WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. – Out with the old and in with the new.
On Monday evening, three new city commissioners will take their seats at Winter Springs' first commission meeting since the election night clean sweep.
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District 1 Commissioner Paul Diaz, an accountant, easily beat incumbent Matt Benton taking 55% of votes cast to Benton’s 45%.
District 5 Commissioner Mark Caruso, a longtime law enforcement officer, won the race in a landslide against incumbent Rob Elliot 48% to 30%.
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District 3 Commissioner Sarah Baker easily defeated her challenger after incumbent Ted Johnson did not run for re-election.
Benton, Elliot and Johnson have been under fire, especially by the Winter Springs Community Association, for not doing more to right the City after several high-profile and ongoing issues made headlines.
“I think the biggest thing residents really want to see, there’s a couple things probably, but the biggest is probably communication,” Baker said. “And not just any type of communication with the residents, they really want to understand what the City is doing in regards to stormwater and wastewater.”
In 2023, Winter Springs was audited by both Seminole County and the State of Florida for questionable spending.
The State Auditor General identified eight issues, including ongoing problems with the city’s half-century old wastewater plant, resulting in sewage spills and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines as well as concerns about how Winter Springs spent its share of the county’s penny sales tax intended for infrastructure.
The state audit concluded the questionable spending “may erode public trust.”
Earlier this year, a lift station failed causing an overflow into backyards of almost 1,600 gallons of untreated sewage.
A wastewater spill onto a former golf course in 2021 caused a massive fishkill.
The city has been struggling to improve stormwater infrastructure after bridges failed during a hurricane and severe flooding soaked the Highlands and Hacienda Village neighborhoods.
“Back in March, it was the third time that I had a massive amount of wastewater, raw sewage, dumped into my yard,” Baker said. “You know we had a Consent Order from the State, the DEP, telling us we had less than 3 years to rebuild both of our wastewater plants, that’s going to be a really big challenge. We’re not only going to have to tackle the funding but also working with the State and DEP and trying to figure out if there’s any solutions before they come in and start fining us drastic amounts for being behind on the project.”
Most recently, Winter Springs completed testing and repair of all hydrants citywide after the Fire Marshal questioned why the hydrants hadn’t been inspected in years.
State law requires municipalities to inspect their hydrants yearly.
“I think the biggest takeaway is that they [voters] are serious and they mean business and they want us to fix this,” Baker said.
Monday night’s swearing-in ceremony begins at 5:30 p.m. followed by the City Commission meeting at 6 p.m.
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