Photos: Kyle Battie, Sequoia Felton

Kyle Battie won his seat on the Sarasota City Commission four years ago defeating an incumbent on the argument the city too often stalled progress. Now he faces a challenger, Sequoia Felton, who feels Sarasota officials have continued to ignore the working class.

The two candidates faced off in a three-person election in August, where no candidate secured a majority. Voters in District 1 will decide in a Nov. 5 election who represents North Sarasota on the Commission for the next four years.

Battie feels his record is strong, from approving a master plan for Marie Selby Botanical gardens, pursuing further progress at The Bay and using conservation easements to preserve the Bobby Jones Golf Club. Specific to the Newtown area, he discusses improvements at Pioneer Park, which had a dilapidated basketball court when Battie was first elected.

“Now the basketball court is the best in the city of Sarasota,” he said. “It’s huge to see the number of people of all ages and ethnicities playing with each other.”

Felton, for her part, feels Battie claims credit for many things already in motion before his 2020 election over former Mayor Willie Shaw.

“I can’t speak for everybody, but the community feels he hasn’t done enough in Newtown,” she said. “They feel he just left them behind.”

Felton feels especially frustrated by the city’s claimed advances in workforce housing, and considers many of the units coming only as still out of reach for most working people in her community.

“I’m a single woman who moved here in 2006,” she said. “I have never had a problem trying to find prices as far as rent goes that were affordable. Nobody in my district is making $65,000 for ‘attainable’ housing.”

The same goes for affordable housing models in Sarasota, which she said remain out of reach for most working families.

Battie, for his part, said more has occurred to incentive development of workforce housing than any point in the city’s history. Previously, he said the only effective work in the arena was done by the Sarasota Housing Authority in complexes like Janie’s Garden. But a bonus density program for developers has spurred plans to bring hundreds of affordable units online.

The incumbent also stressed income thresholds for housing are based on households, not just individuals. But he also said there must be room for people to improve themselves and their own earning power while taking advantage of available affordable housing.

“I want people to want and expect more of themselves,” Battie said. “If you make $13,000 or $26,000 a year, that’s fine. What I’m not okay with is you being okay with it. I feel everyone has the potential to be more.”

Battie also said the city has focused on public safety during his time in office, improving lighting and active uses of parks that once frequently saw drug activity and prostitution take place regularly. He said the city largely eliminated those problems in places like the 10th Street bus terminal. Parks once seen as unsafe after dark now have women walking dogs there at night, a testament to the improvements he said.

Felton said she regularly hears complaints about a lack of affordable housing and of overdevelopment in the city. She’s eager to study issues and find the right balance in planning for the city’s future.

Photos: Kyle Battie, Sequoia Felton