A closer look at the 7 candidates to represent Orlando’s District 5

An engaged and knowledgeable field of candidates has emerged in Orlando’s District 5, each making the case they’re the best choice to be interim City Commissioner.

The seven hopefuls emerged quickly after the downtown and West Orlando-area seat opened up following the indictment of Commissioner Regina Hill.

District residents can begin casting ballots on Monday, with early voting set to last until May 19. Election Day is May 21. If none of the candidates get more than 50% of the vote, then the top two will advance to a June 18 runoff.

The winner will take office soon after and could serve until the term is up at the end of 2025. Or Hill could return to the role sooner if the felony charges against her are settled in her favor.

For her part, Hill addressed the candidates last week at a forum held at Jones High School and wished them luck.

“This is a very important role that one of you all are going to assume. There’s a lot of great work to be done,” she said. “My only ask is that you stabilize the district, and do what’s best for the people.”

“Good luck to each and every one of you.”

Here’s a look at the candidates and their priorities, with material taken from candidate forums, interviews with the Orlando Sentinel’s Editorial Board, campaign materials and their websites.

Ericka Dunlap

Dunlap was the first African American to be named Miss Florida in 2003, and later went on to become Miss America in 2004.

She’s a UCF graduate, a former candidate for city council, and the mother of a young daughter, born in 2020 to Dunlap and city commissioner Bakari Burns.

She also owns a public relations business.

Among Dunlap’s priorities are building more affordable housing, investing in neighborhood association priorities, and taking another look at costly after-midnight permits, which require bars and nightclubs downtown to cover the cost of off-duty police officers.

“It’s important that we have a vibrant nightlife in downtown Orlando,” she said in an interview with the Sentinel’s editorial board.

She supports expanding Parramore Kidz Zone, a youth program started in the neighborhood by Mayor Buddy Dyer, and senior programs.

Another priority for Dunlap is to provide training and skill-development resources for residents.

Tiakeysha Ellison

Ellison is a business mentor and coach, who said she helps people qualify for homes and apartments, as well as set up and run their businesses. She said she’d look to bring similar programs to the district if she’s elected.

In a forum hosted by the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition last week, Ellison cited a need to get a handle on rising rents.

“These affordable housing aren’t so affordable when they have to prove that they make three times the rent,” she said.  “That’s something that I feel is of major concern in District 5 in Orlando.”

She also said she’d focus on programs to get district residents employed on construction projects near their neighborhoods.

Lawanna Gelzer

Gelzer is a long-time community activist and frequent candidate for office in Orlando and Orange County, focused on causes related to racial and environmental justice. Professionally, she’s a business consultant.

She’s called for stronger accountability for police officers found to have used excessive force, and says the city should track that issue more closely.

She also wants a forensic audit on city housing programs to ensure subsidized units remain affordable, and wants to loosen city rules related to building tiny homes. Her experience keeping a close eye on city business is her advantage, she said.

“You can’t make change when you don’t know what’s going on,” she said.

The Parramore neighborhood faces a disproportionate burden in combatting homelessness, since that’s where shelters are located, and the city should look for locations in other districts to build more, Gelzer said.

Gelzer blasted as “corporate welfare” a recent council decision to grant incentives to a development partially owned by the DeVos Family next to the Kia Center.

Cameron Hope

Hope runs a tax business, and has said he believes more city dollars should be put into economic and commercial development in the district. Doing so will bring more income to residents, he said.

Specifically, Hope said at a forum this week that he’d like to see more business and nightlife come to Parramore.

“Our residents don’t have enough income to afford the necessities of living,” Hope said.

He said he’d also like to bring more youth programs to the district, including chess leagues at the various neighborhood centers for kids.

Hope said the city needs to find more ways to shelter the homeless, without resorting to arresting unsheltered people.

Travaris McCurdy

McCurdy is a former state representative, who has previously worked as an aide to Sen. Geraldine Thompson and to Hill. Currently, he works for the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, focused on outreach to small businesses.

He said he could do similar work as a city commissioner to help local businesses bid on lucrative city contracts. He contends his experience as an elected official gives him a leg up at City Hall, and that’d he’d provide stability to the seat.

“I’m someone who is ready, willing and able to give you the representation you deserve,” he said.

McCurdy said he’d support policies that aid the homeless without criminalizing them, promote the building of affordable housing and bolster the city’s infrastructure. As a legislator, he said he brought home state funds to expand Parramore Kidz Zone.

He’s endorsed by the union representing Orlando’s rank-and-file firefighters as well as the voting rights and grassroots organization Florida Rising.

Miles Mulrain, Jr.

Mulrain is a community activist who runs a nonprofit focused on gun violence prevention, youth mentorship and housing issues.

He’s helped organize protests related to racial justice and against police brutality, following the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis and the shooting of Salaythis Melvin by Orange County deputies.

He said he’d like to shift some of the city’s budget away from police and fire departments, to instead pursue programs focused on the root causes of crimes, like the city’s Community Violence Intervention program, which city leaders credit for a reduction in gun homicides and nonfatal shootings.

Mulrain said he’d hold tight to his values in office.

“We need somebody that you can trust behind closed doors when people are offering them deals and trying to sway them … I’m not the same old,” he said, “I’m not going to play with them, and they’re not going to play me.”

Shaniqua “Shan” Rose

Rose is a former city employee, who is currently the executive director of the Town of Eatonville’s Community Redevelopment Agency trying to bring the state’s African American History museum to the town.

In Orlando, Rose has said she’d push to convince housing developers to include more affordable units in their plans, and aggressively pursue expanding the city’s social services with grant money.

“There’s trillions of dollars in funding that the city could be applying for to address our youth issues,” she said.

The city also needs more youth programming for middle school-aged kids, she said.

While Orlando is facing rising homelessness, she said city leaders should hold other municipalities accountable to house them in places other than Parramore, while also considering a location for a long-term mental health facility.

Rose was endorsed by Laborers’ International Union of North America, which represents blue-collar city employees.

rygillespie@orlandosentinel.com