To get to her job at Orlando City Hall, Mira Tanna catches the 6:45 a.m. bus every day near Orange Blossom Trail.
Tanna’s 45-minute commute is what helps set her apart if she wins an Orlando City Council runoff election next month.
“I think I would be the only elected official in Central Florida that actually rides the bus,” said Tanna about her journey that’s helped her intimately learn the shortcomings of Central Florida’s public transit system and relate with thousands of workers who rely on it to get to work.
It’s part of the grassroots appeal of Tanna, who placed second in the Nov. 4 election, trailing Roger Chapin by a mere 14 votes.
Since no candidate won a clear majority, Chapin and Tanna are facing off in a Dec. 9 runoff election to represent District 3, which includes Baldwin Park, Audubon Park, College Park and Rosemont.
Chapin and Tanna are both Democrats, although the office they are seeking is nonpartisan. It pays $79,343 annually.
In the few weeks before Election Day, Tanna said she is focused on knocking on doors. Her campaign has reached more than 11,000 so far since she started running for office. U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost and state Rep. Anna Eskamani, who both endorsed her, are helping mobilize volunteers.
“I have built a coalition of young people and environmentalists and labor and immigrant and civil rights activists and advocates and faith communities and public servants,” Tanna said. “They inspire me and give me hope and drive me on, and we are just getting out to reach as many voters individually as we can.”
Already notching better name recognition as the son of former Orange County Mayor Linda Chapin, Roger Chapin has outraised Tanna by more than 3 to 1.
“Unfortunately, money is the reality of politics,” Tanna said. “I think another reason that people should vote for me is because they can trust me. They can trust me because my campaign isn’t funded by corporate donations.”
When asked if she feels like an underdog heading into next month’s runoff, Tanna replied, “I guess you could say that.”
Image via the Central Florida Transportation Authority.
A major part of Tanna’s platform is fixing Central Florida’s public transit, where some tourism workers spend hours commuting one way. SunRail doesn’t operate on nights, weekends or even go to the airport. For locals, the only realistic way to ever go to Disney World means hopping on Interstate 4 — with everybody else.
Tanna started riding the bus full time about 18 months ago after she totaled her Honda Insight in a crash on Mills Avenue and Colonial Drive.
“I really had a decision to make about how to replace it. I’ve been riding the Lynx bus off and on and I just decided to go all in,” Tanna said.
Instead of buying a new car, she bought a $50 bus pass to get to work.
Now, she points to bus shelters where riders wait in the rain or under the hot sun. She knows which routes need more frequent buses.
“I really see that we don’t have the infrastructure we need in terms of public transit to serve our residents well or to serve our tourists well or to ease the traffic congestion in our region,” Tanna said.
“We need some someone who is not going to say, ‘OK, this issue sounds like it resonates with people; I’ll put it on my platform,’ but somebody who’s actually going to go there and fight to get a dedicated source of funding, to change the way our public transit system works and to be able to speak about it from their own experience of using it.”
Tanna, who lives in Rosemont, touted her results for the past seven years as the city’s grants manager in preparing her for what she hopes is an elevated role in City Hall.
“I have brought in about $125 million worth to improve our water quality and to make our schools safer and to bring fresh produce to food deserts and to control flooding in our communities,” she said. “I’ve been lucky enough to be able to work with almost every department in the city and to learn what works really well, and where I see opportunities to make improvements and an impact.”
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer surprised her in 2022 that she was one of the city’s employees of the year due to her dedication and public service. But years later, Dyer endorsed Chapin, her opponent. Dyer did not respond to a request for comment on his endorsement decision for this story.
Whomever wins District 3 will be the first new City Commissioner in 20 years after incumbent Robert Stuart opted not to seek re-election.
Tanna said she wants to be visible and approachable, a city leader who reaches out to working families too.
“If you just expect people to come to a City Council meeting or come to their neighborhood meeting, I think you’re just leaving a lot of people out and making them feel like their voices really aren’t that important,” Tanna said.
Early voting runs Dec. 1-7, with polls open on Election Day, Dec. 9, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.