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Hope springs eternal, so the cliché goes.

That’s the way you might look at the six candidates competing for the Sarasota City Commission District 2 and District 3 seats in the March 10 city election.

The hope over the years is always that among the candidates a dynamic, articulate, visionary, persuasive, extraordinary leader, or leaders, would emerge and by force of magnetic personality would raise the level of decision making and inspire the other commissioners to aspire as well.

We’re getting closer.

In this year’s election, District 2 and District 3 voters have an opportunity to begin changing the dialogue and direction and vision of the commission for the better. Indeed, the emergence of new faces on the city political scene — with David Morgan, Shelli Freeland Eddie and Matt Wooddall — may be a sign of a turn toward a new generation.

District 2
As cheeky and perhaps rude as it might be to say, it’s also true: If voters could swap the three candidates running for the District 2 for the three incumbents currently on the commission, there would be great cause for optimism. Liz Alpert, David Morgan and Eileen Normile all have qualities, skills and perspectives that could be used on the City Commission.

Music to our ears: Alpert says, “We can’t put a fence around the city and stop people from wanting to come here.” And she wants to encourage growth along the North Trail, with a redeveloped bayfront spurring that on.

It took Alpert 17 years to earn her bachelor’s degree. She paid for it herself, illustrative, she says, that when she wants to accomplish a goal, she perseveres until she does.

Morgan has a quality that is desperately needed on the commission — youth. He’s 35 and one of four generations of Morgans living in Sarasota. “We’ve got to really think about that 30-year, 40-year vision for the city,” he told Sarasota Observer News Editor David Conway. Self-employed, Morgan isn’t a newbie to city issues. He is chairman of the Sarasota Housing Authority and serves as a board member of the Arlington Park Neighborhood Association.

Normile, currently completing the term vacated by Paul Caragiulo, is smart and wise, bringing a wide breadth of experiences — a former New Jersey prosecutor, chair of the city’s Police Advisory Board and former president of the Bird Key Homeowners Association. As a newcomer to the commission, she has yet to demonstrate her full abilities. But there is no doubt she would serve taxpayers well.

Normile has one drawback. She is too aligned with Commissioner Susan Chapman, a force who represents the “anti” old-guard that fights to hold down the city’s potential.

When we backed Bridget Ziegler for Sarasota School Board, we noted it is time to groom, encourage and grow the next generation of leaders. It’s time on the City Commission as well.

We recommend: David Morgan

District 3
Let us be among the first to credit Commissioner Stan Zimmerman, appointed in November to finish Shannon Snyder’s term. In four months on the job, he has proven to be a thoughtful, analytical and appropriately inquisitive commissioner.

When he was appointed, and given his neighborhood association roots, we expected him to be joined at Commissioner Chapman’s hip. He does, in fact, support taxpayers paying Chapman’s legal fees in her Sunshine Law lawsuit, and he acknowledges he remains a strong supporter of the Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations.

But to his credit, Zimmerman has demonstrated his able news reporting skills, astutely probing issues in ways that his fellow commissioners do not. Zimmerman is clearly the biggest budget hawk on the commission, a good characteristic.

The drawback of Zimmerman is when he is combined with incumbents Chapman and Mayor Willie Shaw, there is a lack of aspiration and vision. Their driving mission seems to be: maintain mediocrity.

The other two candidates — Shelli Freeland Eddie and Matt Wooddall — are like David Morgan in District 2. They represent an emergence of the next generation of young, aspiring leaders.

Of these two, Wooddall is more in line with positions we have advocated over the years: the benefits of and need in the city for economic growth and redevelopment. Wooddall, 38, also has been active on several city boards, giving him city government experience.

While he may not be as polished as preferred, Wooddall, like Morgan, would add a new, much-needed, younger perspective to the commission. It’s worth a try.

We recommend: Matt Wooddall

Voting Details
SARASOTA CITY ELECTION DAY:
Tuesday, March 10

RACES: Districts 2 & 3

WHO VOTES: Only registered voters in District 2 and 3. They vote only for the candidates in their district.

WINNERS: The candidate with more than 50% wins. If none obtains more than 50%, there will be a runoff of the top two.

DISTRICT BOUNDARIES:
• DISTRICT 2: Primarily west of Tamiami Trail from University Parkway south to Bee Ridge Road, including Bird, St. Armands and Lido Keys and the northern tip of Siesta Key.

• DISTRICT 3: Northernmost boundary: 17th St.; Southernmost boundary: Hyde Park; Easternmost boundary: McIntosh Road; Westernmost boundary: Tamiami Trail.

EARLY VOTING SCHEDULE:
• Monday, March 2, through Saturday, March 7

• 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

• Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Office, 101 S. Washington Blvd., Sarasota

Note: Bring a valid and current photo and signature ID.

PENTATHLON: High five to harris, volunteers
Dr. h.c. Klaus Schormann, president of the Union Internationale De Pentathlon Moderne, told organizers and sponsors of last week’s Modern Pentathlon World Cup No. 1 at Nathan Benderson Park, when Sarasota was first suggested as a venue, he had never heard of Sarasota.

But Saturday afternoon and night, you could see in his face that he wasn’t just being polite when he said he was pleased how the week went for the 250 athletes.

Sure, there are details here and there that can improve, he noted. But that is normal with any startup. Nonetheless, he expressed his satisfaction that Sarasota has a spot on the world pentathlon map.
Truth be told, that’s remarkable. And certainly deserving high pentathlon fives for pulling it off: event chairwoman, the indefatigable Katherine Harris, and the hundreds of volunteers who pitched in.