{"id":4496,"date":"2026-06-17T21:35:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T21:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4496"},"modified":"2026-06-17T21:35:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T21:35:28","slug":"oviedo-council-sends-four-year-term-proposal-back-to-voters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4496","title":{"rendered":"Oviedo council sends four-year term proposal back to voters"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Oviedo City Council agreed this week to let voters decide in November whether to extend council terms from two years to four and align city races with even-year presidential and gubernatorial elections.<\/p>\n

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The goal would be to improve voter turnout as odd-year city elections draw limited interest and to reduce costs as the city foots the bill for those races while even-year ones are covered by the county at no extra cost to Oviedo.<\/p>\n

But the ballot referendum will ask Oviedo residents to reconsider a charter amendment they rejected five years ago with 57% of the vote.<\/p>\n

If voters approve the measure Nov. 3, some council members would serve a three-year transition term before the four-year cycles begin in 2028.<\/p>\n

The proposals were made by the Charter Review Committee, which reviews the key city document every five years. The committee\u2019s 15 members are appointed by the city council.<\/p>\n

Mayor Megan Sladek said she thought it was right to let voters decide again on the committee\u2019s proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the people think it makes sense to ask the question every five years then, you know, more power to them. Maybe they\u2019ll change their mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Odd-year city elections cost Oviedo about $45,000, she said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Voter turnout is also an issue. The 2023 municipal election drew 9,199 voters \u2014 only about 22% of registered voters, according to results from the Seminole County Supervisor of Elections. In 2025, the races for both mayor and an open council seat\u00a0were uncontested, so no election was held.<\/p>\n

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Council member Alan Ott, the lone dissenter in Monday\u2019s 4 to 1 vote, said he opposes the shift because two-year terms keep council members directly accountable to residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf stuff isn\u2019t going well, the residents have an opportunity every year to kick people off the council,\u201d he said. \u201cI like that there is a contact point with local government at least every year. I think it keeps us all connected to what the residents want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ott also questioned the voter turnout rationale, though his 2024 election drew more than double the total number of votes cast in the entire 2021 odd-year city election \u2014 19,501 compared to 9,104.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

While even-year elections draw larger crowds, Ott said the people who show up to odd-year municipal elections care about the city. He also wasn\u2019t worried about the expense of those elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a worthwhile cost,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the price of representative government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the proposed transition, three council seats up for election this year \u2014 held by Ott, Keith Britton and Jeff Boddiford \u2014 would continue under two-year terms. Two seats up in 2027, held by Sladek and Natalie Teuchert, would shift to three-year terms under the plan.<\/p>\n

At least four of the 15 charter review committee members had prior involvement in Oviedo city government. Stephen Schenck, a former city council member, also served on the 2021 Charter Review Committee that recommended the failed term-length amendment. Dominic Persampiere served as Oviedo\u2019s mayor from 2010 to 2019. Kevin Hipes ran for mayor in 2021, finishing last in the three-way race against Sladek. Barbara Barbour served as city clerk for at least 20 years.<\/p>\n

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Oviedo council agreed this week to let voters decide if they want to make council member terms four years long instead of two and align city elections with even-year, big-draw ones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\nOviedo council sends four-year term proposal back to voters - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4496\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Oviedo council sends four-year term proposal back to voters - 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