This isn't another campaign.

Orlando is being built without us.
I'm running to change who it's built for.

Aria Reyes — urban planner, café owner, daughter of bus operators. Running for Ward 4 because the city my parents helped build is pricing out the workers who keep it running. The plan below is mine. So is the work.

Read the full manifesto ↓ Join the list
Aria Reyes headshot
Photo Aria at Reyes Café — Bumby Avenue, Ward 4
01
My Story

Why I'm running.

Aria Reyes is running for Ward 4 because Orlando's growth is leaving its workers behind, and a city built by working people should be lived in by working people. As an urban planner she helped design three of the public spaces Orlandoans actually use. As the owner of Reyes Café on Bumby Avenue, she pays the same property taxes that doubled her landlord's rent and her own. She's running on the city she wants her kids to inherit: walkable, bilingual, served by transit that shows up, and affordable to the families who built it.

02
The Problem

Growth without us isn't growth.

Orlando is the third-fastest-growing metro in the country. Ward 4 is where that growth is happening — and where the working families who made this city possible are being priced out fastest. The numbers are not a mystery. They've been on every budget memo for five years.

+38%
Median rent in Ward 4, 2019 → 2024

Wages didn't move. The waitlist for workforce housing did — past 12,000 households.

62 min
Average one-way commute for service workers

LYNX cuts service at 7 PM. The people who cook your dinner can't get home from work.

$1.4B
Tax abatements granted to luxury developers

Since 2018. Meanwhile linkage fees toward affordable housing: zero new dollars.

03
My Plan

If you elect me, this is what I do.

Three commitments. Each one names what we'll do, how it actually works, and exactly what's stopping us right now. No white papers. No "task force." Day-one ordinances.

01

Affordable workforce housing

Inclusionary zoning + a stronger linkage-fee program. Make new development pay for the displacement it causes.

The Plan

Inclusionary zoning on every project over 50 units, plus a linkage fee tied to actual displacement data.

How it works

New development pays into a Ward-level housing trust. Trust funds deed-restricted units within walking distance of the build.

What's stopping us now

Council majority writes abatements for developers but won't write affordability requirements. That's a choice, not a constraint.

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02

Public transit that shows up

SunRail nights and weekends; LYNX bus frequency upgrades. Stop building parking, start building service.

The Plan

SunRail nights and weekends within 18 months. LYNX frequency to 15-minute headways on the seven highest-ridership routes.

How it works

Reallocate the parking-garage line item. Partner with FDOT on the SunRail contract renegotiation in 2027.

What's stopping us now

Council still treats transit as charity instead of infrastructure. The money exists. The political will doesn't.

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03

Bilingual city services

Orlando is 30%+ Latine and growing. Every department gets bilingual response capacity, not just translation requests.

The Plan

Every city department staffs bilingual response within 90 days of hire. Permits, code enforcement, 311, parks.

How it works

Bilingual hire incentive in the next budget cycle. Existing staff get a stipend for verified Spanish proficiency.

What's stopping us now

We've been promising this since 2015. Three task forces. Zero implementations. I'll bring the ordinance week one.

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04
Join

No spam. Just the work.

The list is the campaign. Weekly updates, real-time wins, first look at our plans. Donations come later — only after you've seen what we're building.

Start here

English / Español — emails arrive in whichever you prefer. You pick on the next page.

What you'll get

Here's what hits your inbox.

  • EMAIL 1 — DAY 0
    The full manifesto.

    Two thousand words on why I'm running for Ward 4 — written by me, not a consultant.

  • EMAIL 2 — DAY 3
    Three numbers.

    The Orlando data that should anger you as much as it angers me.

  • EMAIL 3 — DAY 7
    Now: a small ask.

    First donation pitch — after you've seen what we're building. $5 if we earned it.

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