City commission candidates weigh in on SPAC partnership

Is the public-private partnership to build a Sarasota Performing Arts Center headed towards a divorce?

By Gretchen Cochran and Derek Gilliam/Suncoast Searchlight

Original Air Date: October 29, 2026

Host: A rift over who would operate a multi-million-dollar performing arts center at The Bay Park has cast doubt on whether the project will move forward. It puts participation and funding from the City of Sarasota in question. WSLR News reporter Gretchen Cochran brings us this story, a collaboration with Derek Gilliam of Suncoast Searchlight.

Gretchen Cochran: The Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation, formerly known as the Van Wezel Foundation, triggered a dispute resolution process this week with the city. At issue are proposed changes to a 2022 agreement. The foundation claims they would strip its operational control of the center.

Frame from a March 2026 presentation about the Performing Arts Center project.

But negotiations over this issue may become a moot point after the midterm elections on Tuesday. Two city commission seats up for grabs could alter the board’s support for the project, and a state amendment to increase property tax breaks could impact the city’s ability to afford it.

Amendment 3 would raise the homestead exemption for non-school taxes to $250,000. If voters pass it, the amendment would strain city finances and jeopardize the funding mechanism city leaders have tapped to build the proposed center.

With those crucial decisions looming, critics question the timing of the foundation’s announcement.

City officials received a letter from an attorney representing the foundation on Tuesday seeking a meeting to resolve the dispute.

City Manager Karie Friling said in a statement to WSLR and Suncoast Searchlight that the foundation’s move came as a surprise.

“The letter came as a surprise to city leadership and the City Commission, given the ongoing discussions between the parties. The city will take the necessary steps to address the ADR (alternative dispute resolution) process and evaluate the existing agreement and the project moving forward.”

This comes after a key agreement that would commit the city and the foundation to build the center together—a partnership that has been in limbo since at least spring of 2025. The latest dispute seems centered around recent amendments for a third party to operate the center.

Commissioners had not yet seen the revised agreement Wednesday morning, Jen Ahearn-Koch said.

Jen Ahearn-Koch | Screenshot City of Sarasota video

Jen Ahearn-Koch: I haven’t seen the agreement that they have re-written.

GC: But the foundation said in a statement this week: “The decision follows extensive efforts to address amendments proposed by the city to the existing partnership agreement and establish a clear, fiscally sound path forward for the project.”

Two candidates running for two open city commission seats—Ahearn-Koch and Flo Entler—have indicated lukewarm support for the project but would not commit to building the structure, noting the high costs.

John Harshman, the third candidate in the runoff, has backed the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation’s position while also pledging that he would only support using funds from a tax increment financing district set up to build The Bay and the performing arts center six years ago.

Those two seats would become swing votes for a city commission already split on whether to move forward.

John Harshman | Photo courtesy Harshman for City Commission

John Harshman: I am not in favor of the city putting any more tax dollars into it than what they have already committed.

GC: Incumbent City Commissioner Ahearn-Koch is a favorite to retain her seat. She said she could not support the city spending more than $88 million on the project. That figure was determined by former Interim City Manager David Bullock after he analysed what the city could afford. 

“We said we’d pay half, and $88 million was the max we could pay, but then there was…garage and maintenance and plus, plus plus,” she said. “ We had to make a new agreement. We can’t fly to the moon, and we can’t pay that amount of money,” Ahearn-Koch said.

Entler, who garnered the second most votes during the primary election in August, was also skeptical the city could fund the project, while still saying it would be “nice” to build.

Flo Entler | Photo courtesy Entler for City Commission

Flo Entler: We were always going to have to rewrite the contract anyway because it is no longer a 50-50 contract. Whatever gets written, we just have to make sure that it’s written very well for the residents of our city and make sure that they’re protected.

GC: That’s the biggest difference between the candidates.

Harshman, who came in third in the August primary, said it’s unfair to pull the rug out from under the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation at this stage. He said if the foundation is putting up half the cost to build the center, then the foundation should be included in operational decisions.

The city has funded development at The Bay Park through a tax increment financing district, which is funded through property taxes.

Amendment 3 would batter the funds available for the proposed performing arts center.

An exact impact on the taxing district has not been calculated by the city. But the city’s broader general fund could see reductions up to $5.6 million. That could result in reduced services and political pressure to funnel money from the taxing district’s coffers back into the general fund to cover other shortfalls.

Even if the city funding doesn’t come through, the foundation still has plans to move forward.

Tania Castroverde Moskalenko, CEO of the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation, said the foundation’s decision to start the dispute resolution process this week followed months of “good-faith efforts” to resolve disputes with the city.

The foundation reported raising “$50 million in private gifts and pledges this past spring” but that continued uncertainty over city support has made it difficult to raise funds.

Reporting for WSLR News, Gretchen Cochran. To read the full report produced with Derek Gilliam, go to suncoastsearchlight.org/sarasota-performing-arts-center-city-commission-election.

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