New members join City Commission

The City Commission received two new members Wednesday afternoon, but the incoming commissioners are familiar faces at City Hall.

Eileen Normile, chairwoman of the city’s Independent Police Advisory Panel, and Stan Zimmerman, writer and former president of the Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations, will step in to fill two vacated seats on the City Commission.

The two will serve the remainder of the District 2 and District 3 terms, which became open following the resignations of Paul Caragiulo and Shannon Snyder, both of whom ran for a Sarasota County Commission seat. Those terms expire in May following the spring municipal election.

The remaining commissioners — Mayor Willie Shaw, Vice Mayor Susan Chapman and Commissioner Suzanne Atwell — were tasked with selecting two new colleagues to join the board for less than half a year. The city received applications from 14 citizens, but Normile and Zimmerman were both Chapman and Atwell’s first choices.

In her remarks following her appointment to the District 2 seat, Normile stressed the importance of collegiality, a sentiment the entire board echoed. Normile said that working cooperatively — with each other, with city staff and with constituents — was essential.

“It’s paramount,” Normile said. “I don’t think you can accomplish anything if you can’t work collegially.”

Zimmerman, who has covered the city government’s inner workings as a reporter most recently for the Sarasota News-Leader, has announced his intent to run for District 3 in next year’s election. He acknowledged that his protracted term didn’t necessarily offer the opportunity for lasting change. Still, he said, he’s committed to immersing himself in the issues that face the commission until his term expires.

“What I can promise is my diligence and my concern for the future of a city I’ve written about for 40 years,” Zimmerman said. “I promise to be fair and accurate in my work for you, and to treat my fellow commissioners and citizens with the respect they deserve.”

Caragiulo, Maio officially take seats at the dais
The County Commission welcomed new faces to the dais Tuesday when Paul Caragiulo and Alan Maio were sworn in as District 2 and District 4 commissioners, respectively.

Caragiulo said his approach will be similar to that of his time on the City Commission.

“[Being a] city commissioner is like being a customer service rep,” he said. Caragiulo said he kept an open-door policy at the city and plans to extend his approachability into the county office.

Caragiulo has already pinpointed one issue in the county he’d like to address: the county’s control of environmental land. Instead of a debate between developers and the county on how much open space there needs to be, he said the county should preserve the open space and keep it under country control.

Maio said he was still getting his feet wet after his first meeting Tuesday. Since he retired from Kimley-Horn, he plans to tackle the County Commission role as his full-time job.

He hasn’t made an agenda about any particular issues, however, he knows he plans to connect with constituents by attending neighborhood and homeowners association meetings.

“People will see a calm, capable leader,” he said.

— Jessica Salmond