About the Author: Derek Gilliam | Suncoast Searchlight
Less sunshine, more secrecy as Florida limits public records access
After state lawmakers introduced dozens of measures this year restricting access to government records, only a few cleared the Florida Legislature. But open government advocates warn the ones that did pass could substantially limit [...]
Fight erupts over plan to hand Sarasota golf courses to developer
A plan to lease hundreds of acres of golf courses and green space in The Meadows to Benderson Development Co. for nearly 50 years has sparked a lawsuit over the future of one of [...]
Florida House approves scaled-back UTC District that Benderson would control
The Florida House of Representatives unanimously approved a scaled-back bill Wednesday to create a special district around the booming University Town Center area — a proposal that would still give one of the region’s largest [...]
Feeling overwhelmed by misinformation online? Sarasota panel says slow down
An Internet scammer posing as Taylor Swift to sell cookware sets. An audio clip of what appears to be then-President Joe Biden telling Democrats not to vote in the New Hampshire primary. Photos of [...]
Judge rejects challenge to controversial Siesta Key land swap
A judge this week rejected a last-ditch effort to unwind a controversial Siesta Key land deal, clearing the way for a home to be built on property the county once bought to preserve. The [...]
Florida bill would let homeowners recall community development district boards
A new bill in the Florida Senate would add more homeowner protections and oversight to the boards that control governing decisions within community development districts across the state. The proposed reform would add provisions [...]
A bold affordable housing plan sputtered. Now Sarasota is trying again
Nearly two years ago, Sarasota’s then-City Manager Marlon Brown had an ambitious idea to purchase downtown property near City Hall and turn it into large-scale affordable housing. In an effort that would become the [...]
A downtown Sarasota condo promised housing. Then it was marketed like a hotel
For more than a year, a proposed 18-story, glass-and-concrete tower in Sarasota moved through the city’s review process as a residential development that would bring nearly 300 condo units to a modest lot downtown. [...]
Florida bill would give Benderson Development its own taxing district at UTC
A new bill in the Florida House would turn the University Town Center into a special government district and give one of the region’s most influential developers the power to set specific rules and [...]
Gran Paradiso’s water war ends, but fallout lands on former directors
A three-year legal saga between residents of Gran Paradiso and their developer-controlled government has ended — resolving a fight over irrigation water rates that divided the upscale neighborhood and exposed the power imbalance between [...]
Sarasota County offered others far less for Siesta beach lots as Holderness deal looms
Katie Gerhardt remembered when her parents’ Siesta Key properties sat so close to the Gulf that one parcel was entirely underwater and the other was barely dry. During a violent storm in the early [...]
Democratic gubernatorial hopeful David Jolly spotlights education in Sarasota
Former Republican U.S. Rep. David Jolly, now running a Democratic campaign for Florida governor, signaled during a Sarasota event that education would be a priority during his run to put a Democrat in charge [...]
