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St. Cloud residents have four candidates to chose from for the open City Council seat 5. -
Stephanie Chmielewski -
Shawn Fletcher -
Christine Ladas-Drake -
Jeff Rivera
If you live in the city of St. Cloud, you will have one super-hyper- local political race on your primary election ballot on Tuesday (or this week, if you’re early voting.)
St. Cloud City Council seat 5 is up for grabs. Current councilman Keith Trace is not seeking reelection, and four community members have lined up to earn it.
Should none of the four receive 50 percent plus one vote in the primary election, the top two vote-getters will be in a runoff in the Nov. 8 general election.
The candidates are:
Stephanie Chmielewski: (www.stephaniefor5.com) has lived in St. Cloud since she was in fifth grade, and is part of the family business that is Canoe Creek Sports Tavern.
“I decided to run because of the out of control growth which is causing many issues within our town,” her campaign website reads. “I want to help secure better benefits and pay for our city workers, we need to work on our turnover rate and overall employee morale. I want to be a voice for our community. I have felt over the past couple years the ones who vote in our council members are the last to be heard. I want to change that. Every concern regardless of how small you might think it is, it matters.”
Shawn Fletcher: (www.electshawnfletcher.com) is another long-time St. Cloud resident, who previously served on the city Planning Commission and was a former Osceola County Employee, serving in multiple departments throughout the Community Development and Growth Management divisions.
“As your next city councilman, I will make growth management my number one priority and will follow through on my commitment to ensuring the issues regarding overdevelopment will finally be addressed,” he said through his campaign website, which also notes citizen participation, small business growth, public safety and financial accountability as his priorities.
Christine Ladas-Drake
(votecld.com) is a cosmetologist who has called St. Cloud home for more than three decades. She is Secretary of the Board of Directors for the Museum of Military History, Member Liaison of The Mayor’s City of Orlando Veterans Advisory Council and a member of VFW Auxiliary. Her website touts her main platform points are working for the people, responsible growth management, supporting small businesses, community outreach, supporting first responders and government transparency.
“The residents of St. Cloud are my neighbors and to be a voice for them would be a privilege,” Ladas-Drake wrote on her campaign site. “My goal is to represent the community and the people that I have grown up with.”
Jeff Rivera (no campaign website found) is a Navy Veteran, former FDNY-EMS worker, registered nurse, university professor and Pastor/Chaplain. He ran for Osceola County Commission in 2016 and Osceola County School Board in 2020. Rivera has also served on the St. Cloud Planning Commission. Looking ahead to November, Tom Lord and Ken Gilbert will face off for seat 4 to replace Dave Askew, who also is not running for reelection.
