Former mayors rally against partisanship in city election

Once again, prominent local figures have stepped forward to decry partisanship in a City Commission race that, despite being nominally nonpartisan, has seen both political parties work to support favored candidates.

On Thursday, 10 former Sarasota mayors held a rally in support of City Commissioners Eileen Normile and Stan Zimmerman, both of whom are seeking election to the board in May. The event, organized by former Mayor Kelly Kirschner, called attention to the intrusion of political parties in local government — a development that they consider deeply concerning.

“Potholes and parks have nothing to do with politics,” Kirschner said. “The best commissioners are those who come with the greatest level of experience, who come with an understanding of community.”

The challengers who have moved onto the May 12 runoff — Liz Alpert in District 2 and Shelli Freeland Eddie in District 3 — are both registered Democrats, and received an endorsement from the Sarasota County Democratic Party in the March election. Normile and Zimmerman, both registered Republicans, attributed their challengers’ success to that partisan support. As a result, both have welcomed the support of the Republican Party of Sarasota County in advance of the runoff.

All four candidates have stated that the races should remain nonpartisan. Per the city charter, that means that no party affiliation is listed with the candidates' names on the ballot.

“I am a Democrat who worked for Bill Clinton in the West Wing of the White House, but I'm also proud to be supporting two residents of the city of Sarasota who just happen to be registered Republicans.” — Former Sarasota Mayor Kelly Kirschner

The 10 mayors in attendance at Thursday's event were Elmer Berkel, Mollie Cardamone, Dick Clapp, Jerome Dupree, Kelly Kirschner, Bill Kline, David Merrill, Lou Ann Palmer, Rita Roehr and Fred Soto.

Cardamone also spoke to the negative reputation sometimes attributed to established local politicians, arguing that past commissioners have helped provide the building blocks for the community.

“We don't feel like the ‘old guard’ stood in the way of progress,” Cardamone said. “We actually created progress for the city.”

Both Kirschner and Cardamone spoke positively about the experience Normile and Zimmerman — appointed to the City Commission last year following two resignations — brought with them, and advocated maintaining the status quo on the board.

“I stand here today supporting Eileen and Stan because they were appointed through a vetting process that was quite interesting and powerful,” Cardamone said. “They've served since November, the commission has settled down, things are going well for our city and I really want to see them stay in place rather than have another apple basket fruit turnover.”