Parking Joins the Police Force
—To: Sarasota City Employees
—I want to share an organizational change that I have decided to make regarding our Parking Division. Effective on October 28th, the Parking Division will transition to our Police Department.
Over the past few months, I have spent considerable time listening to our employees, reviewing how we deliver parking services, and considering how we can best support both our staff and the community. I believe aligning Parking with the Police Department provides the strongest organizational structure for the direction in which we need to move forward.
This decision is about more than where a division appears on an organizational chart. It is about service, safety, professionalism, and community. Our parking employees work every day in the field, interacting directly with residents, businesses, visitors, and members of the public – often in challenging situations. We have also seen firsthand that these interactions can sometimes escalate. Our employees deserve the training, tools, communication systems, and immediate field support necessary to do their jobs safely and professionally. Bringing Parking together with the Police Department will allow us to strengthen training in areas such as communication, de-escalation, customer service, professional interactions, and consistent enforcement. It will also provide greater coordination and field support, particularly during special events and other situations where parking operations and public safety intersect.
Just as importantly, I want us to rethink what parking enforcement means in Sarasota. Our parking employees should not be viewed simply as individuals who issue citations. They are highly visible representatives of the City, who often interact most frequently with our public. I want to build an ambassador approach to parking enforcement, similar in philosophy to community policing – where compliance remains important, but education, assistance, communication, problem-solving, and exceptional customer service are equally important. This means helping someone understand where they can park, assisting a visitor who needs directions, supporting our businesses, helping coordinate activities during special events, and looking for opportunities to make someone’s interaction with the City a positive one.
We will continue working on improvements to the overall parking program, as well, including simplifying programs where possible and developing business-oriented services such as validation and valet options. Even small gestures of hospitality can matter. Whether it is offering directions, helping someone navigate downtown, or even having a dog treat or lollipop available during an interaction with a family, these moments help define what public service looks like.
Karie Friling
City Manager
City of Sarasota
—Don’t Shoot the Parking Attendant
To: Sarasota City Employees
I also want to be clear about something that is very important to me – this organizational change is not a criticism of our parking employees. Our employees have continued to do their jobs during a period of significant public discussion and at times, intense criticism of the City’s parking policies. Employees implement the policies and direction established by the organization; they should not become the targets of frustration over those policies. We will continue to support them and expect that they are treated with the same respect that we expect them to show to every member of our community.
I believe this transition gives us an opportunity to build something better – a parking operation that combines appropriate and consistent enforcement with safety, service, hospitality, and a strong connection to the community. This is also consistent with a broader principle I am emphasizing throughout our organization – One City. One Team. Our departments cannot operate in silos. When bringing functions together allows us to share expertise, improve service, better protect employees, and provide a more seamless experience for the public, we should be willing to make these changes.
Over the coming weeks, Chief Troche and Director Cover will work with the Parking employees on the transition and operational details. Our priority will be making the transition thoughtfully and ensuring employees have the information, training, equipment, and support they need to succeed.
Thank you to our parking team for the work that you do every day, particularly during these recent challenging times. And thank you to our Police Department for its willingness to take on this responsibility and help us shape the next chapter of this important public-facing service. We have a team opportunity to redefine parking in Sarasota – not simply as enforcement, but as public safety + public service + hospitality. This is the direction that we are going.
Karie Friling
City Manager
City of Sarasota
Dog Walking at the Cemetery
To: Sarasota City Parks and Recreation Director Jerry Fogle
I am resending my email below from 9.21. Again, I am seeking to understand if it is acceptable for me to walk my dogs at the Oaklands-Woodlawn cemetery under the circumstances described in my previous email. If it is not acceptable, please cite the applicable code(s) or ordinance(s) for my reference. I have copied Mayor Trice and the City Commission’s general email in hopes someone will respond.
David Hiatt
Sarasota
—Six Feet Under and Two Dogs Leashed
To: Sarasota City Parks and Recreation Director Jerry Fogle
I live in the Woodlawn cemetery neighborhood and like to walk my two dogs through there. The other day a landscape maintenance guy told me I should probably check with the City to confirm this is ok, so this is the purpose of my email. We walk on the road or along the fence line between the water treatment plant and the cemetery – a grassy stretch without headstones. Sometimes – in the summer heat – we like to take a brief respite in the shade of oak trees in the northwest corner. My dogs are always leashed, under my control, and cleaned up after. They do not disturb graves, landscaping, or cemetery operations. If someone is visiting a grave we do not enter, or we make specific effort to keep our distance out of respect for their privacy.
I understand this property is not City-owned and does not qualify as a “City Park”, but it is City-maintained. Given the circumstances, please advise if it is acceptable for me to walk my dogs here. If it is not, please cite the correct (and specific) code or ordinance language I may refer to.
Thank you, I look forward to your reply.
David Hiatt
Sarasota
—Predatory Parking
To: Lou Hitchcock
I completely empathize with your situation. It has been extremely frustrating for me watching motorists park in high-priced commercial parking lots when free and inexpensive parking provided by the City is within a block or two. The City now includes the City Logo on our Parking signage, but out-of-town visitors wouldn’t necessarily notice. (We can anticipate that commercial parking lot proprietors will copy the appearance of City signage as much as they legally can.)
There is a plan to install highly-visible “wayfinding” signage on the street directing motorists to City-owned garages. Do you have any suggestions of what else might assist visitors in identifying City-provided parking?
My suggestion for your future visits: because the City currently charges no more than $2/hour, any lot charging significantly more than that is a commercial enterprise.
Debbie Trice
Mayor
City of Sarasota
Here’s Your Confusing Parking Ticket
To: Sarasota City Mayor Debbie Trice
I truly apologize for reaching out to you in regard to this, but I felt I needed to. We visited Sarasota this past weekend for a family trip, which by the way was an absolute blast and definitely a return destination for us and the kids.
However, we received a citation for parking. I did an appeal, but they came back and said I paid for a private company. I sent the same signs that are in the photos and on that street, the sign near the truck was the first one we saw.
There isn’t anything in the front we could see that would indicate a city and private parking options. We didn’t certainly walk down the street to see, nor would we know there would be optional pay systems.
We were certainly hoping for a better outcome as I attached plenty to show where we were parked and the system we used. I’m not ok with paying this amount, but I will do what needs to be done. I just don’t think it’s fair nor right when it comes to improper signage (if any) where someone visiting would know any better than what we did.
If there is anything you can do, It would be greatly appreciated. If not, we will pay it on top of the $17 we already paid to whoever they are. Below is the letter we received from the challenge.
Lou Hitchcock
Sarasota
Click 2 Fix the Shrubbery
To: Robert Schwaed
I am copying the City Manager on this reply so that she can make the appropriate department aware of the problem you described.
I strongly recommend using Click 2 Fix (either on the City’s website or the app COS Click 2 Fix) to quickly and easily report items needing attention. Click 2 Fix automatically routes the report to the right department, assigns a tracking number, and reports back to you when the repairs are completed.
Debbie Trice
Mayor
City of Sarasota
The Arlington Park Jungle Trek
To: Sarasota City Commission
Who is responsible for maintaining the pathway between Floyd St/ Euclid and the Arlington Park. No one has been maintaining it and the shrubs are growing over the sidewalk and touching the ground on the other side. I have to duck to get under the branches while walking my dog. Bicycle riders use the path a lot, and someone is going to get hurt with the low hanging branches. Is it the city, or county, responsible for the maintenance. Clearly the path is not maintained.
Bob Schwaed
Sarasota
Bayfront Traffic Incident
To: Sarasota City Commission
I am sad to share that today there was a Traffic Homicide involving two motorcycles by Bayfront near Marina Jack. One person is confirmed dead. An investigation is underway.
Karie Friling
City Manager
City of Sarasota
A Local Lawyer Rests His Case
To: Sarasota City Mayor Debbie Trice
Sarasota’s parking enforcement is becoming a liability to the very businesses the City should be supporting. Residents who comply with posted parking restrictions—or attempt to pay but cannot because the City’s equipment is not working—are being ticketed anyway. The damage extends well beyond the cost of a citation: it undermines confidence in City government and gives residents a compelling reason to take their business elsewhere.
Two recent experiences illustrate the problem:
Ticketed after less than 15 minutes in a two-hour parking space. On September 4, 2026, I had a 5:45 p.m. dinner reservation at State Street Eating House with out-of-town guests. I parked on First Street, immediately to the left of a two-hour parking sign. At 5:52 p.m., I received a parking citation despite having been parked for less than 15 minutes. I was well within the posted two-hour limit.
Ticketed when the City’s payment system would not work. A few weeks earlier, my wife, Rachel Goldman, visited a business on St. Armands Circle and parked in a City-owned garage. She attempted to pay both through the app and at the payment machine. Neither worked. The gate was also raised and inoperable. Despite her efforts to pay, she received a citation. The City should not penalize a customer for the failure of its own payment system.
I have practiced law in Sarasota since 1989 and have lived in downtown condominiums since 2010. I have spent decades supporting this community and its businesses. When someone with those longstanding ties begins avoiding local establishments because dealing with City parking has become an unreasonable burden, you should recognize that as a serious failure of City government.
Residents should not have to choose between paying an unjustified ticket and spending their time fighting one. An appeal process does not excuse improper enforcement. Even a citation that is ultimately dismissed imposes a cost in time, inconvenience, and frustration that should never have been imposed in the first place.
My wife attended a City Commission hearing to bring this problem to your attention. She and others in attendance were denied the opportunity to speak. Whatever the procedural explanation, the result was that residents seeking accountability left without being heard. That compounds the frustration and reinforces the perception that the City is willing to issue citations but unwilling to listen to the people receiving them.
Responsibility for correcting this situation rests squarely with this Commission. You are responsible for overseeing the administration of City government and insisting that parking enforcement be fair, accurate, and accountable.
The business consequences are already real in our household. We now avoid businesses within the City that do not have their own private parking. We would rather drive to Lakewood Ranch than risk another improper citation while trying to support a Sarasota merchant. The City’s merchants are losing customers because of the conduct of the government that is supposed to serve them. They bear the economic cost of enforcement practices they do not control.
I ask that you arrange for a review of both citations and provide a substantive written response addressing:
Why these citations were issued and whether they will be rescinded?
What safeguards prevent citations from being issued before posted time limits expire?
What instructions enforcement personnel follow when City payment systems fail?
What corrective action will be taken to prevent residents and visitors from being put through this again?
Simply directing us to contest the tickets would leave the underlying problem untouched. I expect this Commission to address the enforcement practices that produced them and explain what will change.
David L. Goldman
Goldman, Babboni, Fernandez, Murphy & Walsh
Sarasota
—Calling in the Cavalry (aka the Homeless Outreach Team)
To: Hailey Heinzel
I’m sorry about your situation. I am copying the city manager and deputy city manager with this response so they can have the homeless outreach team and/or other appropriate staff contact you.
Liz Alpert
Commissioner
City of Sarasota
—A Not-So-Welcome Wagon in Newtown
To: Sarasota City Commission
Hello I recently bought a house in Newtown and I have a long list of concerns as to how our tax money is being used etc. we have homeless people running rampant and they are being fed. These homeless people are awful how and what can I do to try and stop this neighborhood for making it even more convenient for homeless lowlifes to be sleeping behind my fence and can walk down the street for a free dinner and clothes. We have people who park in front of our house blasting ghetto music, walking behind my fence to go buy and smoke crack and I have a feeling it has to do with the new food bank in newtown. Any info would help on what I can do and who I can contact. The changes that were requested by the city commission are scheduled to come back to the board on October 19th.
Hailey Heinzel
Sarasota
—Checking in on the ‘Hotel House’ Headache
To: Sarasota City Manager Karie Friling
Hope you are enjoying the beautiful weekend weather! Please see Kelly Brown’s email below and let me know the status of the DNE and Hotel House Ordinance.
Jen Ahearn-Koch
City Commissioner
City of Sarasota
—Hotel California or Gillespie Park?
To: Sarasota City Commission
It was recently brought to my attention that members of the commission believe that their direction to staff for the vacation rental ordinance to be effective city wide to include the DTN neighborhoods was resolved and put in place. This belief is incorrect as is validated by city staff in email of September 24, 2026 below.
The Gillespie Park Neighborhood has been trying to be included in this ordinance for 2 years. As of now the DTN neighborhoods are still excluded from this commission directed city wide ordinance. The Gillespie Park neighborhood is relatively small compared to Alta Vista or Central Coconut neighborhoods at about half their size with approximately 625 specific living spaces primarily made up of single family homes. As of last week’s count there are 102 units being used as vacation rentals or 16% of our housing availability. Of the homes being used as vacation rental 80% of the units the owner does not live on the property and in most cases in the neighborhood. We now have 7 units as what is referred to as hotel houses (5 built and 2 under construction where the available off street parking spaces do not align with the rental registration ordinance). These numbers are a 4% increase in vacation rentals from 2 years ago when we thought we were to be included.
The properties with owners on site are not included in the registration process as they are on site and are great stewards of their properties. The balance need to be accountable for the safety of their transient lodgers as well as the safety and compatibility to the neighborhood.
The Gillespie Park neighborhood should be protected as well as all who rent these vacation rentals by being included as directed by the commission 2 years ago. Please direct staff to execute your direction on vacation rental without further delay.
Kelly Brown
President
Gillespie Park Neighborhood Association
—Short, Sweet, and Unregulated
Good afternoon, yes, that is correct.
Hannah Chabica
Supervisor Vacation Rental Compliance
City of Sarasota
Are We Still the Wild West for Vacation Rentals?
To: City of Sarasota Supervisor of Vacation Rental Compliance Hannah Chabica
It is my understanding that vacation rental owners in Gillespie Park (DTN) are not currently required to register as the final ordinance has not been approved by the commission to expand to DTN. Is that correct?
Kelly Brown
President
Gillespie Park Neighborhood Association
