Bill is fighting to secure billions of dollars in federal contracts to grow Orange County's high-tech military training industry, known as 'modeling and simulation.' The industry produces technology like 3-D flight simulators and already employs 14,000 people in Central Florida with an average wage of $82,000 a year. In June, Bill traveled to Washington to secure additional federal contracts which would result in even more great jobs.

Bill exposed major flaws in a plan to offer a $30 million taxpayer-financed incentive to an unproven company. When local lobbyists tried to convince commissioners that the company would produce high-wage jobs, Bill investigated. Based largely on what he discovered about the company's lack of accomplishments, the incentive plan died.

Bill fought a flawed plan by state lawmakers to grab hundreds of millions of dollars from the state transportation trust fund, dollars that should go to build and maintain local roads.

Bill went to work after he learned the federal government said it may move thousands of high-paying jobs out of the Central Florida Research Park if security upgrades were not made to the facility. He helped convince state lawmakers to fund the required security upgrades for the research park. With the improvements, the modeling and simulation jobs, paying an average wage of $82,000 a year, stayed put in Orange County.

Bill demanded an investigation of a nonprofit funded with county tax dollars after discovering questionable programs for underprivileged kids like ‘Beauty is Your Duty’. The county investigation uncovered signs the nonprofit double billed the county and falsified records. Thanks to the investigation Bill started, the county stopped funding the nonprofit, a move that saved taxpayers nearly $500,000 a year.

Bill led the effort to ensure that working people like teachers, nurses and deputies who work in Orange County can also afford to live in Orange County. Bill chaired the Orange County Workforce Housing Task Force, which crafted a series of recommendations that would ensure housing was available to middle class families. Those recommendations were unanimously adopted by the Orange County Commission and became a national model discussed by groups like the Urban Land Institute.

Bill fought to keep state lawmakers from raiding a transportation trust fund that is supposed to be used to build local roads. Thanks in part to his efforts, legislators backed away from a plan to pull $400 million from the fund.

Bill helped preserve two hundred thousand acres of environmentally sensitive land in Central Florida while serving on the St. John’s River Water Management Board from 1993 to 2001.

Bill crafted Orange County’s water ordinance that will save millions of gallons of water every year. With his tiered rate structure, people using the most water pay the highest price per gallon. He also pushed for a landscaping ordinance that requires new homes include landscaping that requires little watering.

Bill led the fight to stop thousands of homes from being built in the environmentally sensitive land east of the Econ River.

Bill negotiated a deal with the Orlando Magic that resulted in the team building five community centers valued at $25 million dollars for the people of Orange County. Some of the centers have already opened and are currently being enjoyed by the public.

Bill worked with the Bonneville neighborhood to get a pedestrian bridge built over a deep storm water canal. With the bridge, families were able to get the University of Central Florida more quickly and easily. The bridge was built with funds set aside for public works projects in Bill’s commission district.

Bill was a founding Director of the Coalition for the Homeless, the largest provider of services to the homeless in Central Florida. It addresses the needs of the homeless and works to end homelessness.

Bill and his wife Sara are on the Community Leadership Council of the Howard Phillips Center for Children and Families. The organization helps children who have been abused, coaches parents on parenting skills, and provides mobile health care for uninsured kids.

Bill has been a member of the Orange County Children and Families Services Board, which oversees the county’s foster care facility.

Bill chaired the annual fundraising walk for the Cystic Fibrosis Association, raising more than $90,000 to help battle this inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States.

About Bill Segal

Bill Segal was first elected to the Board of County Commissioners in 2004

Occupation
* General Contractor

Education
* Edgewater High School, 1967
* University of Miami Bachelor of Business Administration, 1971

Public Service & Affiliations
* Chairman Orange County Workforce Housing Taskforce
* Member Winter Park Chamber of Commerce
* Member Goldenrod Chamber of Commerce
* Honorary Member Rotary Club of Orange County East
* Member Orange County Children and Family Services Board
* Member Orange County Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Board
* Member, Council of 100
* Board Member, Orlando Museum of Art Board of Trustees
* Ex Officio Member, Winter Park Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors
* Graduate, FBI Citizen's Academy
* Founding Director, Coalition for the Homeless
* Former Director, Florida Symphony Orchestra
* Past President, Jewish Family Services
* Past President, University of Miami Alumni and Boosters
* Former Lay Member, 18th District Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee
* Former Member and Chairman, St. Johns River Water Management District
* Past President, Tiger Bay Club

Personal
* Born 1949, has lived or worked in District 5 his entire life
* Married to Sara with two sons Zach and Joe