Frank Torres
Winter Garden Commissioner Bobby Olszewski officially kicked off his bid to be the next Orange County Commissioner from district 1, at a rally surrounded by friends and family in West Orange county on Tuesday night.
“When you look at Orange County growth is inevitable, but how you grow is critical and we need smart growth.” said Olszewski “When you look at the City of Winter Garden, you see smart growth and we need to bring some of that to Orange County”
District 1 is expected to be one of the most competitive races in Orange County next year. Olszewski will face Project Development Manager Betsy VanderLey in a race that is expected to divide political power players in the region, that would normally be on the same side.
District 1 incumbent Scott Boyd is term limited and supporting VanderLey, Olszewski indirectly jabbed him several times during his speech.
“I can promise you, my family does not own land in this district that needs to be developed.” continued Olszewski “I can assure that I’m not running to become a commissioner so I can vote for my company to get engineering contracts from the county. My only purpose is to serve the people, to put residents and community first.”
The third candidate in the race, Dr. Usha Jain, attended the rally, and said while she was not dropping out of the race and would not be actively fundraising, she would support Olszewski if she wasn’t elected.
“I want one of us to win.” she said “I’m not doing any of this. If God wants me to win he’ll put me there.”
Other notable attendees included Windermere Police Chief Dave Ogden, Windermere Councilman Bob McKinley, former and N’Sync superstar Joey Fatone, who spoke to FloridaPolitics.com about Olszewski’s candidacy.
“He’s driven and he’s a good man. I’ve supported him since High School, and I’m supporting him now.”
