Commissioner Involved in Controversial Development

ORLANDO-Elected officials in Seminole County, Central Florida’s most affluent community, are on the hot seat as they prepare to make a final vote Tuesday on an estimated $50 million townhouse/retail/office development in which Commissioner Randalph C. “Randy” Morris is a principal and majority stockholder.

Commissioners approved the 180-unit, 19.2-acre project April 9 but the revised master plan has enlarged the venture in southeast Seminole County, 10 miles from Downtown Orlando at Tuskawilla Road and Aloma Avenue.

Critics charge Morris allegedly violated the state’s Sunshine Law by discussing the project by phone with fellow commissioner Grant Maloy prior to the initial 4-0 unanimous vote. Morris didn’t vote. He has been elected three times since 1994 and is considered one of the most apopular vote-getters in Central Florida.