Now that the election is almost here, it ended with the College of Education closing at the University of South Florida, which was a devastating blow for all students trying to obtain a B.A. degree in Education there.

The College of Education failed them and there’s a loss of 300 jobs within the university system.

State Legislatures for Florida have been meddling with USF’s college programs since 2014. How disappointing it is that one of our best state universities decided to eliminate the College of Education. How sad it is that the university has decided to close the School of Education. If they want to become teachers, where are the teachers going to come from? The School of Education is the foundation of our future educators.

My questions are this: Is the University of South Florida still a public university, private university or is it controlled by state legislators? How does this benefit or adversely impact our community’s socio-economic status for our local community of District 23?

If it is controlled by state legislators, then the state legislature is responsible, not only for lost jobs within the university, but for slighting students to continue their dreams of becoming a teacher.

Robert Samuel Kaplan is a no-party affiliated candidate for State Senate District 23. 

I love this City and it has been my honor to serve on the Sarasota City Commission for the past five years. I am running to continue serving because I believe that the City is at a crossroads where we either move forward with the progress we have made, or we halt our progress and go back to old ways of thinking.

Some of the accomplishments of which I am most proud are supporting a $5,000 grant to small businesses that have been harmed by the COVID pandemic. Being one of the first communities in our area to pass a mandatory mask ordinance to help stop the spread of COVID. Supporting moving forward with the plans for The Bay Project. A Housing First initiative which has helped lower the number of homeless on our streets by 60%. Adoption of a “Ready for 100” sustainability plan to have city facilities using all renewable energy by 2030 and city wide by 2045. Adoption of a climate adaption plan to deal with sea level rise. A plan for the Bobby Jones Golf property, which will restore the historic course and create a new almost 100-acre park and place the property with the Conservation Foundation to maintain it as an important watershed and green space forever.

We are working on a modern multi-modal transportation plan to ease congestion and make our community even more walkable and bike friendly. I want to make sure that we do everything possible to maintain our cultural and historic assets, especially the Orchestra and Selby Gardens that need to be able to accommodate their growth or they will find a new venue outside of the City. In listening to my opponent in the various forums we have participated in, it has become clear to me that if he is elected, this progress would be stopped.

It takes vision to see how things benefit our community and add to the richness of our lives in Sarasota. It will take vision to bring back the vitality to our community that has suffered and is still suffering from the pandemic. My opponent just wants to complain and hasn’t offered a vision of his own. It also takes vision and courage to stand up to special interests. I have proven that I have the ability to do that. It is not easy to vote for something when there is a room full of people in opposition. However, I have not been afraid to take the difficult votes to achieve a broader community goal.

My vision is why I have been endorsed by a broad coalition of groups and individuals including Ruth’s List, Equality Florida Action PAC, the Retired City Firefighters Association, the Sarasota Police Officer’s Association, Local 6045, the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee, The Gulf Coast Builders Exchange, the Stonewall Democrats, and recommended by The Sarasota Observer, former County Commissioner Joe Barbetta, former City and County Commissioner Paul Caragiulo, Progressive Sarasota and theSarasota-Charlotte Democratic Progressive Caucus.In addition, I am endorsed by Sean Sellers and Lynn Nilssen, the co-organizers of Sarasota Ready for 100, Emeritus Professor of Urban Planning Roger J. Barry, School Board Member Shirley Brown and former City Commissioner and Vice-Mayor Ken Shelin, who stated, “Liz has consistently demonstrated a high sensitivity and concern for projects and ideas which will help the City of Sarasota meet its future needs. We need her vision.” In order to make this vision happen, I am asking for your vote to keep Sarasota moving forward. Thank you.

Liz Alpert is a candidate for Sarasota City Commission District 2. 

When the senior George Bush was President, he said he struggled with ‘the vision thing’ and indeed a lack of vision is what resulted in him being a one-term President. In order to effectively lead and respond to a community’s challenges and conditions, a leader must know where they want to go. As a candidate for the Sarasota City Commission, District 3 I believe I have the vision to address core problems.

With a 4-year term where do I want to see our community at the end of that term? After spending extensive time with our citizens at their doors, with business people, city staff, concerned activists and members of our critical arts and culture community, I feel we are at an inflection point in Sarasota.

The backbone of Sarasota is our waterfront environment. Maintaining our bays and waterways is critical. I envision our City ramping up its efforts to modernize our waste water management system while finding creative ways to fund these expensive efforts beyond regressive rate increases. Storm water is another environmental quality concern and we must incorporate management of runoff in any redevelopment efforts.

Arts and culture is a key economic driver in our city and we can’t afford to let iconic institutions flounder or leave. In four years, I envision that we have amicably resolved capital improvement requirements for Selby Gardens and found a wonderful new location for the Sarasota Orchestra in the City. A basic responsibility of any city is to tend to elements that create our identity and drive employment.  We are already losing Mote Aquarium and the Sarasota Players Theater, we can’t continue this trend.

Another vision I have is a progressing and well-funded The Bay bayfront park project. Great cities have great green spaces and The Bay is a gift to future generations of Sarasotans as a place to gather, celebrate our community and its waterfront. In addition, The Bay infrastructure will feature considerable benefits for handling much of the city’s storm water.  Included in that environmental vision is creating a conservation easement at Bobby Jones Golf Course which will address storm water management and protect the entire property as a green space for generations.

These are critical issues for our wonderful city, our nationally recognized city. We must decide if we want to tend to our wonderful assets or rest on our laurels. This candidate sees a Sarasota continuing its path to greatness.

Dan Clermont is a candidate for Sarasota City Commission District 2. 

If you were to ask my wife what I was like in high school, she would tell you that I was shy. That’s inaccurate. I was only diffident around her. We met during fourth period lunch at Riverview High School, where she was the captain of the cheerleading team, and I was a new kid from the streets of the Dominican Republic. Back then, I would wake up at 6 a.m. and bike to school, often losing my balance over four of my 10 favorite potholes in the City of Sarasota.

After becoming the first to graduate high school in my family, I went to the University of Florida, where I attained my bachelor’s degree. I came back to Sarasota, where my mom lives, and now help people in this resilient, strong community of which I’m immensely proud.

Sarasota has a unique way of thriving in spite of its many showings of mismanagement. $8 million became $67 million in taxpayer dollars for a lift station project. Then a $50-million judgement was awarded against our city in a lawsuit. I have seen first-hand the deep needs of our community, having knocked on thousands of doors and served as a board member for numerous charities for the past 15 years. Sarasota is a prosperous, generous community that I have had the great honor of growing alongside.

But this election day, our city residents have some decisions to make. Does having a history in our community matter? Does charity involvement and attaining a local education matter? Does having bipartisan endorsements matter? Does running a business locally, or experience in City Hall, matter? Does ensuring our city grows responsibly matter?

The heart of Sarasota is its working class in District 3. We need a champion for the forgotten people east of Tamiami Trail, which get little representation and consideration. You have to sit back and watch in awe as our city spends millions upon million on downtown and waterfront projecst, yet spends cents upon cents for its step-child in District 3. We can’t sit on the sidelines as our taxes and utility rates rise.

I am running for the Sarasota City Commission because I am invested in the entire community, not select parts. My wife Victoria and I have known each other since high school and intend on staying here for the long haul. Aside from the plethora of opportunities, we are invested in the future of this community. Victoria is currently a history teacher and cheerleading coach at Sarasota High School, while I became a local business, wills, and trust lawyer. All of this while being raised by a single parent, being a first-generation America, and becoming my family’s first high school graduate. Against all odds, this happened in Sarasota.

Not bad for a street kid from the Dominican Republic.

Erik Arroyo is a candidate for Sarasota City Commission District 3. 

With so many important contests on this year's ballot, I would like to highlight one at the top of the ballot and three at the bottom of the ballot. 

With a U.S. Supreme Court now solidly controlled by a conservative majority, some of whom oppose the right of same-sex couples to marry, it is important that LGBT voters and their allies bolster legislative defenses at the federal, state and local levels.

As many are now aware, the current occupant of the 16th Congressional district of Florida seat — Vern Buchanan — has opposed the expansion of civil rights for his LGBT constituents. Just last year the Congressman voted against the Equality Act which, if signed into law, would "prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in a wide variety of areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system."

Additionally, the Congressman, according to the Human Rights Campaign, opposes a federal ban on gay conversion therapy. 

Locally, two City of Sarasota Commissioners — Willie Charles Shaw who is running for a third term and Shelli Freeland Eddie who has elected to leave the Commission after one term — voted against drafting an ordinance banning gay conversion therapy performed on minors. Further confirming my suspicions that Sarasota's LGBT community does not have a friend in Commissioner Shaw was his immediate reluctance to include LGBT as a category of small business owners who could participate in the City's Diversity Procurement Program. As a gay man, I have been taken aback by these revelations. 

I encourage fellow city voters to cast their ballots for four Equality Florida-endorsed candidates: please send state Representative Margaret Good to Washington, Kyle Scott Battie for District 1, Commissioner Liz Alpert for District 2 and Dan Clermont for District 3.

Gabriel Hament is a Sarasota native. He managed Alpert's 2015 city campaign and has volunteered for Good, Battie and Clermont. 

Early voting is off to a strong start. It’s important to remind City of Sarasota residents to check where candidates stand on issues related to arts and culture.

Arts and culture cannot, and should not, be taken for granted. Our cultural institutions are what have made Sarasota “the cultural coast,” and they form the backbone of our economy. A 2015 study showed that these institutions brought 7,445 jobs and $295 million in direct expenditures to Sarasota annually.

While there are examples of leaders supporting arts and culture in our community, there is still work to do. To this point, these organizations must be supported in ways that allow them to thrive.

Take Selby Gardens, for example. They have private funding on private land for their future vision, and have created a thoughtful plan for the City Commission to consider. It’s a shame that some are pitting neighborhoods against cultural organizations. Both can co-exist: in fact, their co-existence is what makes most cities desirable places to live and visit.

As you cast your vote for City Commissioners, I urge you to educate yourself on where the candidates stand on Sarasota’s arts and cultural assets. The City’s future depends on it.

Frank Maggio is a commerical lending officer at First Home Bank.