Paula Stark, is an author, American Politician, a newspaper publisher, and member of the Florida House of Representatives for the 47^th District.   

Paula Stark was born in Dothan, Alabama. The former Miss OHS graduated from Osceola High School in Kissimmee, Florida and attended Florida Technological University (known today as University of Central Florida). In 2022, Stark filed to run for Florida State House of Representative for District 47 and won election in November 2022. Since 2012, Stark has been the St. Cloud Main Street Executive Director in St. Cloud, Florida. In 1983, Stark worked her way up from advertising and sales to sales manager and then to publisher of the Osceola News Gazette (A community newspaper in Osceola County, Florida) retiring from the newspaper after 29 years.

Affiliations and Volunteering:

• City of St. Cloud Economic Advisory Council
• City of St. Clouds Historic Preservation Board
• St. Cloud Chamber Board of Directors
• St. Cloud Business Group Board of Directors
• The Osceola Chamber Board of Directors
• Osceola Center for the Arts
• Osceola County YMCA
• Senior Little League World Series
• St. Cloud Economic Stimulus Grant Committee
• St. Cloud Main Street and Youth Shine

Highlights & Awards:

• Sun Media (Toronto, Canada) 8 John S. Grant Advertising & Marketing Awards
• St. Cloud Chamber of Commerce “Living Legend” award;
• Florida Press Association Account Executive of the Month, 2001;
• St. Cloud Rotary Club;
• St. Cloud Chamber’s “Businessperson of the Year” in 1999;
• Orlando Magazine’s “Woman of the Year” in 2023”
• St. Cloud Main Street Legend

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HB 499 – Florida Main Street Program and Historic Preservation Tax Credits	HB 751 – Mobile and Manufactured Homes
HB 753 – Sentencing for Trafficking Violations	**HB 847 – Vessel Regulations
HB 1039 – Missing Persons	HB 1051 – Use and Access of Public Restrooms

Co-Sponsored Florida House Bills 2023:

**HB 49 – Abandoned and Historical Cemeteries	**HB 233 – Deceased Individuals
HB 239 – Special Risk Class Retirement Date	HB 251 – Entertainment Industry Tax Credit Program
**HB 269 – Public Nuisances	HB 287 – Required Instruction in the History of Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders
HB 333 – Transfer of K-12 Grades and Credits	HB 483 – Blood Clot & Pulmonary Embolism Policy Workgroup
HB 533 – Fair Repair of Agricultural Equipment	HB 553 – State Recognition of Indian Tribes and Bands
HB 563 – Applications on Government Devices	HB 569 – Pretrial Detention
HB 605 – Expunction of Criminal History Records	**HB 825 – Assault or Battery on Hospital Personnel
HB 851 – Disclosure of Grand Jury Testimony	**HB 919 – Homeowner’s Associations
**HB 965 – Drive License, Identification Card, and Motor Vehicle Registration	**HB – 1279 Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
HB – 1435 Damages Recoverable in Wrongful Death Actions

Sponsored Florida House Bills 2024:

**Signed into Law

**HB 613 – Mobile Home Park Lot Tenancies	HB 881 – Restorative Justice
HB 615 – Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in K-12 Schools	HB 1183 – Florida Main Street Program and Historic Preservation Tax Credits
HB 763 – Funding Court Technology	**HB 1337 – Department of Corrections
HB 829 – Autism Spectrum Disorder Training for Law Enforcement Officers

Co-Sponsored Florida House Bills 2024:

HB 1 – Online Protections for Minors	HB 631 – Aftercare Services Under Road-To-Independence Program
**HB 21 – Dozier School for Boys and Okeechobee School Victim Compensation Program	HB 637 – Treatment by a Medical Specialist
HB 115 – Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases Policy Workgroup	**HB 801 – Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia Training for Law Enforcement and Correctional Officers
**HB 117 – Disclosure of Grand Jury Testimony	**HB 865 – Youth Athletic Activities
HR 125 – State of Israel	**HB 917 – Career and Technical Education
**HB 135 – Voter Registration Applications	HB 979 – Estoppel Certificates
**HB 151 – Florida Retirement System	**HB 1077 – Clerks of Court
HB 165 – Sampling of Beach Waters and Public Bathing Spaces	**HB 1161 – Verification of Eligibility for Homestead Exemption
HB 247 – Services Provided by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles or Its Agents	**HB 1203 – Homeowners’ Associations
**HB 275 – Offenses Involving Critical Infrastructure	**HB 1227 – Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day
**HB 341 – Designation of a Diagnosis on Motor Vehicle Registrations	**HB 1259 – Providers of Cardiovascular Services
**HB 357 – Special Observances	HB 1665 – Preventing Contaminants from Discharging into Wastewater Facilities and Waters of the State
HB 439 – Corporal Punishment	**HB 7021 – Mental Health and Substance Abuse
**HB 621 – Property Rights	HB 7023 – Pub. Rec. and Meetings/Mental Health and Substance Abuse
HB 629 – Florida Women’s Historical Marker Initiative

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Paula Stark the Children’s Book Author

“Abraham the Alligator; Cleo The Cat; Babe the Bear; Davy the Dog, and Eleanor the Eagle.” Her publishing company is called Stark Productions, Inc. These books provide a history lesson that parents can read to their children in these interactive books. Paula believes in early education and published these books because she is passionate for early education. It’s important for early childhood development and overall, it benefits the children as they move forward in school. So, she published these historically based interactive books, for her sons.

Paula Stark the Historic Preservationist

She is a part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation – understanding and preserving downtowns throughout America and fighting for commercial architecture and aware of the need to stimulate economic activity in small-city downtown areas. Since 1980, the Main Street Program has emerged across the country as a major force in downtown revitalization. There are over 900 participating cities worldwide with over 60 cities in Florida alone. Her program began in 1999, Paula has been involved since the beginning and continues to encourage ongoing economic development in conjunction with historic preservation and to bring recognition to downtown St. Cloud, Fla. 

Paula Stark believes in:

•             Managing out-of-control growth
•             Planning safe and efficient transportation
•             Demanding fairer school funding
•             Supporting first responders
•             Improving Veteran services
•             Attracting higher-paying jobs
•             At Risk youth programs
•             Sentence Reform for non-violent Offenders
•             Manufacture & Mobile Homeowner Rights

Paula’s Hobbies & Passions:

Historic Preservation – Paula works to bridge past and present at St. Cloud Main Street and beyond!

Working with local Veteran’s on their day-to-day life and needs in Central Florida

Paula has two sons, Nick and Taylor that reside in Florida and Aidan, Laken and Wrenely, her first grandchildren. She enjoys spending time with Joel and her family, fitness, lifting and pushing some weights here and there, visiting historic downtowns throughout the Country and participating in Veteran activities and honors in her community.  Paula was born in Alabama and now is a resident of Osceola County and has been for over 60 years.

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Meet Paula Stark!

She is executive director of St. Cloud Main Street and a former newspaper publisher.

Scott Powers, Florida Politics

by Scott Powers

Florida Politics

June 2, 2022

St. Cloud civic leader and former newspaper publisher Paula Stark has filed to run as a Republican in House District 47 in Osceola and Orange counties.

Stark is the first Republican to declare in the new district, which will serve most of St. Cloud and eastern Kissimmee in north-central Osceola and the Meadow Woods area communities in south-central Orange.

For most of the past decade she has been executive director of St. Cloud Main Street, an economic development, historic preservation and revitalization organization. Prior to that she had worked 29 years at the Osceola News Gazette, rising to publisher before retiring in 2012. She’s also an Osceola High School graduate and a former Miss Osceola.

“I will promise you that no one will outwork me to understand the issues from every angle and to use the knowledge I have obtained from my community experience and information that I obtain to vote my conscience,” Stark said in a news release.

In this year’s redistricting process, HD 47 was carved out of two districts that had been represented by Republican Rep. Fred Hawkins and Democratic Rep. Kristen Arrington. Both are running for re-election in adjacent districts.

In HD 47, Democrats Horng “Andrew” Jeng and Anthony Nieves of Kissimmee and Daniel Paul Marquith of St. Cloud are running.

The district has a large Hispanic, primarily Puerto Rican, population. Based on results of the past couple of General Elections, it appears to have a significant Democratic lean.

In the release, Stark cited growth management, transportation, school funding and low-wage jobs as the top concerns in the district.

“Just by driving around Osceola County every day we can all see that our roads are overcrowded and every year they only get worse,” Stark said in the release. “I understand why so many people want to live in Florida with the great weather year around and no state income tax, but we have to do a better job of planning for the roads and other transportation infrastructure that we need to keep up with the growth we experience and to court new business to locate here.”

She also pledged to work toward modifying the state school funding formula so that it does not penalize high-growth counties, and to encourage funding for trades education. Stark also said she would work to help veterans and pursue efforts to improve transportation and wages in the region.

“Part of bringing better-paying jobs to the area is not just working to get businesses to locate here but providing incentives to the new ‘telecommuting’ workforce to locate here,” she said. “Increasing wages and transportation improvements are connected to each other and will be areas I focus on heavily.”

Source: https://floridapolitics.com/archives/529233-republican-paula-stark-files-to-run-in-hd-47

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