Jacob Ogles
Mira Tanna, Orlando’s Grants Manager, will file Monday afternoon to run for Orlando City Council. The Rosemont resident will run in District 3, a seat that is up in 2025.
“I’ve been with the city for over six and a half years, and I’ve gotten to know the city well, and have seen what’s working really well in city government,” Tanna told Florida Politics.
“We’ve got incredible employees at City Hall, and I’ve also seen areas where I think there are opportunities to even do more. I think that I can make a bigger impact as City Commissioner, and I think I can leverage that experience to hit the ground running as soon as I’m elected.”
Tanna will be the third candidate to file for the seat. Samuel Chambers filed in January and Aaron Lewis put in his statement of candidacy in March.
Incumbent City Commissioner Robert Stuart has not announced whether he will seek another term.
Tanna has worked for the city as Grants Manager for six years. In that role, she has helped secure funding for public transit, sustainability and accessibility efforts in Orlando.
“As Commissioner, I will give our residents a clear voice on the Orlando City Council,” Tanna said. “From housing affordability to creating thriving business districts, I believe that we can strive for a better District 3 and improve the City Beautiful for all of our residents.”
She also stressed that she utilizes many of those services as a resident. For example, Tanna said she takes the Lynx 106 bus to work each day and, near as she can tell, utilizes public transit more than any other employee at City Hall. She sees an opportunity to make the system better and more sustainable.
“If you prioritize public transit and try to increase ridership from all demographics, then you’re investing in a public good, and that will lead towards more economic development in our region,” she said.
“It’s one of the factors that Orlando didn’t receive the bid to become one of the World Cup cities. A lot of tourists who are coming from other countries, they’re used to riding excellent public transit systems. So if we build it, we’ve got 75 million tourists, many of whom would use it.”
Tanna also works as Clerk of Quakers of Orlando and chairs Orange County’s Local Mitigation Strategy Working Group. She volunteers at the visitor center for Coleman Federal Correctional Center.
“I’ve spent the last six years bringing in millions of dollars to our city to improve our water quality, make our schools safer, protect our communities from hurricanes and increase access to local produce,” she said.
“I have lived in and loved Orlando for many years, from working to make housing more accessible to expanding literacy and learning through our library system. I understand the operations of local government and am deeply familiar with Orlando’s finances.”
