Five vie for Sarasota City Commission in key election

With two Sarasota City Commission seats on the ballot, this year’s election will determine who helps steer the city through what could be its most consequential period in recent history.

Mayor Debbie Trice, who serves as one of the city’s five commissioners under its weak-mayor form of government, is not seeking re-election, guaranteeing at least one new member on the dais in 2026, while incumbent Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch is seeking a third term.

Joining Ahearn-Koch on the ballot are four first-time candidates from diverse professional backgrounds — Flo Entler, John Harshman, Rob Rominiecki and Yevgeny Khodorkovsky. None has previously held elected office. 

A sixth candidate, Jaime Loomis, withdrew from the election days after qualifying.

The winners will help shape the city’s direction at a pivotal moment. Sarasota is adjusting to a new city manager, planning for a downtown sound ordinance and updated master plan, dealing with criticism of its increased paid parking hours, and weighing an expensive proposed performing arts center. Meanwhile, there are the constant and sometimes contentious debates on the city’s growth and development.

All of this is shaded by the uncertainty of Amendment 3, a statewide constitutional amendment that, if approved in November, would sharply reduce property tax collections, potentially upending the city’s budget and forcing difficult decisions about spending priorities.

Although the race is nonpartisan, local political organizations have lined up behind competing slates. The Sarasota County Republican Party has endorsed Harshman and Rominiecki, while the Sarasota County Democratic Party has endorsed Ahearn-Koch and Entler.

Development has emerged as the defining issue in interviews with the candidates. Downtown Sarasota continues to add luxury condo buildings, older neighborhoods are grappling with redevelopment pressures, and residents remain divided over how the city should balance growth while preserving character.

There was little difference between the candidates on what they saw as the city’s top issues; each told Suncoast Searchlight they want more affordable housing, a local government more responsive to its residents, and improved resiliency for storms and flooding. One major dividing point was enthusiasm for a new performing arts center, and whether it should be partially funded by the city. As is common for local elections, while there is general unanimity among contenders on what the issues are, the voters will have to decide whose message is more credible.

The election follows an unusual format. Voters within city limits may select their two favorite candidates on the August primary ballots. The three candidates with the most votes will advance to the November general election, when voters will choose two commissioners. 

Jen Ahearn-Koch

As a commissioner, Ahearn-Koch has earned a reputation for hyper-diligence. Her detailed questioning from the dais is well-known to City Hall’s players.

Her political career began with the Tahiti Park Neighborhood Association about two decades ago, where she advocated against a boat storage facility and major condominium project she did not feel were compatible with the quiet, tree-lined hamlet. She was later appointed to the city’s planning board, which she credited with teaching her the ins and outs of local public policy.

Ahearn-Koch has been on the commission for over eight years, a period of tremendous change for the city. Even during the previous two years, Sarasota has seen much upheaval. 

The city went more than 18 months without a full-time city manager after the search process was scuttled. The effort to update the downtown master plan has to be restarted after intense pushback from both business and neighborhood groups over what they called a deeply flawed process. Residents and downtown business owners have also criticized the commission for its recent moves to extend downtown parking hours. 

When asked who is responsible for those recent controversies, Ahearn-Koch was blunt:

“It’s kind of a strange thing for me to say, but it’s always the city commission,” she said. “If something’s not happening, it’s because we’re not doing our job.”

Ahearn-Koch said among her most pressing priorities for another term would be a city strategic plan and to communicate as much as possible with residents and stakeholder groups.

Flo Entler

Entler is the president of the Arlington Park Neighborhood Association and said she’s been attending city commission meetings for a decade as an advocate. If she and Ahearn-Koch are elected, they would join Commissioner Kathy Kelley Ohlrich as a majority on the commission of three women who all have come up through the city’s vocal neighborhood groups.

As a longtime civic advocate, Entler said part of the reason she is running is because she does not feel like the city commission is listening to the concerns of residents.

“I think it has been a really big issue at City Hall, it’s like the residents aren’t being represented,” Entler said.

A political committee called People for Arts and Culture Sarasota (formerly the Sarasota Arts and Cultural Coalition) has attacked Entler, saying she is against downtown vitality and the local arts institutions.

The committee is operated by two appointed city officials: Dan Clermont, a member of the City Planning Board, and Ronnie Shugar, the owner of Sugar Champagne Bar and a member of the Downtown Improvement District.

Entler told Suncoast Searchlight she supports a new performing arts center, provided that it could be financed by the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation, one of the city’s partners in the effort, and that the Van Wezel is retained in some way.

Updated plans for the Sarasota Performing Arts Center call for a 54,000-square-foot, 2,200-seat theater and other amenities with a price tag up to $295 million – $88 million of which would be funded by taxpayers.

“If the foundation can raise the money, let’s make it happen,” Entler said. “I don’t know why the city has to pay for this.”

John Harshman

Harshman has worked in the city for decades and founded the commercial real estate firm Harshman & Co. in 1989. As a candidate, he is running on his longtime experience in local real estate to push for what he calls “responsible growth” in the face of a local development boom.

His campaign has raised the most money of the five candidates – at least $50,000 so far – and about one-third of that has been from individuals or groups tied to real estate. However, he bristled against the notion that his background would make him compliant to development interests.

“I’m retired. I was ready to go off,” Harshman said. “There’s no special interest group that’s going to pull me one way or the other.”

He was critical of downtown developments like the Obsidian, a proposed 18-story condo tower full of penthouses, or the apartment building on Fruitville that would displace the historic bungalows, as degrading the city’s character. He also said he felt the state has gone too far in its preemptions on local governments.

Harshman said he felt the city commission in recent years was not strong enough in directing policy to its city manager and staff.

“(Policies) came up through staff to the commission, and therein lies a lot of the problems because it’s not the will of the people that is being presented to the community,” Harshman said.

Rob Rominiecki

A native New Yorker, Rominiecki was once the director of security and safety for the Guggenheim Museum, and he has worked as a pro-bono consultant for the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, where his wife, Jennifer, is the CEO.

He has promised to recuse himself from any vote involving Selby.

Rominiecki referred to himself as the “arts and culture candidate” who is “100%” in support of a new performing arts center. He pointed to the Sarasota Orchestra’s decision to leave downtown for a new concert hall on Fruitville Road near Interstate 75 as an example of city officials abandoning the arts community.

“We need to support the organizations that are here,” Rominiecki said. “Losing the orchestra out of the city was a big blow. I’ve heard from tons of people who said it’s one of the biggest embarrassments for the city.”

As the city plans to update its downtown master plan, Rominiecki said he wants larger setbacks – the space between buildings and streets or sidewalks — to encourage more foot traffic. That way the city could also add more trees for shade relief during the sweltering Florida summers. 

Yevgeny Khodorkovsky

A software engineer who moved to Sarasota full-time from California’s Bay Area in 2019, Khodorkovsky has a signature campaign promise: free downtown parking for residents.

He called the city’s recent parking changes “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

“My friends were like, ‘You keep complaining, so you should just run,’ so I did,” Khodorkovsky said.

He qualified for the election days before the deadline, and his most recent campaign finance report shows he has raised $90. But Khodorkovsky said he is planning to use social media to get his message across. 

Although the city has strong civic advocacy from its neighborhood groups, he wants his campaign to reach residents who are not typically plugged into local politics, such as younger people.

“People who already live and work here are bearing the burden for all this growth,” Khodorkovsky said. “Over the past few years, the city has been losing its character, and the commission has not been listening to residents.”

Christian Casale covers government and politics for the Suncoast Searchlight. Email him at christian@suncoastsearchlight.org.