Forum scrutinizes city commission candidates.
By Gretchen Cochran
Original Air Date: July 31, 2026
Host: City Commission candidates this week faced scrutiny over how they would make sure historic buildings in Sarasota will be preserved. WSLR News’s Gretchen Cochran reports from the historic Crocker Church.
Gretchen Cochran: In the City of Sarasota’s downtown council chambers, audiences are wrapped in photos lining the walls depicting the history of the city—some from before paved roads and two-story buildings. The walls declare a city honoring its past. And yet, in 2021 and 2022 alone, 241 structures over 50 years old were destroyed. That’s according to Erin DeFazio of the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation.
Crocker Memorial Church | Photo courtesy Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation
Don’t blame the destruction on the commissioners, Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch said. Their hands are tied by the state and by the actual structure of the city’s government.
Ahearn-Koch is running for re-election, and the occasion was the Historical Society sponsored council candidates’ forum last week. During the forum—fittingly, at the Crocker Memorial Church built in 1901—Ahearn-Koch and four other commission candidates weighed in on the preservation of the city’s built history.
The threatened downtown U.S. Garage, built in 1924, was mentioned often. It is just the most recent historic building hanging by a thread. It may be demolished to make room for a multi-building condo complex, the Adagio. The Alliance has challenged the city’s approval in district court where, as of WSLR’s deadline, a final determination had not been made.
But if Ahearn-Koch had her way, we would not have gotten here.
From left to right: Jen Ahearn-Koch, Flo Entler, John Harshman, Yevgeny Khodorkovsky and Rob Rominiecki | Photo: Gretchen Cochran
She would pull the governing of historic properties out of the planning department and make an independent department. She would make demolitions more difficult by requiring two approval stages, not one, and reduce the steps for the city’s historic designation from two to one.
She’s been on the commission five years. Why has she not already pushed through those changes? She did not have the votes, she said. The August 18 primary and November election could change that, shifting the commission’s balance from developer support to a more preservationist point of view. Last week, the other candidates, Flo Entler, John Harshman, Yevgeny Khodorkovsky and Rob Rominiecki all claimed to fit that bill.
Harshman, a commercial realtor, said the problem is a disastrous zoning code.
John Harshman: The reason why it looks like the developers are taking advantage of it is because they know the code. Therein lies our problem. We need to fix the code. We are in such a mess with our development code. It has been changed over the years not to our favor and not necessarily because the commissioners that we had at those times when there were changes were developer-friendly but because they didn’t understand the unintended consequences of those code changes.
GC: It would not be easy but there are ways to change the code, Harshman said. And as the city embarks on shaping a new master plan, historic preservation can be more fully embraced in it. He owns two historic buildings, he said, although they are not so registered.
Khodorkovsky was unwilling to cut any slack for sitting commissioners.
Yevgeny Khodorkovsky: The residents and local orgs in this are not being heard. I think there are multiple reasons for that. When a developer lawyer shows up in a suit with a nice presentation, it’s very compelling.
GC: Rob Rominiecki and the others acknowledge the difficulty of the Live Local Act. The state implemented the law to allow builders to skirt limitations on height and density in return for providing “affordable” housing.
Flo Entler | Photo: Gretchen Cochran
Flo Entler noted while the “Live Local Act” appeared to have lofty purposes, setting aside so-called “affordable” units, what they really are targeting is people earning close to $100,000 per year, not fulfilling the most urgent needs of people in Sarasota.
All urged the city to get itself to Tallahassee, so to speak—that is, meet with the senators and representatives who pass these laws that affect us. Then the city’s hands would not be tied on cases like the U.S. Garage.
U.S. Garage
The garage isn’t the only precarious building. The Alliance’s annual “Six to Save” list this year also includes the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, which was never mentioned at the meeting. Van Wezel has just been deemed eligible for listing on the National Register for Historic Buildings, according to Lorrie Muldowney, an Alliance founder and member of the city’s preservation board. The city says it is shoring up the so-called “purple cow” to help it withstand future hurricanes but awaits permits to proceed.
Jeff LaHurd, local historian and moderator of last week’s candidates’ meeting, later emphasized the importance of preserving the Van Wezel, even if it meant financially sacrificing the proposed new Sarasota Performing Arts Center.
Jeff LaHurd: It has a lot of history in it. It really helped Sarasota’s cultural image. It was a first-class venue at the time to have major entertainment. I think it should be saved. It’s really gotten to be an iconic building… I can’t imagine driving over the ridge and not seeing that.
GC: Yeah. What about people that say that money instead should be put into the new performing arts center?
JL: If I was given the choice of a new one or to continue with that one, I would continue with that one. We’ve got “new” all over Sarasota.
GC: For WSLR, this is Gretchen Cochran.
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