I would like to respond to the grounds for recall in last week’s paper

1) Serving as Mayor for half-salary – I did take a pay cut and later by a vote of 4-0 with
Kyle Becker making the motion my salary was raised based on a salary survey. I
abstained from voting.
2) Firing the former Fire Chief – Chief Carnasale resigned with a 20-week severance
package, a six figure pension for life and full medical benefits until the age of 65.
3) Fired long term employees who disagree with him or supported his former political
opponent – I know who this is referring to and if that is the case this employee was
fired for cause after forging a public record and destroying a public document.
4) New Affordable Housing Development in the City Center- This was voted on by the
prior administration before I took office
5) The death of Austin Duran- A tragic accident that forced the Fire Department to look
at every SOP (Standard Operating Procedure), add additional training staff and safety
and mentoring programs City wide and change the culture within the Department
6) The water quality, backflow preventers and the fines assessed by Fla. DEP- We have
had a program in place that has tested 34,518 backflow preventers and has replaced
over 10,000 since my election in 2018. Apopka was fined $500 for non-compliance in
2016 (prior administration), 2017 (prior administration) and 2018 but I worked to
address this issue when I was elected Mayor in April 2018.
7) Encourages City employees to withhold public records- Not once in my five years as
Mayor have I ever asked an employee to withhold public records. This a violation of
State law and something I take very seriously.
8) He refuses to hold anyone accountable for the death of Austin Duran- We all share
some responsibility for the horrific accident that took his life but our Chief in front of
City Council accepted responsibility. We have been working and will continue to work
on safety and training across all departments in the City.
9) Continues to reward those responsible for the lack of training- We have taken
appropriate actions to align goals and objectives and hold everyone accountable
10) Manipulated a City Council election- I have known Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles
for 20 years and his reputation as man of utmost integrity from either side of the
political isle is beyond reproach.
11) Continues to involve himself in the Rock Springs Ridge matter- Guilty as charged. One
of my campaign promises for both elections has been to finally have the RSR HOA
control the 300 acres of land owned by the Golf Group and eliminate the threat of
building more homes on the old golf course
12) Refuses to properly fund or provide for first responders- Apopka’s % of general
revenue dedicate to First Responders is 32.4% which is higher by more than 3%
compared to the cities of Clermont, Lake Mary, Winter Garden, Oviedo, Longwood,
Orlando, Maitland, Ocoee, Winter Park, and Mt. Dora
13) Uses City Resources to punish those that oppose or question him- Again, no name is
listed here but I know who this is referring to. If I am correct, the individual has had
multiple code violations for running an unsanctioned and unlicensed business out of
 his back yard. This was reported and cited by a city resident and there are still code
infractions on the property.
14) Argues against hiring needed first responders- I raised the pay for our Police
Department to attract additional officers and only differed with the Council on the
timing of hiring all 18 firefighters at one time because I was concerned it would
overwhelm our training staff’s ability to give each firefighter the appropriate
individual attention.
15) Permits employees to disrespect members of the public and the Council – we need
respect on all sides. It is not ok for employees to show disrespect but I also require
that the public and members of the Council show respect to the employees as well.
16) Ignores provisions of the Charter- if the recall is talking about the ability of the Council
to fire the City Attorney, then we have a difference of opinion as to my authority. Our
Attorney advises the Council and myself what we need to hear not what we want to
hear. That’s his role. But if Council goes against the advice of our attorney, he is
committed to defend our position.
17) Wishes to be dictator- does not deserve a response but I will give you one. My role as
Strong Mayor is to carry out the policies that City Council approves even if I voted in
opposition; I bring all Director positions forward to City Council to be approved but
firing any and all employees is at my discretion. My team manage the finances based
on the Council’s agreed budget and I represent the City on multiple local and state
boards.

I was unhappy that the Apopka Chief allowed Dennis New to state that I cut off my
opponents after four minutes but let my supporter continue on past four minutes.
Recently, the City Council meetings have been running between 4-8 hours so we have to
be aware of wasting time on personal attacks for some of our employees who have
families are required to stay to the bitter end for their action item. I have to take the four
minute time limit seriously and have begun to strictly enforce the policy - I do not show
favoritism on any members of the public and respectfully ask the Apopka Chief to look
back for a year or longer at public comment and print a retraction of this charge based on
the Audio-Visual YouTube videos of City Council.

We have made remarkable progress in the last five years and with the help of more than
500 employees we are ready to accomplish even more but without the help of City
Council to make meaningful and peaceful strides, we will have trouble attracting talent
and business partners to Apopka. We have wonderful opportunities to bring businesses
that we all want to our great city and give everyone a chance to live the American dream.
I love this City and will continue to work hard to make it the best it can be.

Mayor Bryan Nelson