Mayor Steve Leary
Term ends March 2021
One of six children, Mayor Leary was raised in Rye, N.Y., and attended The Brunswick School in Greenwich, Conn. Steve graduated from Washington College, Chestertown, Md., in 1989 and began working in the advertising business in New York City shortly thereafter.
In 1998, Mayor Leary helped launch the interactive marketing group digital@jwt. From there, he was recruited to San Francisco in 2000 to help restructure a technology start-up, eventually moving back to the NYC area. In 2004, he and his wife Caroline chose to move to Winter Park to start their family.
Mayor Leary is the Owner and President of Flange Skillets International, a local small business that manufactures and markets gasket positioning devices to the oil & gas pipeline sector. Steve is also a partner with his brother Bill in Leary Management Group. With 26 employees, they manage a group of family-owned properties across Central Florida.
Prior to being re-elected Mayor in 2018 for his second term, Mayor Leary was first elected to Seat 1 of the Winter Park City Commission in 2011, reelected in 2014 with no opposition, then served his first term as Mayor in 2015.
Mayor Leary and his wife Caroline are the proud parents of Alexandra, Jack and William, triplets born at Arnold Palmer Hospital in 2005. They are also active members of St. Margaret Mary Church, Winter Park Public Library, Community Coordinated Care for Children (4C’s), Winter Park Chamber of Commerce and multiple youth activities in the area.
Commissioner Greg Seidel
Term ends March 2020
Re-elected City Commissioner (Seat 1) in March 2017, Commissioner Seidel is serving his second term as City Commissioner.
Commissioner Seidel has been a Florida resident since 1975 and a resident of Winter Park for the last 16 years. He served on the Utility Advisory Board from 2008 to 2014 and chaired the board for four years. He has served on the Glenridge Middle School SAC (School Advisory Committee) for the last two years.
For his day job, Commissioner Seidel is a partner in an engineering and economic firm serving as Vice President and Chief Engineer. He has worked on projects throughout the State of Florida and is most proud of his dry pond in front of the Hollieanna Commercial Center designed in 1988 that still functions today.
Commissioner Seidel and his wife Valerie have two daughters and he is a member of The First United Methodist Church of Winter Park.
Commissioner Sarah Sprinkel
Term ends March 2020
There is an air of excitement that surrounds Commissioner Sprinkel (Seat 2) and everything she does. Perhaps it is because of her belief that educating children should be exciting. Perhaps it is because of the tangible results her extensive knowledge of early childhood education has produced for many thousands of students.
In her current position as Senior Associate of Florida Services for Florida Virtual Schools (FLVS), Commissioner Sprinkel generates a new enthusiasm for the potential of online learning. Her assignment includes planning goals, objectives, activities and timelines for FLVS ’ launch into elementary education. To perform that job, she brings insights gained as both a classroom teacher and a program manager. Prior to joining FLVS, Commissioner Sprinkel provided oversight of early childhood programs for Orange County Public Schools for 23 years. She is equally proud of the 10 years she spent teaching at the kindergarten level.
Additional previous assignments include, creating childhood development centers for Walt Disney World®, creating family outreach programs for the Orlando Museum of Art, serving as a vice president for the YMCA, and providing private consultation services for social service agencies. She also lobbied with the Florida State Legislature on behalf of the needs of students.
Commissioner Sprinkel is constantly motivated by a desire to educate young people. Her commitment to her students and her profession finds the perfect setting in a virtual school dedicated to excellence. She earned her Master of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education from Rollins College in Winter Park. Her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education was awarded by Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn.
Always a dedicated volunteer in her community, Commissioner Sprinkel has served on numerous boards, professional associations and committees over the years. She and her husband, George, have three children: Clark, Caroline and George, who have blessed them with four grandchildren: Sophie, Anna, Gabriel and George VI. Her free time is spent enjoying the golf course and tending to her gardens.
Commissioner Carolyn Cooper
Term ends March 2022
Elected City Commissioner (Seat 3) in March 2010, Commissioner Cooper is currently serving her third term.
In her early career, Commissioner Cooper served as a Department of the Air Force civilian financial manager and project manager. Later, as Director of Contracts for Martin Marietta Data Systems, she negotiated multi-million dollar contracts and managed a staff of professionals.
Most recently, she has served on the Winter Park Planning & Zoning Commission and was a member of the Comprehensive Plan Task Force.
Commissioner Cooper has extensive professional education, including training in zero-based budgeting and cost/schedule control systems from the Air Force Institute of Technology. She holds a master’s in systems management from the University of Southern California, a master’s in guidance and counseling from Troy University, and a bachelor’s in management from the University of West Florida.
Growing up in a military family and working in the defense industry, Carolyn has traveled extensively and lived in major metropolitan areas. When she first visited Winter Park in 1988, she recognized the value of the charm of this community. She cares deeply about Winter Park and is dedicated to ensuring it grows in a manner that protects the ambiance of our historic downtown. She is committed to redevelopment of our underutilized commercial corridors, enhancement of our family neighborhoods, and protection of our historic resources.
Commissioner Cooper and her husband, Ned, have raised three of their five children in Winter Park. The family is active in the First United Methodist Church of Winter Park.
Commissioner Cooper will use her skills to mitigate risks and make disciplined decisions on behalf of Winter Park citizens.
Commissioner Todd Weaver
Term ends March 2022
Commissioner Weaver was elected to the City Commission (Seat 4) in April 2019.
As the fifth child of 10 children, Commissioner Weaver honed his skills for negotiation and compromise at a young age. Born in Dayton, Ohio, he spent his childhood in rural South Carolina and moved with his family to central Florida in 1972. Before enrolling in college full time, Commissioner Weaver spent four years as a tradesman and certified automotive technician.
Commissioner Weaver earned his Engineering degree at the University of Central Florida, graduated in 1983 with double majors in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He attended the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine from 1989 to 1991.
While the bulk of Commissioner Weaver’s career has been in the aerospace (airframe, rocket and gas turbine engines) and commercial aviation industries, he has a broad array of experience outside of aerospace. His varied design projects include flight-training and entertainment simulators, clean-room factory design and construction management, the tornado for Universal’s Twister attraction, rooftop solar systems, and a space shuttle-borne lab experiment apparatus launched in 1996. Commissioner Weaver authored multiple patents in the fields of aerospace and municipal infrastructure.
Commissioner Weaver founded and serves as president of two Winter Park-based companies: Weaver Engineering, Inc., a 23-year old engineering and consulting business, and TruGrit Traction, Inc. which engineers and manufactures wheels and traction devices for underground piping inspection robots.
As a 20+ year resident of Winter Park, Commissioner Weaver has volunteered his time and talents over the years to his community on the Orange County’s Lakes Advisory Board for four years and Winter Park Lakes and Waterways Board from 2010-2016; the last two years as chairman. One of Todd’s proudest accomplishments is the restoration of Lake Bell. After the crash of the lake ecology in the late nineties, he provided the neighborhood leadership needed to restore the lake to a thriving wildlife habitat.
Commissioner Weaver holds a Florida Certified General Contractor license and has managed and built numerous construction projects. Among his many hobbies, he is a fruit and vegetable gardener and beekeeper.
Commissioner Weaver is an active member of Winter Park Rotary and the University Club of Winter Park as well as several other local and national organizations.