add positions or eliminate positions. The goal is to build the right structure.”
Steven “Trooper Steve” Montiero started Monday as public information director. When requests for comment from Nesta were made Thursday morning, it was Montiero who responded on his behalf.
Montiero said the city sent an internal email Tuesday to all employees — and commissioners — to inform them of the hiring freeze and the reasons behind it. The similarly-worded public announcement was posted Wednesday.
“It actually has absolutely nothing to do with budget or any type of financial talks,” he said. “The mayor’s really focused on restructuring, at the moment, to make it more efficient.
“There’s a lot of discrepancies that he’s picked up over the last couple of months. And I think operating in an old-school mentality is not what Apopka needs at the moment.”
Montiero said Nesta is looking at the needs of staff to do their jobs and reshaping the organization chart to effectively do that. The announcement also said the decision is about being responsible with taxpayer dollars.
The freeze will not impact recruitment of a community development director, which the announcement said is an important leadership position for the city’s future. The city asked for patience during this period from those who’ve submitted applications for vacant positions.
“If any commissioner wants to speak on this that’s totally fine for them to do so, but at the end of the day the mayor’s the full-time guy sitting here really trying to get into the minutia of everything here at the city,” Montiero said.
Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel
Steven “Trooper Steve” Montiero’s hire and $180,000 salary as Apopka’s new PIO have raised some eyebrows. He previously worked for WKMG-Channel 6. On Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, the city announced Mayor Nick Nesta was implementing a hiring freeze through Oct. 1, the start of the new fiscal year. Montiero started his job with the city Monday. (Orlando Sentinel file)
Commissioner Nadia Anderson is arguably the commission’s most vocal critic of the preliminary budget’s millions in new spending on positions. She has suggested the idea of a hiring freeze in recent commission meetings, citing Orlando’s freeze as an example.
Budget documents include about $8.54 million slotted for new positions with about $2.98 million saved from position reductions. Nesta has defended it as a matter of catching up on the city’s needs after leaving positions vacant for too long and shifting those responsibilities to existing employees.
Reached by phone Wednesday evening, Anderson said she was disappointed to first learn about the freeze on social media. She said she’s been unable to provide additional information to residents calling her with questions.
“I have previously recommended mentioned on multiple occasions of the city implementing a hiring freeze as part of responsible fiscal management,” she said. “I would think at least we’d have a discussion with the commission prior to this decision.”
She said she definitely plans to bring up the issue at the next regular commission meeting on Wednesday. She also said she’s especially interested in what information Nesta has obtained — which commissioners don’t yet have — that resulted in his decision.
As of 10 a.m. Thursday, the Facebook post announcing the freeze had 92 likes and 71 comments, while the one on Instagram had 12 likes and no comments.
“We elected Mayor Nesta because we need change for Apopka to move forward. This doesn’t happen overnight,” one commenter wrote. “Please be patient and continue to support the effort that goes into making these decisions.” Another said, “I’m glad he’s doing a deep dive into this. I’d rather see him proactive than reactive!”
But many noted the irony of implementing the freeze just days after Montiero started his job as the city’s new public information director. Montiero, currently a volunteer reserve trooper with the Florida Highway Patrol, also worked as a traffic safety expert for CBS WKMG News 6 in Orlando but left that job when he came to work for the city.
He gets a base salary of $180,000 annually — far above the $133,350 paid to Nesta, who took the gavel April 28 — and more than his counterparts working for Orange County, Orlando and similar-sized Central Florida cities are paid.
“Maybe if they didn’t just hire a content creator at $180K they could hire other staff. Depending on the position, they could hire 3 to 4 staff members with that money,” one Facebook post stated.
The city’s public announcement and email on the freeze did not mention the November statewide ballot referendum, which could increase the current $50,000 homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028. If approved by 60% of voters, the constitutional amendment would take effect Jan. 1 and slash tax revenue generated for local governments. School tax revenue would be shielded from the new exemptions.