Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer focused his “State of the City” speech Wednesday on promises – laying out in detail many he said were met in the areas of homelessness, business development and community partnerships, while remaining vague on some that remain unfulfilled.
Dyer, who is currently seeking a sixth and – he says – final term as Orlando’s leader, tackled community policing but did not address the much-debated changes the city made to its downtown nightlife in the name of safety.
He addressed transportation but didn’t offer specifics on SunRail, which faces funding challenges as it works to expand service and support Brightline, the high-speed rail system that will soon connect Miami to Orlando and aims to eventually reach Tampa.
The city, Dyer said, is “working with all our regional partners to help develop a Brightline route that will connect us with Tampa” and remains “committed to connecting SunRail to the airport, to the convention center and expanding service to weekends.”
Dyer’s speech coincided with a meeting of Orange County’s Tourist Development Tax Citizen Advisory Task Force, which is mulling nearly $4 billion in requests from 52 applicants seeking a slice of the revenue generated by tourist taxes.
The city of Orlando is among those requesting funds – $256 million to renovate the Amway Center – and Dyer sits on the nine-member Tourist Development Council, which like the task force issues recommendations to county commissioners on how best to spend the 6% levy added to the cost of hotel rooms and other short-term lodgings.
But the mayor didn’t name any specific projects currently under review, while saying that “[t]he demand for sports and entertainment in Orlando will only grow.”
“There is a future out there where Orlando is America’s premier sports and entertainment destination,” he added. “To make that future a reality we must plan and prepare now, we have to partner together now, we have to invest now. That’s why we support the use of our tourist taxes to maintain and expand our venues.”
Mental health response program praised
Dyer touted the city’s Community Response Team, a program launched in March 2021 that entails sending mental health counselors in place of police officers on some 911 calls involving non-violent people in crisis.
The program emerged amid a national reckoning with police tactics following the May 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Advocates pushed agencies to find new ways of responding to those in mental distress that would prioritize avoiding violent confrontations.
The Orlando team was created in a partnership between the city and Aspire Health Partners. Dyer said the team has responded to 2,000 calls so far, saving more than 2,200 hours of time that officers otherwise would have been occupied.
“This is valuable time that our sworn officers are now able to spend on patrol or conducting community policing work,” he said.
Dyer also touted a 22% decrease in shootings and a smaller decrease in violent crime, which he credited in part to a restructuring of the Orlando Police Department under Chief Eric Smith, who was sworn in to lead the agency in August. The retooling focused on increasing the number of officers taking calls and patrolling city streets.
The city is also pursuing funding for 20 new officers and eight new 911 dispatchers, Dyer said.
The mayor didn’t address the city’s recent implementation of a nightlife permit for downtown bars and nightclubs that serve drinks after midnight, which requires additional security measures like hiring off-duty police and using metal detectors at entrances.
The measures are part of ongoing efforts to improve safety in the city’s core following a spate of shootings that occurred on packed downtown streets at bar-closing time. But some club owners argued the cost burden was too great, putting their businesses at risk.
Dyer: Orlando now a ‘foodie’ destination
In highlighting the city’s promotion of entrepreneurship, Dyer touted Kabooki Sushi as a local success story.
Chef Henry Moso, who Dyer noted utilized a city small business program to expand his Colonial Drive restaurant east of downtown, in March was named a finalist for the James Beard Foundation Awards.
“Kabooki is just one of the restaurants that’s helped Orlando forge a new reputation as a ‘foodie’ destination,” who also touted other local eateries – Domu, Otto’s High Dive, The Strand, Maxine’s on Shine, The Pinery, EDOBOY, Hawkers, Juju and Kadence – for having been recognized by the prestigious Michelin Guide.
Something the eateries have in common, Dyer said, is they are housed in Orlando’s Main Street Districts, which receive city funding to market businesses and promote neighborhood identity.
“We’ve now grown the program to include a dozen distinct districts across our City… and our investment has helped more than 1,500 new businesses launch, with more than 10,000 jobs,” Dyer said. “Perhaps even more important, these hyper-local businesses have added to the unique character of our neighborhoods and become the soul of our city.”
Expanding ‘living laboratory’ model
Dyer also praised what he referred to as Orlando’s “living laboratory” – the Lake Nona community, which is the city’s fastest-growing region but recently suffered a major blow when Disney announced it was dropping plans for a $1 billion corporate campus there.
The mayor’s speech didn’t mention the loss of the Disney project, which was slated to bring with it 2,000 high-paying jobs, instead touting Lake Nona as home to the autonomous shuttle-maker Beep, aviation training company SIMCOM and the U.S. Tennis Association.
Dyer said the development of Lake Nona into an “innovation cluster” is serving as a model for the city’s plans at its Creative Village in downtown Orlando, where Electronic Arts last year opened its new five-story campus.
The mayor also reiterated his vision for the Creative Village to become the nation’s “MetaCenter,” pioneering in technologies like virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence that many feel will be vital to the future economy.
“The Creative Village is a big reason why the highest concentration of game developer licenses in the entire country is in Central Florida,” he said. “… With our density of talent in areas like modeling and simulation, gaming and AR/VR, Orlando is ground zero for the next generation of the digital experience.”
Housing challenges ‘complex’
Dyer spent a sizable portion of his speech addressing homelessness and affordable housing, which he called “two of the most complex and intertwined challenges in our region.”
The mayor cited the city’s “Accelerate Orlando” initiative – funded by $58 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act money – as a “one-in-a-generation investment” to modernize local homeless shelters while also expanding access to permanent, supportive housing.
That effort, Dyer said, augments the city’s partnership with Lift Orlando, a nonprofit working to revitalize the West Lakes community on the city’s west side.
The nonprofit drove development of the 480-acre West Lakes Community campus, which features $40 million in mixed-income housing, an AdventHealth early learning center, a Boys & Girls Club and a 30,000 square-foot wellness center.
“Lift’s holistic, place-based approach to strengthening neighborhoods has helped find and fund solutions around housing, healthcare, and early learning,” Dyer said. “Moreover, it has helped change people’s lives for the better.”
He also touted the recent grand opening of Fairlawn Village, a 116-unit apartment complex for low-income families on Mercy Drive. The project marked the successful redevelopment of the final of seven parcels purchased by the city for affordable housing in 2015.
“Every home matters, every unit matters, and that’s why the city will continue to forge partnerships with the public, private, nonprofit and civic communities to bring additional housing to our city,” Dyer said.
