Early voting and outside money will play a role in city commission race

After months of campaign events, media interaction, verbal exchanges and additional input from political and financial supporters, city residents will soon learn which of the three remaining Sarasota City Commission candidates---Suzanne Atwell, Susan Chapman and Richard Dorfman---will claim the two coveted at-large city commission seats. Voting by mail is already underway, with the increasingly popular absentee ballots already delivered to those requesting them.

The early voting period begins Saturday, May 3 and continues through Saturday, May 11, taking place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

Early and absentee voters accounted for nearly 17 percent of the March 12 election results, and those early voting results (posted when the polls closed and while the Election Day results were still being tallied) served as an accurate barometer of what the final results would look like.

Early voting for the city election takes place only at the Supervisor of Elections Office, located inside the Sarasota County Terrace Building at 2001 Adams Lane, near the intersection of Ringling Boulevard and US-301 in downtown Sarasota. Directions and additional information are available at the Supervisor of Elections website or by calling (941) 861-8600.

The traditionalists who still enjoy going to their specific precinct polling locations to cast their votes on Election Day will do so on Tuesday, May 14, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Information on where to vote on Election Day is available at the Supervisor of Elections website or by calling the phone number listed above. When voting in person, be sure to bring a valid Florida or Military ID with you.

Voters get two votes each, although many are expected to engage in “bullet voting,” which means they will only vote for their candidate of choice, not wanting to provide a second vote to the opposition, giving up their valuable second vote in the process.

The election results will be announced the evening of May 14, most likely by 8 p.m. barring any technical difficulties or voting irregularities.

6,153 of the city’s 35,480 registered voters cast votes in the March 12 election that narrowed the field from six candidates to three. Chapman was the leading vote-getter, followed by Atwell and Dorfman.

If previous city election patterns hold true, the lowly 17.3 percent voter turnout in March will drop by another percentage point or two due to voter fatigue and the fact that some of those who supported losing candidates will not be inclined to support any of the remaining candidates.

Those who do vote will decide between the neighborhood-friendly/community-minded Chapman, the self-proclaimed incumbent “centrist” Atwell, who has served as mayor for the past two years, or the outspoken pro-business/pro-downtown Dorfman.

Supporters praise Chapman for her neighborhood activism and no-nonsense approach to dealing with local issues, while critics see her as potentially "difficult to work with" and as an obstructionist when it comes to downtown development. Chapman insists that she is not anti-development, as long as development is done according to existing codes and regulations.

Atwell’s critics question her leadership abilities and voting record of the past four years, while her supporters praise her experience and her abilities as a team player and consensus builder. If she's re-elected, Atwell will buck a recent trend of failed re-election bids by incumbent Sarasota City Commissioners.

Dorman’s critics have questioned his business acumen and suggested that he’s trying to buy a commission seat with financial backing from Sarasota’s king-maker in the waiting, HuB owner Jesse Biter.  Dorfman's supporters see him as someone who will bring more vitality to the downtown core by encouraging greater residential density limits and pushing for a more vibrant downtown entertainment scene.

It will be interesting to see if a significant fundraising advantage results in victory for Dorfman, who according to the most recent campaign finance reports has $57,516 in campaign contributions, some of which came from the local Republican Party and Political Action Committees, including the Tallahasse-based Floridians United for a Sustainable Economy.

Dorfman and Atwell have received additional support in the form of campaign mailers paid for by Citizens for a Better Florida, a PAC affiliated with the Florida Realtors Association in Orlando, which begs the question: "Why are these outside parties trying to influence a city election in Sarasota?"

The obvious answer is that in the future these local and outside supporters are going to expect something in return for their investment. In local politics this usually equates to the advancement of a political agenda, the approval of a development project or business proposal, or the rewarding of lucrative municipal contracts.

Including PAC money, Atwell has raised $24,238, while Chapman, the only candidate to refuse PAC money, has raised $27,755.

Driven by the desire to shape city policy and attracted to the power and prestige bestowed upon elected officials, two of the three aforementioned candidates will exchange four years of their time and energy in exchange for a $24,983 annual commissioner's salary, a $4,400 annual expense account and the ability to buy into the city’s employee benefits package.

The three candidates recently engaged in a candidates’ forum hosted by the Sarasota County Council of Neighborhood Associations (CONA) and moderated by CONA member Kafi Benz.

If you remain an undecided voter, or favor one candidate but aren’t sure how to cast that second vote, you can learn more about the candidates by listening to the entire unedited CONA forum at the WSRQ website or the archived and edited version that recently aired on WSLR’s Local Matters radio show.

Regardless of which candidate or candidates you support, be a good citizen, do your civic duty and get out there and vote---and stay tuned to TWIS, WSRQ 1220 AM and WSLR 96.5 FM for continued election coverage.

- TWIS contributor Joe Hendricks will share his insight on the upcoming election when he appears as a guest on WSRQ ’s The Nilon Report, Tuesday, May 7 at 5  p.m.