Matt Sperling enters City Commission race

As he campaigns for a seat on the City Commission, Matt Sperling isn’t going to shy away from discussing contentious issues.

This week, Sperling became the eight candidate in the March 14 election for two at-large commission seats. He’s already got an action plan that he hopes to implement if he wins a seat on the board, and it includes some lofty, out-of-the-box ideas.

Some examples:

• Building 2,000 affordable housing units on the 9-hole Bobby Jones Executive Course
• Finding private operators to manage the Robert L. Taylor Center, Bobby Jones Golf Club, the Municipal Auditorium and other public facilities 
• Asking Sarasota County, Venice, North Port or Longboat Key to house the Resurrection House homeless services center
• Halting construction on Lift Station 87 and contracting with a private company to run the county water and sewer utilities

Most of all, Sperling says, he wants to represent the working class — a segment of the population he believes doesn’t have a voice on the City Commission currently. He took issue with the type of development currently ongoing in Sarasota, and hopes to create more workforce housing in the city.

“I don’t want to live in a city designed for the privileged,” Sperling said.

Sperling wants to carry on the local political legacy established by his father, Ted Sperling, a former City Commissioner who advocated for the preservation of public land. County officials honored Ted Sperling’s work by naming Ted Sperling Park at South Lido Beach. 

“That's my inspiration,” Matt Sperling said. “Not to protest a building, but to actually accomplish something.”

Matt Sperling is also positioning himself as a rabble-rouser. On an issue like homelessness, the prospect of disturbing relations between local governments didn’t trouble him.

“I’m not running for County Commission,” Sperling said. “I want the other cities to be mad at me.”

Other issues on his agenda include fully funding the city’s police pension obligations and revitalizing Newtown without gentrification. A Sarasota native, Sperling said he was inspired to run because he’s angry about the direction the city is growing in — and he thinks he’s seen a similar sentiment among other residents.

“There’s a lot of anger on what’s happening to the city,” he said.

Sperling joins seven others who have entered the commission race: Jennifer Ahearn-Koch, Fredd Atkins, Hagen Brody, Susan Chapman, Patrick Gannon, Martin Hyde and Mikael Sandstrom.

The deadline to enter the race is Jan. 13. If two candidates do not earn a majority in the March 14 election, a runoff will be held May 9. The victorious commissioners will officially join the board May 12.