The Kissimmee City Commission will vote Tuesday on the final approval for a pair of charter amendments that would be passed on to voters in August regarding commissioner term limits and making background checks part of the election process, as well as a measure that would add strength to the city’s smoking ban in parks.
First readings of all three measures were approved at the Feb. 3 meeting.
Through the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act, local governments can make their own smoking restrictions in public spaces like parks and beaches. City Manager Mike Steigerwald said smoking, vaping, and the use of all other tobacco products are prohibited in all Kissimmee parks and city-owned properties already, with signs already or going up.
This ordinance would give Parks and Recreation staff added authority to remove people found smoking or vaping and refusing to comply. Smoking unfiltered cigars is protected by a state statute and is not covered under this ordinance.
Such measures are supported by the World Health Organization and, specific to this one, locally by students.
“Tobacco-free parks protect everyone, from toddlers on the playground to teens on the field to seniors walking the trail,” Osceola High School student and athlete Jaden Copeland wrote to the News-Gazette in a letter from the school’s Students Working Against Tobacco chapter. “They also protect our environment. Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world, and they don’t belong in our parks, playgrounds, or waterways.”
The two charter amendments that will appear on the August 2026 election ballot—another reason it’s important for residents to vote in the primary—involve commissioner term limits and consent to background checks to run.
Currently, a commissioner may serve two full four-year terms on the dais, and then must sit out at least one voting cycle, in some cases two years, before running again. The amendment would change the limit to three terms. City leaders brought this up during their budget workshop in July.
Opponents of similar term-limit amendments say governments have inherent term limits built in—they’re called elections.
The other amendment that will go to the August ballot if approved require background checks for candidates running for office, as a “commitment to transparency.”
Under the proposed amendment, candidates for city office would be required to consent to a background check, “For the purpose of verifying the candidate’s qualifications to hold office.”
A candidate could not be disqualified from running for office without prior notice, as Steigerwald noted the city has limited ability to disqualify a candidate. The amendment would create the opportunity for a hearing, where “clear and convincing evidence that the candidate does not meet the qualifications to hold office” would have to be brought forth.
Vice Mayor Angela Eady reminded fellow commissioners and the public that criminal histories are matters of public record.
