Parking Program: Running the Millage Math
To: Sarasota City Planning Director Steve Cover
Thank you. I am going through the PowerPoint now and will share additional feedback with Karie this afternoon.
Debbie Trice
Mayor
City of Sarasota
Parking Program: Millage Slides Incoming
To: Sarasota City Mayor Debbie Trice
Yes, in our presentation we will include a slide that presents what increase in the millage rate would be required to fully cover parking.
Steve Cover
Planning Director
City of Sarasota
Parking Program: The Mayor’s Math Homework
To: Sarasota City Planning Director
Please see below the question from the Mayor. Can you please calculate this and add it to the slide presentation for Monday’s workshop?
Karie Friling
City Manager
City of Sarasota
Parking Program: General Funds & General Frustrations
To: Sarasota City Manager Karie Friling
Karie, thank you for this information. I do have a question for Monday. We have heard many members of the public calling for parking to be paid for out of the General Find, rather than being an Enterprise Fund program. I suspect that there’s a need to clarify that the General Fund is primarily Property Tax monies. A useful piece of data for Monday (if it isn’t already provided in yesterday’s PowerPoint) is what would we need to increase the millage by to fully cover parking. (I realize that the terms of the St. Armands bond adds a wrinkle, but the “what if” should include St. Armands expenses too.) I’ll look forward to discussing Monday’s Workshop further when we meet on Thursday.
Debbie Trice
Mayor
City of Sarasota
Parking Program: Open House Aftermath & Damage Control
To: Sarasota City Commission
As a follow-up to our first open house held last night, I wanted to share with you what staff’s next steps will be. There were approximately 100+ attendees at the open house last night. While I understand some were upset about how the meeting was facilitated, the format was intentionally selected to maintain decorum, order, and respect among everyone. When the open house was originally posted, it was shared there would be an overview of the City’s parking program and then questions and comments would be received in writing that would be shared and answered by staff. Additionally, with significant misinformation swirling throughout the community and on-line, it was important to begin the evening with providing factual data and information about the City’s overall program. I have attached the presentation to this email, so that you all have the same information shared last night.
All the written comments and questions will be reviewed and answered by end of day Thursday and will be posted on the city’s website, along with the presentation. Those that provided emails, will be sent the link to our website. This will also be shared with the City Commission, in preparation of your workshop on Monday, August 31st. The presentation by staff at the workshop will be condensed and the feedback from the open house will be added for Commission review and discussion. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.
Karie Friling
City Manager
City of Sarasota
Bellevue Terrace: Jurisdiction and Park Pharmacists
To: Sarasota City Manager Karie Friling
Locklear Park is in the county and we confirmed via dispatch it is under the purview of the Sheriff’s Office. The park sits just east of our jurisdiction so it would be normal for those living on the west side of the jurisdictional line to assume it’s SPDs.
Scott- please contact the sheriffs office and advise them of the concerns. Also, in the body of the email below, there is contact info for the concerned citizens, please inform them as well regarding jurisdiction and see if there are other ways we can assist.
Rex Troche
Chief of Police
City of Sarasota
Bellevue Terrace: Evicting the Locklear Park Drug Trade
To: Sarasota City Manager Karie Friling
I just met with a couple who are going to establish a neighborhood association in Bellevue Terrace, in District 3. They’ll be working with Nancy Kelly on that. They mentioned many of their neighbors don’t go to Locklear Park any more because there’s a lot of drug activity going on in the park. Wondering if we could have more police presence there to encourage the drug sellers to move along. If the police would like to contact them, I have the husband’s name and email address. He is Clint Weldon at clintweldon@gmail.com. Wife’s name is Delia.
Kathy Kelley Ohlrich
City Commissioner
City of Sarasota
Jungle Gardens: Taming the Legal Jungle
To: Sarasota City Manager Karie Friling
Yes, will do. We are also meeting with the Jungle Gardens attorney on Monday to discuss compliance.
Lucia Panica
City Clerk
City of Sarasota
Jungle Gardens: Barbed Wire, Buffers, and the Law
To: Sarasota City Clerk Lucia Panica
We need to update it for where we are at, and what we have uncovered and how we intend to move forward with the outstanding code issues that remain. Particularly, the fencing approvals for the chain link and barb wire, buffering requirements, and the historic sign. Also, any determination that there is not enough room to add plantings in the row.
What legal options are there for enforcement and what mechanism would it be?
I continue to receive questions about this from the Commission.
Karie Friling
City Manager
City of Sarasota
Parking Department Woes: Stop Signs, Speedy Tickets, and Spite
To: Sarasota City Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch
Today I am sharing 3 errors committed by the parking department that will need to be addressed by business owners, me, instead of running my business
- My employee for whom I pay the parking received a ticket – which also happened last month. It causes my employee to mistrust me.
- Nick from Cafe Amici was behind the parking division car and recorded her blowing through the stop sign the 2nd time! After she blew through the first sign he picked up his phone to see if she did it again, and she did. (See the attached video.)
- My client returned to her car and found that at 2:31, which is the time she said she got there, there was already a ticket on her car that said 231. Braxton Harvey had said there was a 10 minute grace period. That could be offered. Certainly 232 would have been a reasonable time to offer a ticket but 231? So now I am taking my clients ticket to parking and seeing if I can get this fixed for her. She was with me and now she is mad… Not with me but at the situation, which makes it harder for me to do my job.
There are only 3.000 parking spaces in Sarasota, these people have to generate millions of dollars in parking fines… I wonder if they’re just giving tickets in order that some percent will not fight them and will pay the ticket?
Katherine Hermes
Sarasota
Click-2-Fix: Painting a Clearer Picture
To: Colleen Forristall
Thanks for sharing you Click-2-Fix report with me per painting of the parking lines on 2nd Street. I have copied the City Manager on this email so we can check the status of this request.
Jen Ahearn-Koch
City Commissioner
City of Sarasota
Click-2-Fix: Reading Between the (Faded) Lines
To: Sarasota City Commissioner Jean Ahearn-Koch
As you know, parking is a hot topic in our city.
I requested that parking lines be repainted on 2nd Street outside Selby Library.
It is difficult for drivers to see the lines to park properly. The response for Parking Enforcement to monitor is not satisfactory. I would hope that painting lines would already be on a maintenance schedule. If it is not on a schedule yet, it should be added. I appreciate your hard work to make our City better in all ways.
Colleen Forristall
Sarasota
Workshop Fallout: The Natives are Restless (and Rightfully So)
To: Sarasota City Commission
The voices of residents have been silenced for many years, workshops like this one have been commonplace. Quite honestly, I was delighted to see the response by people attending the meeting. It is time for a reassessment of the relationship between the City administration and residents. Fostering open communication and community engagement builds trust, which has been sorely lacking over the past several years.
I hope this meeting opens the eyes of those that can bring about changes Sarasota needs.
Joyce Cloutier
Harbor Acres
Parking Workshop: A Masterclass in Missing the Mark
To: Sarasota City Commission
I attended the parking workshop last night. It was a debacle but there was some useful information provided by City staff.
Communication between the City staff and residents/business owners as to the nature of the meeting was poor. Many residents and business owners attended the meeting expecting to be able to speak to the parking department but were precluded from doing so. About 25-30 of those people, some of whom had clearly been drinking before the meeting, left in protest before the meeting. The structure of the meeting, in which the City staff provided a lecture on current parking operations, with questions submitted on cards to be answered after, served to anger people who were already quite angry. In my view, the Commission should have provided the typical 3-minute public input directly to the Commission as many people are quite angry…
I elected to stay. The meeting, in my view, followed a consistent pattern, where the City staff told the attendees how the parking department operated and then answered questions. From the staff view, they already had decided what they wanted to do. Attendee input was needed to be able to tell the Commission that staff received public input without staff acting on public input. I have often seen City staff tell the Commission they received public input, but have never seen the Commission ask what that input was. The recent transportation discussion is a good example.
The meeting did have some useful substance. The Staff discussed the treatment of Enterprise Funds and the need for Enterprise Funds to be self funding. The purpose of a parking Enterprise Fund to is to have the people using the parking to pay for the parking expenses, rather than having all citizens pay for parking expenses through the general fund. The decision to make parking an Enterprise Fund was apparently made in 2018. The Commission implicitly ratified the Enterprise Fund decision when it increased parking hours in an attempt to balance the budget. It might be useful for the Commission to reconsider whether parking should be an Enterprise Fund. However, that would require the reallocation of City funds away from other uses..
The staff presented comparisons that show that parking charges are reasonable, or even low, in comparison to other neighboring cities. It appears that parking department communication with businesses has been lacking, particularly regarding the availability and use of discounted employee parking permits.
Interestingly, there was no discussion in the staff presentation of how parking department expenses might be reduced. A review of the department budget indicates that it might be over staffed. One submitted question asked why there were so many parking attendants in the garages when technology should have eliminated their positions. The short answer was the technology doesn’t yet work. The Commission should demand answers on that one. Also, there was no discussion of why elevators that are not that old need replacing. Similarly, there was no discussion of the need for the fancy new cars that are suddenly appearing on downtown streets. I would say the parking department expenses are higher than they should be.
Many residents and business owners are angry with the parking situation in the City. There are many different reasons for this. The staff’s direction from the Commission appears to be for the staff to find enough revenue to balance the budget. The staff has not been directed by the Commission to balance the needs of residents and businesses with the need to get revenue. The staff has also not been directed to try to lower expenses in order to find that balance. These are the changes that are needed.
John Simon
Sarasota
Media Pitch: Shellie Shines on ABC7
To: Sarasota City Commission
Shellie appeared on ABC 7 yesterday to talk about the Homeless Outreach Team. I have included the link below to the article and video online. It is a great interview and article and Shellie provides the best way to help our homeless population. Great job Shellie!
Jennifer Jorgensen
Deputy City Manager
City of Sarasota
Media Pitch: The HOT Team Takes the Spotlight
To: Sarasota City Homeless Response Coordinator Shellie Legarsky
Query: The Homeless Response Coordinator was invited to appear on ABC7’s News at Noon after Communications offered availability to discuss the City’s homeless response efforts. What is the big picture of Sarasota’s homeless population? What does outreach look like? What are the biggest issues the City helps homeless individuals tackle? What should the community do when they see an individual panhandling?
Response: Communications coordinated for an in-studio appearance on ABC7’s News at Noon, where the Homeless Response Coordinator explained that there has been a decline in homelessness in Sarasota over the past 10 years, largely due to the efforts of the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT). The team is made up of the Homeless Response Coordinator, 2 civilian caseworkers, 5 SPD officers and one sergeant. The HOT works with unsheltered individuals on the street to connect them with services, temporary housing, rehabilitation, court services, and more. Some of the biggest issues the City helps unsheltered individuals tackle are getting replacement ID cards, birth certificates, food stamps, and government assistance.
While some members of the community may feel drawn to give money or food to unsheltered individuals, the kindest way to help the City’s unsheltered population is to contact the HOT, who can begin providing assistance. Many times, unsheltered individuals are already known and are being helped by the HOT. It is important that the community understands that it is impossible to know what an individual’s situation, mental state, or mood is, and that outreach is most effective when done by professionals who are equipped to handle the needs of individuals in all situations. Those who wish to help unsheltered individuals should do so by donating their time or money to one of many local agencies, like Resurrection House, that provide services professionally in coordination with the City. Communications shared the attached images with the anchor to be included in the newscast.
Luke Mocherman
Communications Specialist
City of Sarasota
Beau Ciel Red Tag: The JustFOIA Waiting Game
To: Sarasota City Commission
This will acknowledge receipt of your public records request. My office will move forward with processing your request and notify you when the search for responsive records has been completed. You will receive a response through our public records system JustFOIA. In the meantime, please note that we may contact you if we need clarification regarding your request. We will further advise you if there are any charges associated with the retrieval of the records responsive to your request.
Please note: FL Statute 119, regarding Public Records, does not require a governmental body to create new information (only to produce existing records), perform legal research, or to answer questions about the public records (other than how to obtain them and the possible cost).
Shayla Griggs
City Clerk
City of Sarasota
Beau Ciel Red Tag: Anonymous Owners Seek the Stop-Work Scoop
To: City Auditor & Clerk, Ms. Shayla Griggs, Deputy City Auditor & Clerk, Ms. Lori Rivers, Chief Building Official, Mr. Larry Murphy, and Inspector Brandon Soriano.
We are a group of concerned residents, families, and deeded owners living at Beau Ciel (990 Boulevard of the Arts).
We are writing to you anonymously because we are worried about retaliation from our board and their bullying tactics, but we care deeply about the safety of our homes, our staff, and our pets. We heard the board talk about a City Red Tag / Stop Work Order during the Thursday morning meeting on August 20th under Case File 2026-CC-047292.
Under Florida’s Chapter 119 Public Records Law, we request immediate access to copies of all the public records and inspection reports for this case. Please include the raw field inspection notes, the written mandates, code citations, corrective orders, and any photos taken by the inspector or Mr. Larry Murphy’s team. Since Florida law says public records requests can be totally anonymous, please just reply directly to this email address with the files or a link where we can see them.
We are so grateful to Mayor Debbie, her office, and the building officials, Mr. Larry Murphy, Inspector Soriano, and their team for looking out for our health, safety, and well-being. You are all doing an amazing job protecting us and our building.
Beau Ciel Deeded Owners
Saraosta
