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Rosemary group hosts forum for city commission candidates

Written by on Friday, August 16, 2024

Three of them are going head-to-head-to-head this Tuesday.

By Florence Fahringer

Original Air Date: August 14, 2024

Watch the entire Sarasota City Commission District 1 and 2 Candidate forum at Fogartyville Community Media and Art Center

Host: Our own Fogartyville Community Center was the site of the last candidate forum before voters pick the next commissioner in the City of Sarasota’s District 1. The majority minority district, with rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods on its edges, features a three-way race. Florence Fahringer was there.

Florence Fahringer: Yesterday, five candidates for the Sarasota City Commission gathered at Fogartyville to address residents of the Rosemary District ahead of the August Twentieth primaries. The Rosemary District is divvied up by two of the three city districts: District One covers the majority of the neighborhood, while District Two represents its southernmost portion. The Rosemary District is something of an outlier within District One, a district which encompasses the entirety of Newtown, Sarasota’s historic black community. The Rosemary District’s modern demographic has more in common with that of District Two, which represents the wealthy coastal areas of the city. This overlap is a reflection of the Rosemary District’s own history: the neighborhood is largely the result of gentrification; the land it stands on once belonged to Sarasota’s historic black community of Overtown.

The three candidates for District One — Incumbent Kyle Battie, and challengers Sequoia Felton and Melissa Furman — and the two candidates for District Two — Incumbent Liz Alpert and challenger Ron Kashden — took questions from the President and Vice President of the Rosemary District Association. Appropriately, the first question fielded was on the topic of historical preservation. All the challengers resolutely affirmed their support for the preservation of the historic Colson Hotel.

Melissa Furman: The Colston Hotel has to remain a viable piece of our history. 

Sequoia Felton: That was a big part of history when people — African Americans — they didn’t have anywhere to go during that time that the Colston Hotel got built. So I just believe that we should protect and preserve it at all, for all means necessary.

FF: The sitting city commissioners, on the other hand, were legally unable to give an opinion on the Colson Hotel, seeing as they were scheduled to vote on the matter in a future commission meeting. Kyle Battie had this to say on the matter.

Kyle Battie: My father grew up in this neighborhood. So, he talked about Overtown and growing up here and what it was like, back in that time, which is totally different of course. You think about the Colson Hotel and its significance in this area, and particularly back in that time when my father grew up, it played a major role. As Mrs. Furman so aptly stated, that was something that African Americans looked forward to when they went into towns like Sarasota. It’s important that we preserve our history. We talked about that yesterday with the TDR, the Transfer of Development Rights, which could possibly help the Colson Hotel.

FF: Next, candidates were asked about possible biases and influences. Battie addressed his ongoing lawsuit with Kelly Franklin — city watchdog and candidate Kashden’s wife.

KB: It’s an unfortunate situation, and the case has been dismissed, per Judge Walker. And it has been appealed, and we’ll be going forward, I guess. It’s kind of uncomfortable because one of the candidates here to my left is involved in that lawsuit. But, it has no bearing on how I govern whatsoever. To the mayor’s point, I can’t be bought. And I state that special interest does not mean special treatment. 

FF: Furman touched on her current job and lack of fundraising compared to her competitors.

MF: I am self-funding. I have a few girlfriends that I have lunches and dinners with, chipped in like maybe 100, 75 along the way.  But I am just flying a lot and working hard to finance my own campaign. As you know, I’m a flight attendant. I’ve been with Delta Air Lines for 47 years. I’m in charge of the aircraft and what happens to the people on that aircraft, because the pilots will be too busy taking care of flying and doing what they have to do. So I think I could very well transfer that over to my position as a leader and a commissioner.

FF: Felton was asked about whether or not a “former city commissioner and neighborhood leader” would have an outsized influence on her as a commissioner. The moderator was likely alluding to Willie Shaw, the one-time commissioner for District One who Felton has cited as an inspiration in the past. Shaw’s long tenure on the city commission was ended in 2020, when Kyle Battie won his current term on the commission in an upset victory. Shaw was present at the forum, wearing a Sequoia Felton t-shirt and being the first to clap at each of Felton’s responses.

SF: Well, so that note, first of all, I say I’m my own woman. I have my own brain, so I can think for myself. And the time that they were running is totally different from what we’re doing right now. So I feel like we need to leave the past, what they did, and start thinking of 2024 and beyond. So to that point, nobody has an influence on me but me.

FF: Finally, candidates gave their closing remarks. Here are the remarks from the candidates for District One:

MF: Okay, well, if I’m elected, I will work for you. I’m a great team builder. I will be building teams in each neighborhood. I will listen to your voices.  And I will take them to City Hall. And so that’s what … anyway … I’m asking for your vote and your trust in me. Thank you. 

SF: As I call myself, I’m a woman of the people. So if you guys are like me, I promise to do my best, my best to live up to the civic models that Jetson Grimes, Fredd Atkins, and Willie Shaw have set for public service. And I’m just a woman who understands the struggles of life. And I’m just a … I’m not a politician. I’m a working woman. I’m sharing this experience with everybody in the room as far as being hard. If you guys are like me, I’ll do my best to be your leader.

KB: We can’t solve today’s problems with yesterday’s answers. I congratulate the other two candidates running against me for being here. Like I said, it’s not easy to sit here and field questions and get to know the issues on the fly, so to speak. So I commend them in that effort. 

My thoughts for myself … I pride myself on being a decent person, or striving to be a decent person. Someone asked me, “Do you think you’re going to heaven?” I said, “I have no idea, man.” They said, “Oh really? You don’t think you’re a good person.” I said, “I would never tell you that I’m a good person. I’ll tell you that I try to be a good person. I try and be a good commissioner. I try and do my best each and every day that I wake up.”

FF: District One’s candidates will winnow down from three to two on August Twentieth, where the district’s voters will vote for one of the three candidates; the top two will go on to the general election in November. That means if you live east of Forty-One and north of Fruitville, you are almost certainly covered by this district, and can vote in this election next week. District Two candidates, since there are only two of them, will be voted on in the general election.

This is Florence Fahringer, reporting for WSLR News.

 

 

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