I’m running because our City is not for sale to Developer interests or at least I don’t think it should be. A cursory glance at the Campaign finance reports of Liz Alpert and Joe Barbetta will show who is backed by local property development interests and who is not. It’s reasonable to assume the developers are investing in the hope of favorable decisions from their candidates. 

There’s a reason why neither I or my other fellow candidates took money from developers, which is that none of us want the taint that special interest money brings.

Apart from my real concern that some candidates will allow our beautiful city to be concreted over by greedy developers, I also have several issues that I think need my voice.

The first is the proposed revisionist history move concerning the statue of Unconditional Surrender which I’m vehemently opposed to. The second is the City manager who is massively overpaid at $221,000 a year and who’s overstepped his authority on many occasions so I’d want him dismissed immediately. The third is our city finances which are in disarray and I know how to fix that by cutting waste at City Hall including the aforementioned crazy salary to the city manager.

Finally, I want to bring about a change from a strong unaccountable unelected manager to a strong accountable elected Mayor for which we need a city wide referendum.

I’ve spoken at city hall over 250 times in the last 4 years and I’m asking that you give me the opportunity to be your voice on the other side of the Dais after this election .

Martin Hyde is a candidate for Sarasota City Commission, District 2.