Ron Feinsod will not seek second term as Venice mayor; four council seats up for grabs Nov. 8

VENICE – Mayor Ron Feinsod said Friday that he will not seek a second term on the Venice City Council, creating an opening for other candidates to seek the post during qualifying week Aug. 22-26.

Nick Pachota, who is currently vice mayor, filed to move from Seat 5 to run for the mayor's slot earlier this year.

Feinsod said in a Friday phone interview that: “I’ve addressed every issue I originally ran on and at this point I can accomplish more from the outside than I can from the inside.”

With four of the seven council seats could be up for grabs, Venice voters can dramatically reshape a council that has drawn fire in recent months for approving new land development regulations that were opposed by a majority of people who spoke at the public hearings and workshops before their final approval July 12 on a 5-0 vote.

Related: Venice residents hope to repeal new land development rules

Feinsod has already shaped this year’s election after he researched the city charter and suggested that the disappointed residents gather signatures to petition to seek a repeal of those regulations in a citywide referendum on the November. 2023 ballot.

“The citizens' referendum is moving forward very quickly with a tremendous amount of public support and I know that the people who are running for office are going to have to take a stand on what their positions are on the main concerns of the citizens of Venice,” Feinsod said.

Earlier: Venice City Council will choose from six applicant for vacant seat

Pachota and fellow incumbent Council Member Rachel Frank, are both on this year’s ballot, with Frank shifting from her appointed position in Seat 2 to run for Seat 6.

Meanwhile, Dick Longo has filed to run for the one-year term remaining for Seat 2 and two new candidates – Rick Howard and Ron Smith – have filed to fill Seat 5.

A third candidate, Tanya Parus, had originally filed to run for Seat 5 but announced on Aug. 17 that she had withdrawn for personal reasons.

“I will be back when God takes my hand to walk this journey again!,” Parus told the Herald-Tribune in a text message. “And I can never doubt he knows best!"

As qualifying unfolds, Howard and Smith will learn whether another candidate will join them in a bids for Seat 5, while Longo and the incumbent council members will learn whether they will face opposition in November.

In 2021, Seat 4 candidate Jennifer Lewis filed her complete paperwork on the last day.

Longo, Howard and Smith all skirted a direct answer on a question about revisiting the land development regulations ahead of the potential citizens' referendum.

A second chance for one year on Venice City Council

Longo,  a Sawgrass resident and founding member of the Central Venice Coalition, expressed interest previously in being appointed to Seat 2 as a replacement for Brian Kelly, and has lived in the city since 2014.

That appointment went to Frank, who decided to run this year to succeed Joe Neunder in Seat 6 for a three-year term, instead of filling out the Seat 2 term.

At that time Longo wasn’t sure he’d run for council this year but the one-year seat holds appeal.

“With the one-year seat remaining, there are things I’d like to get done,” Longo said.

As a key cog of the Central Venice Coalition, Longo was free to consult with city officials and council members one on one – something that would end for him as a council member because of Florida’s Sunshine Law.

“I am anxious to get on the council and have an impact and maybe set a tone,” Longo said. “My goals on the council are going to bring hopefully a level of respect that is not alway there.”

He said respect of the council needed to be nurtured, as well as respect from council members of city residents.

An interest in preserving the city's charm

Howard, who retired as a vice president at Labcorp – one of the largest clinical laboratory networks in the world – after 25 years, grew up in LaBelle, in Hendry County and used to visit Venice with his family.

Howard and his wife Laura moved to Venice in 2020, and the youngest of their three children, Samantha, 17, is a dual enrollment student at Venice High School and the State College of Florida Collegiate School program.

Before working at Labcorp, Howard was a paramedic in Lee County.

Howard and his family chose Venice over other coastal cities partly because of his childhood memories and partly because of the city's charm.

“I honestly care about Venice; I used to come here when I was a little kid in lieu of Fort Myers. It was just as easy to get to as Fort Myers Beach or the Fort Myers area. It wasn’t near as congested,” Howard said of Venice. “We love the quaintness, the charm and I care about what happens to Venice. I think it’s an adorable spot.”

Howard noted that he’s reading the newly adopted land development regulations, to better understand what – if not resolved in the coming months by the current council – will be a driving issue in the election.

“I'm drinking from a fire hose and absorbing this stuff as fast as I can, to learn all of the details around these hot buttons,” Howard said “They’re going to be campaign issues, no doubt.”

An interest in mediation

Smith first came to Venice in the 1980s, when he served as city editor for the Venice edition of the Herald-Tribune.

At 48, he decided to go to law school and after graduating from Florida State and went on to become a prosecutor for 12 years in Florida’s 20th Judicial Circuit.

He retired to Venice in 2020,  in part to take care of his since deceased wife.

He has also become more involved in the community – including performing on stage at the Venice Theatre.

Smith originally filed to run for Seat 2 but friends convinced him to move to Seat 5 and the longer three-year commitment that goes with it.

He said that the turmoil that developed during the passage of the land development regulations and the aftermath – which includes the petition drive and the city considering a court challenge to that effort – makes him sad.

“It’s my belief that I can help mediate that,” Smith said, who added that he’s taken a course from the state Supreme Court in mediating disputes.

“I don’t think we should be in court fighting each other, I don’t think we should be having a referendum on the entire land development regulations – maybe there's some accommodations that can be made, if you can get people to talk to each other,” Smith said.

Smith said he feels rezoning, the comprehensive plan and height exemptions are prerogative of the City Council.

“I’m not anti-growth but I would be very protective of those three things,” Smith said. “I think changes in the comprehensive plans should be rare and rezoning should be when it’s for the benefit of the whole community, not one developer.”

The final slate of candidates will be known after 12:30 p.m. Aug. 26.

Council members can run for up to three consecutive three-year terms and must sit out at least one year before they can run again.

The six City Council members earn $10,200 annually and the mayor, who technically occupies Seat 7, earns $12,000.

Earle Kimel primarily covers south Sarasota County for the Herald-Tribune and can be reached at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription to the Herald-Tribune.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Venice mayor will not seek a second term on council; four seats open