City Commission candidates finalized

The list of potential appointees to the City Commission has been narrowed to 14, as the deadline to submit applications passed at noon today.

For the past 10 days, the city has been accepting applications for candidates to fill two City Commission vacancies scheduled to open when the resignations of Paul Caragiulo and Shannon Snyder go into effect. The selected candidates will serve the remainder of the District Two and District Three commission terms, which expire on May 15, 2015.

The District Two candidates are:

+ Liz Alpert, an attorney serving on the city’s Civil Service/General Personnel Board
+ David Coe, a member of the city’s Enterprise Zone Development Agency board
+ Anthony Garrabrant, semi-retired former president of a construction company
+ Arthur Levin, a former city Charter Review Committee member and board member of the Downtown Sarasota Condo Association
+ Eileen Normile, chairwoman of the city’s Independent Police Advisory Panel and political committee The Citizens Voice
+ Ken Shelin, former City Commissioner
+ Frank Folsom Smith, an architect and former member of the city's Historic Preservation Board
+ Vald Svekis, planning board member
+ Paul Thorpe, board member of the Downtown Sarasota Alliance and the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board

The District Three candidates are:

+ Barbara Delgato, a retired Sarasota County School Board employee
+ Shelli Freeland Eddie, an attorney serving on the Newtown Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board
+ Maryellin Kirkwood, member of the city’s Human Relations Board
+ Charles Senf, the moderator of the Sarasota Voices group on Yahoo
+ Stan Zimmerman, a journalist who formerly served as the president of the Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations

Following the resignations, the remaining commissioners will select one candidate from each district to join the board at a special meeting on Nov. 19.

For more information on the commission candidates, pick up a copy of next Thursday’s Sarasota Observer.

Contact David Conway at [email protected].