Editor's Note: This is the last in an eight-part weekly series profiling candidates for Sarasota City Commission.  

Perhaps no candidate running for Sarasota City Commission embodies the frustration of Matt Sperling, a retired Raymond James and Associates investment broker whose family has long-time roots in the city. He hates the burdens put on the city, and expresses extreme distaste with how City Hall has responded. At the start of his campaign, he quoted Network’s Howard Beale, saying he was mad at city leadership and he wasn’t going to take it anymore. Closer to election day, he’s been frustrated with media coverage, now asking interviews be done by email.

And if there’s frustration mixed into his message, it’s not because a lack of commitment to this community. The 59-year-old grew up hear, attending Southside Elementary and graduating from Sarasota High before going to Florida State to earn an economics degree and coming back to raise his kids here; both 28-year-old Ryan and 24-year-old Lauren were born at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. Before retiring, he was a senior vice president of investments at Raymond James and Associates, specializing in municipal debt obligations.

Sperling, one of eight candidates seeking two at-large seats on the commission, envisions Bobby Jones Golf Club being transformed into affordable, walkable housing. “There is an executive nine-hole course that will not have 50 rounds on a perfect day like today,” he writes. “It is owned by the city. It is very close to railroad tracks which go from Payne Park past Robarts. Golf is even a worse business than newspapers.” So he would like the city to lease the land to a housing trust. Using no government capital, he says a housing issue could be tackled and free bus service could be provided to the hospital and downtown every five minutes. He also foresees creating a commuter bike trail and requiring just 1,000 parking spaces for 2,000 apartment units, discouraging reliance on cars.

Regardless of the homeless situation, Sperling remains frustrated the city has shouldered so much of a regional burden. “The City has allowed Resurrection House and 10th Street Salvation Army to operate non conforming to zoning laws under a special exception granted by the City Commission 24 years ago on a 3-2 vote,” he writes. “The exception is timed out after a year and the Sarasota County Commission and the cities of Longboat Key Venice and North Port will no doubt welcome these great organizations to do their work in their backyard.”

He sees ways to scale back certain city services (he suggests eliminating city departments as fast as possible) and sell off certain city assets at City Hall (Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota Auditorium, G. Wiz., et cetera) while hiring more police officers. “After the Water and Sewer Department, Planning, Inspection, sale of all city-owned properties to finally pay off $320-million pension deficit,” he says, “the police force will employ 75 percent of city employees vs. about 30 percent now.” 

A city-wide election is scheduled for March 14, with a runoff likely on May 9. Other candidates include: Tahiti Park neighborhood leader Jennifer Ahern-Koch; former Sarasota Mayor Fredd “Glossie” Atkins; former prosecutor Hagen Brody; incumbent City Commissioner Susan Chapman; Downtown Sarasota Condominium Association president Patrick Gannon; Gulf Business Systems owner Martin Hyde; and pedestrian safety advocate Mikael Sandstrom. 

Williams Parker recently published its eighth edition of Requisite, the firm’s thought-leadership publication offering insights on legal issues. The current edition focuses on various issues and challenges encountered by business owners and senior executives within the private sector, including large nonprofit organizations, in managing their businesses and the associated risks, and includes an interview with the former CEO of The Walt Disney Company and of Paramount Pictures, Michael D. Eisner, in which he reflects on his global entertainment industry career. The publication also includes articles that explore board relations and responsibilities, protecting valuable business information and relationships, beneficiary designations, employee equity provisions, equity incentive compensation for management, and executive employment agreements and compensation plans. 

http://williamsparker.com/

The Education Foundation of Sarasota County hosted the createSRQ Gala Celebration February 26 at Michael’s on the Bay at Selby Botanical Gardens, raising more than $200,000 to support its mission and education initiatives including academics, arts, college and career readiness and technology and innovation. The signature fundraising event for the organization was known as Evening of Excellence for 21 years but was re-branded in 2017 as CreateSRQ to highlight the exciting changes made to the student art competition, auction format and event location.  

Education Foundation of Sarasota County

ArtisTree Landscape Maintenance & Design has garnered three awards recognizing excellence in landscaping at the annual Parade of Homes awards dinner hosted by the Manatee-Sarasota Building Industry Association.  ArtisTree won “Best Landscaping/Curb Appeal” in three of the four categories it entered featuring landscape design for Lee Wetherington Homes, John Cannon Homes and Arthur Rutenberg/Nelson Homes. Founded in 1990, ArtisTree Landscape Maintenance & Design specializes in planned community/commercial maintenance and landscape design/installation.  Services include community maintenance, pest control, irrigation, tree service, landscape design and installation, hardscape installation and landscape lighting.  ArtisTree is a privately held, nationally ranked company serving Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties. 

ArtisTree Landscape Maintenance and Design