CCNA forum highlights neighborhood issues

Q: Several years ago, the parks interlocal agreement with Sarasota County expired, leaving the city responsible for maintaining its parks. How would you address issues with city parks?

Matt Woodall
District 3
A: I was really excited to read about what (public works general manager) Todd Kucharski had to say about a dedicated district for funding parks and recreation. I’ve had the chance to meet with the director of Arlington Park, and I'd be interested in looking at expanding some of the programming options offered there.

Shelli Freeland Eddie
District 3
A: There are areas we can say to the county, “Hey — we're just asking you to hold your fair share, because there are things we're looking to accomplish in the city.” But for time of crisis, the city and county don't meet on a regular basis. That’s flawed thinking. We need to actually talk about challenges.

Stan Zimmerman
District 3
Q: What is your overall vision for the city in the next five years? Do you have a road map for how to get there?
A: My concern as I make a decision, every time I make a vote on the City Commission, is, “What are the consequences long term?” We’re building a city for our children. Things I may support, I may never see. My vision doesn’t stop at five years. My vision is: What is going to be best for the most important city in my life over the next … eternity? We need to think really hard about future generations.

Dave Morgan
District 2
Q: What do you think of the city’s pending move from traffic concurrency to a multimodal system? How would you propose to spend money from the multimodal funds?
A: I agree with the change. One of the reasons I picked the neighborhood where I live (Arlington Park) is because I can walk to Southside Village. Taking cars off of the road is always a good thing. I know we’re in season, but traffic is only getting worse. Let’s put some bike paths around town and get people out of cars.

Eileen Normile
District 2
Q: What is your opinion on the homeless situation in the city?
A: I’ve been very clear: no come-as-you-are shelter downtown or in the city. Whether or not we want one in the county or Housing First is something we have to continue to look at. Housing First has very good statistics; I have not seen those statistics with a come-as-you-are shelter. I am not in favor of trying something that has no statistics or facts to back it up. Doing nothing is not an option, but doing something wrong is an even worse option.

Liz Alpert
District 2
Q: As development continues in Sarasota, what do you think of the use of public hearings vs. administrative review during the planning process?
A: I think this illustrates why form-based code is such a good idea. I’m absolutely for the public having input into zoning changes and zoning issues. For the day-to-day simple approvals, if we’ve got the form-based code written properly, then it’s much easier to do administrative approvals because you’ve already had the public input into it.

+ Correction: This story originally misstated the last name of District 2 candidate Eileen Normile. The article has been updated to correct that error.