OVIEDO, Fla. – The residents of Oviedo have a new mayor after Megan Sladek won the election Tuesday night with roughly 3,000 votes.
Sladek, a former city council member, sat down with News 6 as she laid out her big plans for the city.
"I'm ready to hit the ground running," Sladek said one day after winning the election.
The former council member will return to Oviedo City Hall as mayor after winning 44% of the votes.
Dominic Persampiere, Oviedo's mayor since 2011, decided earlier this year not to seek reelection.
The election coincided with the same day Sladek's third baby was due.
"The theory was finding out the election results would either get me so excited that he would be born immediately or it would make him stay inside for another couple of days," she said. "Looks like we get to percolate a little longer."
Sladek said a big focus of her campaign was growth in Oviedo, including on 60 acres of land on Mitchell Hammock Road near City Hall. A developer is asking the city to rezone the land for commercial and residential use to build shops, restaurants and housing units.
But Sladek said that goes against the city's comprehensive plan established in 2010.
"I'm not sure that's the right direction for our town and I don't know what the rush is," she said.
No decision has been made yet. The current City Council voted in September to send the proposal to Florida's Department of Economic Opportunity to review the plan.
Sladek believes residents are making their stance on this issue known by voting her into office.
"I think that the voters have expressed a keen interest in just sticking with the plan," she said.
She also wants to tackle the city's budget, and reduce its more than $70 million of debt.
"There's got to be excess somewhere that we can siphon off and try to reduce some of our debt," Sladek said.
She adds she is looking forward to serving the residents of Oviedo.
"It's time for us to all just figure out how to move forward together," she said. "There's been a lot of us versus them, the pro-development, the anti-development and we're entering a new era. And we all just need to accept that we're going to be in this together and we're all neighbors."