POINCIANA – It was a controversial issue, Jeffrey Goldmacher recalls, that turned in a major political hot potato for the community of Poinciana. And then all of a sudden, it was over.
“Three years ago, I got involved in the incorporation of Poinciana issue,” Goldmacher said. “I was asked to be the leader of the anti-incorporation issue.”
He was against the idea of turning Poinciana – a community of 10 villages in unincorporated parts of Osceola and Polk counties – into a municipality, a move that would have required approval from the Florida Legislature.
As it turned out, the lawmakers who represent Poinciana decided not to forward an incorporation bill to the full Florida Legislature for consideration after area residents turned out at a public hearing to protest the notion of turning Poinciana into a city. The issue hasn’t come up again since.
Goldmacher said after cutting his teeth on this issue, he feels it was likely a good training ground for his next move – to run for the Osceola County Board of Commissioners, as a Republican seeking to unseat Democratic Commissioner Brandon Arrington.
Incorporation, he said, gave him the opportunity to get out and meet fellow residents, and get an understanding of what issues they’re most concerned about, and what they want long term in Poinciana. Incorporation, no; more jobs and economic development, yes.
“When we won, I went around thanking residents for their support,” he said. “And I network with a lot of businesses here in Poinciana.”
Goldmacher, who operates JAG Associates of Florida Inc., has already been active politically as a member of the Osceola County Republican Executive Committee. He feels that experience, combined with his business background and the success he had on the incorporation fight, gives him the perfect platform to become the community’s next Osceola commissioner.
“Looking at my business experience, my educational experience, I felt that I could make positive improvements for the residents of Poinciana,” Goldmacher said. “I felt I could represent the residents of Poinciana very well.”
If elected in November, Goldmacher said he wants to devote more attention to boosting the Poinciana Industrial Park off Poinciana Boulevard.
“We have an industrial park that’s being ignored by the commissioners,” he said. “Our county commission isn’t looking to do anything with it. We have a lot of empty spaces sitting at the Poinciana Industrial Park.”
One of the things he would do differently, Goldmacher said, is use his position on the Osceola County commission to vigorously promote and sell Poinciana and what it offers to new businesses looking to relocate here.
“I’m calling Poinciana the next frontier,” he said. “We are poised for great success. We’re 10 minutes from the airport (in Kissimmee, Kissimmee Gateway Airport).  They could fly people in and out in small jets and get people from Poinciana to there. That is a perfect business scenario.”
Too often, he said, the commissioners have failed to think big when it comes to Poinciana, and instead hailed as business growth or economic development when a fast-food restaurant opens a franchise in the community.
“There is nobody on the commission looking at Poinciana for any new development,” he said. “We have a very transient population because our population depends on fast food jobs.”
Goldmacher said he also wants to help promote a sense of community and civic pride in Poinciana, highlighting the many good things available here, from upscale dining at Solivita to the new football field at Vance Harmon Park.
“We can build a community feeling amongst the residents,” he said. “Their grassroots efforts worked real well during the incorporation fight. We can do it again.”

If elected, Goldmacher would only represent the Poinciana villages in Osceola County. The residents of Poinciana who live in Polk County are represented by Todd Danzler, a Republican member of the Polk County Board of Commissioners.

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