- August 7, 2026
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It's zero hour for Sarasota County Commission candidates.
Most, with the exception of Democrat Julie London, who is not facing a primary challenger; are in crunch time with early voting starting Saturday. That's especially true in District 2, as the race is a universal primary contest.
The five candidates gathered Thursday at Michael's on East during a Sarasota Tiger Bay Club luncheon. They were asked questions on key issues, including whether they supported Amendment 3's property tax reform proposal, giving their views over the clink of china and glasses. Here's a look at some of their answers, which were edited for length.
The budget: So the county, I understand that there have been cuts (since) August of last year. That's towards the tail end of the past four years. We had historic flooding in this area in 2024, just, this commission has spent so much money and they have failed to prioritize what's important.
Growth: So smart growth isn't anti-growth: It's making sure that the growth pays for everything that's impacted. So growth is coming here, whether we like it or not, but there are businesses that are leaving, there are people that are leaving. It's not affordable. The permitting process is terrible.
Amendment 3: I do support tax relief for the individual. However, we are all recovering from COVID. We don't have a backup plan. We are hurting as a county and we haven't found replacement for that revenue or identified cuts. So now is not the time, but I do believe in tax relief.
The budget: So we're on a tight budget already. As our county keeps growing, we need to have the services. And so, we're on a diet now. We put it on ourselves, and we're going to continue to make sure that we don't spend more than we need to.
Growth: When I got on board, one of the words I learned rather quickly was entitlements, and all the development out east has been entitled. And so, what we have to do as a board now, what I've been stressing, is we've got to make sure that we're not building in the wetlands, and we're not building in the habitat and in flood areas.
Amendment 3: No. Definitely no. It's a tax shift, not a tax cut, and we're all going to be paying more, especially the commercial interests, because they won't be homesteaded. I'm hoping that 41% understand it, at least.
The budget: Dr. Neunder saying he saves $5 million in the budget, he asked (County Administrator Jonathan Lewis) to find $5 million. I'm a blogger, a bit of a reporter since I was in high school, and I would be telling Jon Lewis, here's where to find the $5 million. I'm also meeting with the grants people, because that is such an important part of the budget.
Growth: I think we have to start with the Live Local Act, and this is why it is so very important to know who to vote for for our Tallahassee legislators. The Live Local Act overrules our comprehensive plan. The state requires that every county have a comprehensive plan, and what good does it do if they overrule it?
Amendment 3: The way it was written was unconstitutional, so people still don't know what the heck it actually is. I'm saying no, but what we did learn from it is that people are concerned about financially strapped seniors. We can do something for them.
On the budget: Ladies and gentlemen, what we're looking at down the road are very difficult conversations with the public that are going to say, folks, what do you want here in our community if property tax reform happens? Where do we need to make cuts?
On growth: Any future comprehensive plan amendments that come through as long as I'm on the board are going to have to meet the highest level of threshold possible. In addition, we have to also look and listen to the people that are in these specific communities with projects, the people that live there 365, 24/7.
On Amendment 3: We're in desperate need of property tax relief, yes. Is this the right metric in Amendment 3 with the language? I don't think it is. Government is a service-based industry. It is our first responders, it is our parks, it is our libraries. It's very singularly unique. I come from the private sector, but yes on property tax relief in some form.
The budget: So, I think we share a lot of frustration when we look at our budget that over the last three and a half, four years has increased by almost nearly the $900 million, and I think we all look around and we understand that there are significant infrastructure issues going on in Sarasota County, and we probably say to ourselves, where's the money gone?
Growth: Infrastructure is our No. 1 problem and it needs to be prioritized. But, you know, the other component of overdevelopment is a significant thing that's not talked about a lot. If I'm talking to business owners, I'm talking to people in the trades and the restaurant business, what it means to them is they can't service the units that we have because they can't bring in people to live here, and that is a failure in our workforce.
Amendment 3: Still on the fence on it, because I think there's ways we can subsidize through investments that the county has earning 6% interest on a billion dollar fund.
