Sarasota County District 2 candidates discuss affordable housing, abortion, economic downturns

The candidates running for Sarasota County Commission District 2 shared their views on Siesta Key incorporation, abortion, affordable housing and several other topics at a Tiger Bay Club forum Thursday.

The candidates included three Democrats – former Sarasota mayor Fredd Atkins, Sarasota City Commissioner Hagen Brody and Siesta Key advocate Mike Cosentino – and one Republican, Siesta Key business leader Mark Smith.

Lourdes Ramirez, the other Republican running for District 2, wasn’t able to attend because of a family matter.

The candidates are set to compete in the Aug. 23 primary election, and the victors there will continue on to the Nov. 8 general election.

Background: Hagen Brody, Mike Cosentino are running for the District 2 seat on Sarasota County Commission

More: Former Sarasota Mayor Fredd Atkins files to run for County Commission

And: Siesta Key leader Mark Smith enters District 2 County Commission race

Atkins, Brody, Cosentino and Smith answered questions posed by the moderator, Sarasota attorney Morgan Bentley, and by members of Tiger Bay Club. The event at Michael’s on East was attended by more than 250 people.

Here are paraphrased versions of the candidates’ responses to a few questions:

Impact of a possible future recession

Some economists are saying that a recession is growing more likely. A University of Central Florida economist told Sarasota business leaders last month that there's a "north of 50% chance" that the U.S. economy goes into recession sometime in the next 12 months.

Bentley, the moderator, said a downturn would affect the county’s budget. He said to the candidates, “You get elected. What do you cut first?”

Brody: Any local government’s budget is going to have areas that are wonderful if it can afford them, but those are probably the places where you start cutting, he said. Those would mainly be programs that aren’t necessary to the core functions of government.

Cosentino: He mentioned the county’s plan to dedicate some of its future sales tax money to widening Fruitville Road. He says this will help a developer build subdivisions east of Interstate 75. He is against making existing taxpayers pay for the development east of the interstate.

Smith: He said the county has to maintain its life, safety and welfare programs. He is sure that the county would have to defer some infrastructure improvements and repairs in the case of a recession.

Atkins: During the last recession, the city of Sarasota froze hiring and cut back on some of the projects that were being planned.

Abortion

Last September, Manatee County commissioners voted to send a letter to Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody requesting her opinion on whether the county is allowed under state law to adopt an ordinance regulating abortion.

Moody's office later informed county officials that they didn’t have the authority to implement a local abortion ban. That was before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Bentley said the issue will now be up to the states and the counties, and he asked the candidates their thoughts on it.

Smith: “I’m pro-life, and so I hope to God they don’t make it up to the counties, I guess.”

Atkins: “I think it’s vitally important that we recognize the rights of women and their bodies … I think the Supreme Court was stacked in an arrogant, unlawful way to get this decision pressed through on us and now we gotta live with it. And if comes before the county, to Sarasota, I would definitely support the right of woman to choose what they want to do with their bodies.”

Brody: “Women’s health care and reproductive choices are their own and theirs solely. I disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs. I think that if the Constitution should protect anything, it’s the most intimate and personal decisions that we make.”

Cosentino: “I have an opinion," he said, but because he is male, which he denoted using a slang term for his genitals, "I don’t think I have a valid opinion. So yeah, how can any man tell any woman what to do with her body? I just can’t wrap my head around it.” He later said that he would fight to make sure that an abortion law wouldn’t come before the County Commission.

Siesta Key incorporation

A coalition of Siesta Key residents is hoping to form the Town of Siesta Key.

The state legislators who represent Sarasota County voted in January to not to sponsor a bill designed to give Siesta Key voters an opportunity to vote on whether to incorporate their island. Majority legislative delegation support was required for the bill to advance, and only three of six lawmakers supported the bill.

The coalition is now collecting petitions from voters in effort to get a referendum on incorporation on a future election ballot.

A member of the audience asked how each of the candidates feel about the incorporation effort.

Atkins: As a county commissioner, he would oppose it, he said. But as a citizen, he thinks the people of Siesta Key have the right to do what they feel is best.

Brody: He is indifferent to incorporation. He said that if the citizens of Siesta Key go through the referendum process and want incorporation to appear on the election ballot, he will support getting it on the ballot.

Cosentino: “I absolutely with 100% certainty support the effort to incorporate.”

Smith: He is undecided on it, because advocates of incorporation are proposing a 0.25 mill ad valorem tax for property owners. He believes that under that millage rate, the town wouldn’t have enough money for its infrastructure and other necessities.

Affordable housing

The Sarasota area, like many across Florida, is experiencing an affordable housing crisis, as rents and home prices have increased dramatically over the last year and the area doesn't have enough affordable units to meet demand.

One audience member asked the candidates what they would do to promote more affordable housing for low- to moderate-income people and the homeless.

Cosentino: The state needs to be overturn legislation it passed in 2011 that precludes local governments from regulating short-term rentals, he said. He also opposes a city of Sarasota proposal to allow for greater building density when developers chose to build affordable housing units.

Brody: He described affordable housing complexes the city of Sarasota has helped fund during his tenure, including Lofts on Lemon and Amaryllis Park Place.

Atkins: He said that the $25 million of American Rescue Plan money that the County Commission dedicated to affordable housing isn’t enough.  He added, “We got a crisis that has imploded on us, and we’ve got to get the developers back into this game. They got to contribute to this housing crisis, because who we are trying to get houses for are their employees and the jobs that they are creating.”

Smith: He supports mandatory inclusionary zones, which are areas of a county or city where affordable units must make up a portion of all new housing developments. He also said that mixed-use developments on urban corridors could house affordable units.

Anne Snabes covers city and county government for the Herald-Tribune. You can contact her at asnabes@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @a_snabes.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota County District 2 candidates share views at Tiger Bay forum