That candid admission came as part of the forum matchup between Oliver, first elected in 2018 and now pursuing a third term on the commission, and Ages Hart, seeking his first term in the nonpartisan municipal election on March 11. Hart served as District 4 Commissioner for 11 months until a special election could be held after Oliver vacated his seat in 2023. 

Hart emphasized later in the evening that he was "willing to make the commitment for four years to serve as your city commissioner. But my opponent, since he 'doesn't know,' that means he's going to run. Let me just translate that for you. He loves being the first Black commissioner. I voted for him. I thought we should have diversity on the commission. I thought it was a great idea. But when I saw his time in office, I was deeply disappointed. And I know the allure of being the first Black person to do something. Commission is great, but mayor is even greater. And if he wants to run, that's perfectly fine ... But tell the people. I'm making a commitment for four years to be in office."

The hour-long Political Forum was hosted Feb. 12 by the Woman’s Club of Ocoee, as the organization has done for more than three decades. Members Diane Isaacs, Chestina Black and Gail Daniels moderated, asking questions from residents submitted by phone, email and at the event, and keeping time for candidate responses. Oliver occasionally ran past his allotted two minutes and the moderators provided Hart with additional time to keep things equitable.

‍“Inexcusable” false claims 

During the forum, Oliver doubled down on the false claims he made Feb. 8 at an Orlando church — that the three city charter amendments on the ballot for city-wide election are “a part of Project 2025.” 

The controversial Project 2025 is a nearly 1,000-page policy blueprint to help the Trump administration transform the federal government and American society into a more conservative order. 

Asked to cite where he found any mention of the Ocoee charter amendments in Project 2025, Oliver instead launched into a tirade about last year’s special election, which he won, and the lawsuit he filed after being disqualified from running. He did not provide a citation. Nor did he when the question was asked a second time at the end of the night. 

Moderators gave Hart an opportunity to respond. 

Typically a reserved man, Hart was fuming when he spoke. He said the city charter amendments had no connection with Project 2025, that connecting them was a “dog whistle and that Oliver’s speech at St. John the Baptist Church was beyond the pale. 

“I love being a city commissioner, but I'm a pastor above all,” Hart said with quiet fury. “I'm an ordained bishop in the Church of God, and I live to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. What was done in that pulpit was inexcusable. That was inexcusable. That was not true … I was deeply embarrassed when I saw it. 

“I'm a pharmacist, and if I said things like that, I can get sued by the patients I deal with. The character of the person that sits in this seat is the most important thing about the person that sits in this seat. I was deeply, deeply embarrassed and appalled.”

Taxes and green space

The balance of the forum — which started with a coin toss to determine who would speak first; Oliver won and chose to go second — was genial and covered the more workaday issues of Ocoee life such as taxes, traffic, infrastructure, public safety, preserving green space and affordable housing. 

When the candidates were asked if they would consider ending city utility taxes if elected, both spoke about the need for local taxes.

“Without taxes, we don’t get things done,” said Oliver, citing numerous examples of items that taxes pay for such as traffic lights, landscaping, trash pickup and road construction. He said abolishing taxes would lead to numerous resident complaints and that it’s “necessary to maintain those taxes in order for us to continue to actually serve the citizens of our city.” 

Hart said that taxes will have to be increased at some point because of inflation but emphasized that residents need to be informed. 

“People are more understanding when they understand where the money is going,” Hart said. “When you start doing things where you don’t communicate, that’s where you have a problem. When we communicate why this happens, we have a better response. People may not like it but they understand and they feel part of the process. People don’t like when they’re dictated to. They like when they're talked to.”

Both candidates were asked about preserving green spaces as wild and undeveloped rather than “cutting down to build, build, build.”

Hart said he’s “all for it” and pointed toward the six-month moratorium, which stopped new construction in the city until March 17 so that the city’s Land Development Code and Comprehensive Plan could be updated. He said he has attended meetings where city staff told him that green spaces will be a part of the new plan. He clarified, in response to a follow-up question from VoxPopuli, that in phone conversations with city staff, he's been told that green space will be a requirement for future development in Ocoee.

Oliver added that he supports balancing growth with the environment.

Public safety, schools and recreation

Both candidates said that public safety is a top priority. Hart said the city is “drastically understaffing” its police department while Oliver said he supported greater funding for police training and equipment and more community-based policing programs. 

Both mentioned that increased traffic in the city has profoundly impacted safety.

“ I was at work one day when a friend of mine got the call that no parent wants: that her daughter was hit by a car on the way to work,” Hart said. “Thank God she lived, but she had to go through a tremendous amount of rehab and things like that because of traffic issues." He emphasized that the city had to care for "the most vulnerable, which are our children walking to school.”

Oliver echoed Hart’s response and reminded the audience of 10-year-old Aubrey Clark, who in 2015, was riding her bike out of Citrus Elementary school on Clarke Road when she was killed by an SUV in a hit and run.  

Neither offered solutions for the city's traffic woes.

Oliver believes the city needs more schools and after years of advocating for a new middle school, he is now advocating for a new K-8 school. Oliver said Ocoee gives Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) $8,000 per home built in the city, and “none of that money has come back to us to build a new school in over 20 years.” (OCPS’ budget per student for 2024-2025 is $10,001.15, which is $1,000-plus less than what it should be according to the Consumer Price Index).

He said OCPS has refused to build a new school because Ocoee doesn’t meet the criteria for the projected number of public school students needed to justify a new school, a statement confirmed previously by District 7 Orange County School Board Member Melissa Byrd in an email to VoxPopuli. He added that OCPS’s numbers are skewed because they include secondary schools and charter schools. 

(Charter schools are sponsored by school districts but operate under an independent board and do not report to the Orange County School Board, according to the Florida Charter School Alliance and OCPS. OCPS contracts with charter schools provide funding for the schools based on enrollment. A secondary school is a one that enrolls students in grades six through 12.)

But not everything was about the kids. Both candidates touched on the lack of transportation for senior citizens to participate in activities operated by the city’s Parks and Leisure Services. They said seniors have voiced the need for transportation, especially in District 4’s gated communities, like Arden Park, which are cut off from public transportation.

Oliver suggested extending existing city transportation into private communities to pick up seniors and take them to activities, adding that the city should also take seniors on field trips outside the city. Ocoee’s comprehensive plan notes that Lynx has five bus routes that pass through the city, but acknowledges there are still unmet public transportation needs where there has been recent population growth.

Infrastructure 

Infrastructure was a recurring theme throughout the night, and the candidates spoke about their infrastructure priorities even as they answered other questions.

Oliver said infrastructure was “at the top of his list” and noted that "our roads and sidewalks are in dire need of upgrades." He also mentioned the strides made during his term to advance the city’s access to broadband service. 

“I have seen firsthand the challenges facing our community, and I'm proud of the accomplishments we've made over the past 12 months,” he said. “For example, Clarke Road will be completed in the next three weeks, three 5G towers have been installed, fiber-optic cable is being installed and residents will soon have a choice of a service provider.” 

Oliver also drew attention to housing issues during his opening statement, saying, “Too many of our residents are struggling to find a place to call home, and we need to take action to ensure that everyone has access to safe and affordable housing,” he said. “We can maintain affordable housing by keeping our taxes low.” 

Both candidates were asked how they believed creating more affordable developments with a perceived lower value than existing homes would benefit an already overbuilt community. 

Hart said that he doesn’t believe in building separate block communities of affordable housing, but having such housing integrated with the community to preserve the value of current homes. 

“The problem with affordable housing blocks or communities, it has a bad stigma to it,” Hart said. “Low-income projects — I grew up in a low-income area, I understand [the public housing community] Ivey Lane. I understand the stigma that goes with it, and it does lower the value. If you want to have affordable housing, it needs to be built into the community that's already existing with the same look, same layout in everything. That way, it stays the same and maintains the value.”

Hart said he believes the solution of “building in” will help to maintain the value of the community while allowing it to still move forward. 

“They say affordable housing starts at $62,000 — a lot of people don't make $62,000 … When I hear affordable housing, it's almost an oxymoron to me, because that’s really not affordable,” Hart said.

Oliver restated a point from his opening statement about safe and affordable housing, which he said can be accomplished by keeping taxes low. He then deferred the remainder of his answer, citing a potential conflict with Sunshine Law because housing projects are coming before the commission for a vote and there were other commissioners in the room. 

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Ocoee Municipal Election 

Request a Mail Ballot: By Feb. 27 by 5 p.m.

Early Voting: March 3 to 7, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Orange County Supervisor of Elections Office, 119 Kaley St., Orlando 

‍Election Day: March 11

Districts 1 and 4 vote at the Jim Beech Recreation Center at 1820 A.D. Mims Road. 

District 2 vote at the Lakeshore Center at 125 N. Lakeshore Drive. 

District 3 vote at Ocoee Fire Station 39 at 2515 Maguire Road. 

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