But if Question 1 of eight proposed charter amendments<\/a> is adopted at the same election, on March 10, it will dramatically change the structure of government in Orange County\u2019s second-largest city\u00a0that dates back to 1919<\/a>.<\/p>\n The mayor\u2019s post, now a full-time job paying $133,350 annually, would become largely ceremonial and pay $17,400, the same as other city council members.<\/p>\n Under the current structure the mayor has significant control over the city\u2019s daily operations. But the amendment, which Nelson said was suggested by\u00a0a former city administrator,\u00a0hands that authority to a city manager who takes direction from council and mayor but oversees employees and day-to-day operations.<\/p>\n The mayor would still run council meetings. The amendment allows 120 days after passage for transitioning.<\/p>\n Nelson and Moore said they support retaining the \u201cstrong mayor\u201d form of government, while Nesta wouldn\u2019t reveal his stance but said he\u2019ll back whatever voters decide. The candidates, all lifelong Apopka residents, said they\u2019ll serve if elected no matter the outcome of Question 1.<\/p>\n Bryan Nelson<\/p>\n Nelson said his extensive experience<\/a> \u2014 along with his connections at local, regional and state levels \u2014 are why voters should give him a third term.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m involved in all the the major decisions that take place at the city be it water quality, roads, community development, economic development,\u201d he said. \u201cAll those areas I\u2019ve touched and continue to touch, so who better than me to continue what I\u2019ve started.\u201d<\/p>\n Nelson served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 until 2014 representing District 31, which includes Apopka. In 2014 he was elected to the District 2 seat on the Orange County Commission, serving until he was elected mayor in 2018 and reelected in 2022.<\/p>\n He said the top issue for him is growth and how to manage it now that the state has \u201chandcuffed\u201d local governments by limiting what they can do under SB 180<\/a>, which took effect in June.<\/p>\n His next-highest priority is to increase the city\u2019s financial stability at a time when state lawmakers are considering plans that would reduce incoming property tax revenues.<\/p>\n Along with that he wants to improve quality of life by focusing on the \u201cwork\u201d portion of \u201clive, work and play.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can get more high-paying jobs in Apopka it brings home everybody and it makes more restaurants available, it makes more shopping available,\u201d Nelson said.<\/p>\n Christine Moore<\/p>\n Moore said she\u2019s a problem-solver<\/a> and that\u2019s exactly what the city needs.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d be excited to serve as mayor because my service in office has always been about fixing problems and Apopka is certainly at a crossroads struggling mightily and needs many things repaired,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Moore was elected to the District 7 seat on the Orange County School Board in 2008 then reelected in 2012 and 2016. She left the board in 2018 when she became the first woman elected to the District 2 seat on the county commission. She was reelected in 2022 but can\u2019t run again because of term limits.<\/p>\n She said as Apopka mayor she\u2019d make addressing the city\u2019s growth her top priority.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are the top growing area of the county and people are very angry of how the city has grown,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n And that dovetails with her next-highest priority \u2014 infrastructure. She said one thing most in Apopka agree on is that the city must spend more time working on its roads.<\/p>\n Moore said another top priority is to improve the \u201cblighted\u201d downtown \u2014 \u201cand everybody has talked about this for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n Nick Nesta<\/p>\n Nesta said he\u2019s running because<\/a> he understands what\u2019s great about the city and what can be done better.<\/p>\n \u201cI see where there\u2019s so many pitfalls that the city is falling into through its current leadership and those being costly to our residents,\u201d he said, citing double-digit increases in utility rates for two consecutive years as an example.<\/p>\n Nesta is a Realtor with his own business, Nesta Real Estate Consultants. He was first elected in 2022 to finish the term or another commissioner and reelected last year. He announced Dec. 4 his resignation effective April 28, the date the next mayor will be sworn in.<\/p>\n Nesta said as mayor he\u2019ll make his top priority to provide, and put into action, a plan for the city\u2019s future.<\/p>\n \u201cOur biggest issue that we have right now is no plan for the future,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019ll be bringing in, a true roadmap, is what I\u2019m calling it, for success for our city.\u201d<\/p>\n His next-highest priority is infrastructure \u2014 specifically roads and water \u2014 which he said the current administration fails to address in a proactive way.<\/p>\n Nesta said he also wants to restore trust in a government he believes has been lost and will help do that by adding a new staff position of communications director.<\/p>\n \u201cTo rebuild trust we need to have easy access to information, not only on the financial side, but also just in general information, the good and the bad,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Other races on ballot<\/p>\n In addition to picking a mayor, voters will choose council members for Seats 1, 2 and 4. The special election taking place for Seat 4 is to fill out the remainder of Nesta\u2019s term \u2014 with qualifying in January.<\/p>\n Commissioner Alexander Smith<\/a> is the Seat 1 incumbent and Vice Mayor Diane Velazquez<\/a> is in Seat 2.<\/p>\n Former Commissioner Sam Ruth<\/a> is trying to return to the council in Seat 1 while George Smith<\/a>, a real estate agent, and Angela Turner,<\/a> an entrepreneur and mental health program director, seek to unseat Velazquez.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three candidates will battle to become Apopka\u2019s next mayor while a major question looms over the race: What…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[10514,2811,28,114,266,115,1335,139,141,140,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-90544","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-apopka","9":"tag-election","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-local-news","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-orange-county","15":"tag-orlando","16":"tag-orlando-headlines","17":"tag-orlando-news","18":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Bryan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/os-ne-val-demings-presser0427-1.jpg\")
Bryan Nelson (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n![\"Left](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Christine-Moore.jpeg\")
Christine Moore (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n![\"Nick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/TOS-L-nick-nesta-01.jpg\")
Nick Nesta (Courtesy Nick Nesta)<\/p>\n