WSLR News talked to Kevin Cooper, a Sarasota Hospital Board Member-elect.
By Noah Vinsky
Original Air Date: November 9, 2024
Host: The Sarasota Charter Review Board and the Hospital Board were part of the Republican sweep. Noah Vinsky talked to two of the winners.
Noah Vinsky: Local Republicans dominated on Tuesday night, with GOP candidates seeing widespread success across the state as well as Sarasota County.
The Sarasota Hospital Board, which oversees the Sarasota Memorial public hospital system, had all four seats up for grabs. Republicans Sharon Wetzler De-Peters in the At-Large Seat 1, and Sarah Large in Central District Seat 1 were both retained. Two new members were added, with Kevin Cooper winning the At-Large Seat 2, and Pam Beitlich winning the At-Large Seat 3. All four candidates won convincingly, each garnering over 60 percent of the vote.
Kevin Cooper
Cooper has several leadership positions across Sarasota County. He serves on the Early Learning Coalition as well as being the Vice President of Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium. As a new member to the board, Cooper outlined his plans during his tenure
Kevin Cooper: You know, if we’re going to be a community hospital, we have to have equitable geographic access. And we’ve done a great job since I’ve been here, of growing the network of Sarasota Memorial Health Care System facilities, really getting the North Port Hospital built so we can have a freestanding hospital in North Port.
NV: The Sarasota Charter Review board also had elections for four of its seats, all of which were won by Republican candidates. Jay Riley defeated Democrat Julie Forestier for the District 1 Seat, Tom DeSane defeated William Brad Hardin in District 3, Greg Bukowski defeated Democrat Robin Williams in District 4, and Jose Jiminez defeated Nancy Ceci for the District 5 seat. The board oversees the Sarasota County charter, and is the only elected charter board in the state.
Jimenez said he decided to run for the Charter Review Board because he was disappointed in the performance of the board, even calling previous meetings he attended “embarrassing.” He said he has a few primary plans for the board, including reversing Article 7.1, which states that any changes to the charter must be signed by at least 10% of registered county voters.
Jimenez also said he wants to increase how many times the board meets annually, increasing it from three meetings to four. He said it would allow residents to be more involved in meetings and will bring more community interaction to the board.
This is Noah Vinsky for WSLR News.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.