Winter Park’s Bradley says he won’t seek third term as mayor
Winter Park Mayor Kenneth Bradley has decided six years in office is enough.
Bradley told city staff and supporters this week that he won’t seek a third term overseeing the city next March.
He’s presided over tremendous growth and development but has drawn criticism from some residents who say the city is too overgrown and in danger of losing its unique charm.
Bradley said he’d been mulling whether to run again “for a while.”
“I think that elected officials can stay too long, and I don’t want to do that,” he said. “We’ve gotten the city to a good place, and it’s time for a new generation of leaders.”
The 53-year-old Bradley said he wanted to be able to devote more time to his day job — as campus CEO of Winter Park Memorial Hospital — and “have a little life too.”
Bradley came into office in 2009 on a pro-growth and proSunRail platform, defeating incumbent Mayor David Strong with 53 percent of the vote.
He won re-election in 2012 with 72 percent of the vote.
He said “implementing the will of the citizens for SunRail” and the success of the commuter-rail line in boosting Winter Park’s profile were among his proudest accomplishments in office.
He also noted the city’s robust financial condition, pointing out that property taxes haven’t gone up in the past six years.
For the moment, there’s only one candidate to replace Bradley: Cynthia Mackinnon, a retired circuit-court judge, opened a cam- paign account to run for mayor Oct. 1. Qualifying begins in December .
Mackinnon emerged as a voice for preservation and against sprawl after she wrote a “My Word” column in the Sentinel in June arguing that city government put developers’ interests above citizens’.
The mayoral race is the only one scheduled for city voters in 2015.
If necessary, a primary will be Feb. 10, with the general election March 10.