Sarasota City Commission District 2: Ron Kashden

Age: 60

Occupation: Retired CFO

Resident of Sarasota: 13 years

Why are you running for election?

After years of being civically-engaged with my neighborhood association and the Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations (CCNA), I became concerned by a pattern of policy decisions made by the current commission that did not align with the needs and priorities raised by residents and local businesses. 

I am running to address basic livability concerns that have been ignored, such as an effective noise ordinance, safer streets and sidewalks, tree planting, code enforcement and street flooding. As a certified public accountant, computer programmer and former CFO of a multinational investment firm, I’ll make decisions that are fiscally and civically responsible.

My objectives, if elected, include protecting our parks (through rezoning), fixing the ill-conceived attainable housing to more effectively address the city’s workforce, and bringing meaningful public input into the development review process to avoid ongoing contention between residents and developers. I’ll give residents and local businesses a voice in city hall.

What is your position on plans for the Sarasota Performing Arts Center and funding via the TIF district? 

The city has yet to perform the necessary due diligence for the proposed businesses that will operate in the center, such as planning the programming, calculating operating financials, and determining the optimal number of seats. Will the city residents have to subsidize a yearly operating loss for the SPAC? Will the events at the Van Wezel conflict with the SPAC? Will there be enough parking for both facilities? How will the adjacent Municipal Auditorium be used? 

The proposed location of the SPAC interferes with The Bay’s plans for a series of restaurants, which would be used to fund the maintenance of the park. Does this new location for the SPAC jeopardize the viability of The Bay Park? With a likely cost over $500 million, the SPAC will be the biggest project ever done by the city. The city has not done the proper due diligence appropriate for a project this size. 

What are your thoughts about additional taxpayer funding if TIF funds and private contributions fall short of what is needed; from where should additional funding come?

Most people don’t realize that the TIF is just a portion of the city’s overall property taxes that is set aside to be potentially used for capital improvements in The Bay Park. If there was no TIF, then the tax revenue would flow into the city’s general fund. If the city needed additional funding, it should issue a bond for the additional amount. A bond referendum should be held because the public should have a say in how their money is spent, particularly on such a significant project. 

Assuming the new performing arts center is built, a decision will be required on what to do with the Van Wezel. To keep it functional or remodeled for re-use in all likelihood will require millions of dollars of ongoing funding. From whom should that funding come? The TIF district? City property taxpayers only? City and county taxpayers? The city needs to develop a holistic business plan and rational for the SPAC and the Van Wezel. The county commissioners have already requested such a plan, and it is critical for the county’s participation. 

The TIF can be used for capital improvements in The Bay Park, and that could extend to capital improvements of the Van Wezel, which engineers have declared structurally sound and could be flood-proofed for a fraction of a cost of a new building.

Private use of city properties such as parks and city-owned buildings has been a major topic of discussion. Recent examples are The Players and Payne Park Auditorium and Ride Entertainment’s proposal for Ken Thompson Park. How do you view such public/private partnerships with regard to city assets?

Public/private partnerships can be a good mechanism to leverage outside expertise and avoid the necessity of increasing city staff. The Bay Park Conservancy is a great example. However, undesired uses of public land (such as commercializing park green space) or inappropriate projects (such as violating the Payne Park deed by building a performance center within the park) should be avoided, regardless of the proposed management structure.

City parks need to be rezoned out of the currently inappropriate generic “Government” district and placed in a separate “Parks” district. This will help deter mistaking park green space for a vacant lot, ready for construction. Commissioners should consider themselves stewards of the green space for current and future generations and stop pushing to commercialize city parks. Construction within parks need to be limited to appropriate, complimentary, accessory amenities (restrooms, park café, etc.). 

The City Commission is creating an ad-hoc committee to provide recommendations for a downtown master plan update. Please cite some specific changes you think need to be made to the plan.

Several aspects of the downtown master plan could be updated to improve the quality of life for downtown residents and help local businesses flourish.

Increase diversity of retail: There is no drug store within reasonable walking distance to most downtown condos. By incentivizing a wider range of downtown stores, downtown life would be more walkable, reducing traffic.

Creating throughfare definitions for vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians: The existing master plan calls for several roads to be optimized for either vehicles or bikes/pedestrians. This allows better traffic flow and keeps bikers and pedestrians safer by redirecting away from faster moving traffic. The road designations should be reviewed, and the plan implemented. A review of primary and secondary streets should also be done to avoid inappropriate frontage (such as retail stores within The Vue).

What changes, if any, do you think the city should make in its efforts to attract more workforce housing downtown and in commercial corridors and neighborhoods?

The existing attainable housing initiatives need to be fixed in two significant ways. First, the income levels need to be set that properly represent Sarasota’s workforce. The current targets of 80% to 120% AMI price out working families. Second, the density incentive needs to be lowered to avoid overburdening the city’s infrastructure (water, sewage, traffic).

Optional mandatory inclusionary workforce housing should be implemented in all zone districts that currently do not allow residential. This is a proven, effective way of generating workforce housing through zoning. Another way of addressing the needs of workforce families is reducing or eliminating impact fees (and other city fees) for accessory dwelling units. 

I’d also like to see us leverage available state funding by expanding the use of SHIP, SAIL, and Hometown Heroes programs. We should also expand local initiatives, such as the Alliance for Historic Preservation loan program, to refurbish existing homes.

What is your position on the city’s vacation rental policies. What, if anything, should be changed?

Expanding the city’s vacation rental permit program to all neighborhoods is a vital step toward enforcing the rules long on the city’s books regarding short-term rentals. In the city of Sarasota, in residential neighborhoods, vacation rentals are required to be leased for at least seven days. This rule exists to prevent high-churn transient lodging from disrupting communities. But without a means of tracking which properties are beings leased for vacation rentals, the city had no means of enforcement.

People say there is too much over-development in Sarasota. Do you agree, and if so, what do you think should be done? What are your thoughts on how the city should address the continued growth? 

In the course of my campaign, I’ve spoken with thousands of residents. The concerns I’ve heard have more to do with incompatible construction than halting construction. The commission’s amenability to approve rezoning requests have created an atmosphere of distrust among the residents. Last-minute changes to agreed-upon proffers compound the public’s misgivings.

The development review process should quantify infrastructure impacts of each project versus what exists now in the real world in that location. An example would be additional water usage versus current usage, existing water capacity, and remaining capacity. Similar analyses should be done to assess traffic and sewer impacts.

What do you see as the three top concerns the City Commission should address if you are elected?

With a more responsive commission many issues could be addressed: parks could be preserved, water quality improved, flooding mitigated and more trees planted, but my top three concerns are:

1. Turning down the volume in both noise (by enacting a plainly audible noise ordinance) and rhetoric (ending the divisiveness of the “good” vs “bad” people currently perpetuated in City Hall). Residents should have a meaningful voice in development and other municipal decisions; currently they are being chastised for speaking up.
2. Address daily livability concerns, such as improved pedestrian crosswalks, well-lit streets, road repair, improved street drainage, etc. 
3. Law and order, not just supporting the police department, but also giving additional resources to the code compliance team. Many violations, from chairs blocking downtown sidewalks to construction vehicles not adhering to staging plans, would be rectified with additional enforcement by code compliance.

How do you rate the performance of the Sarasota Police Department with regard to public safety?

While there still are problematic hot spots of crime, such as the after-hours activity at Ted Sperling Park, overall, the Sarasota Police Department does a good job with protecting public safety. Chief Troche has enhanced the culture within the department, and the implementation of body cameras has helped bolster transparency and accountability. 

The Community Relations Unit and Community Response Team have built relationships within the community, which creates trust and an open dialog between the residents and the police. The real-time operations center, which is planned to be live in 2025, will aid police reaction time by combining public cameras with sophisticated artificial intelligence to alert the department of crimes in progress or potentially dangerous situations without the need of someone dialing 911.