Sarasota County District 4 candidates talk Siesta Key incorporation, Lakewood Ranch plan
Former Venice City Council member Joe Neunder and Democratic leader Daniel Kuether are competing for the Sarasota County Commission District 4 seat.
The winner of the Nov. 8 contest will have a seat at the table when the commission makes decisions about the expansion of development eastward in Sarasota County, future hotel projects on Siesta Key and other important issues.
Neunder, a local chiropractor who served on the Venice City Council for two and a half years, defeated Mark Hawkins in the Aug. 23 Republican primary. Kuether, a web designer who has served as vice chair of the Sarasota County Democratic Party, was the only Democrat to file for District 4.
Related coverage:Atkins and Smith to face off for Sarasota County Commission District 2 seat; Neunder also wins
Previously: Who is running in the Sarasota County Commission District 4 primary? Republicans share their views
And: Democratic leader Daniel Kuether joins the race for Sarasota County Commission District 4
The Republican Party has a voter registration advantage in the district, which runs from south Sarasota to the Laurel-Nokomis area. As of Sept. 30, the district has 32,805 Republicans, 20,655 Democrats and 18,138 voters with no party affiliation.
Daniel Kuether
Kuether grew up on a farm in rural Ohio, the fourth of five siblings. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, and then began working in the real estate business.
He met his husband in New York City, and they started looking for a place to get married and raise a family, Kuether said. They ultimately settled on Sarasota, his husband’s hometown.
When they moved to Sarasota a little over four years ago, Kuether became the Realtor liaison at Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, which is the developer of Lakewood Ranch.
“And that’s really where I started to kind of see the issues we have in development here,” he said, “where whatever the developers wanted to do, they were able to do without any sort of pushback – and that’s caused a lot of different problems.”
He now works as a UX/UI designer for a real estate tech company. In his free time, he enjoys taking his dog on nature walks and playing in a local kickball league.
Joe Neunder
Neunder was born in Buffalo, New York, but his family moved to Sarasota when he was a teenager. His mother, who is Puerto Rican, preferred living in a warmer climate.
“Long story short, after some time there, she decided that it was time to move,” he said. “It was very cold.”
Neunder swam for a swim club in Sarasota County and attended Pine View School. He went on earn a doctor of chiropractic degree from Life University in Georgia and now runs his own chiropractic practice, Sarasota Spinal Mechanics.
In his spare time, he likes to swim and attend his sons’ soccer practices and games. As a Venice council member, he brought up security concerns that soccer parents had about Wellfield Park at a council meeting in April, leading the council to direct Venice Police to conduct a risk assessment of that park and Chuck Reiter Park.
Neunder served on the council from November 2019 until June, when he resigned from the post. He said he wanted to avoid a potential conflict between the two elected offices, since state statute forbids a public official from holding two offices at once.
Neunder has far outraised Kuether. As of Oct. 14, he had received $140,160 in donations, including $10,000 that he loaned himself. Kuether had raised $35,465, which includes $9,000 of his own money. Kuether didn’t have to compete in a primary, while Neunder did.
The former council member has received donations from individuals and companies in the development and building industry, including University Park-based Benderson Development Co., LLC and Michael Neal, a land development manager at Neal Communities.
“I think if you look at it, I’ve got support from my whole community,” Neunder said. “I’ve got support from my patients, the people I do business with, the building community, the retirement community, teachers – the whole nine yards. I’m blessed. And because somebody donates money to you doesn’t mean that they get to tell you what to do.”
He added that it’s his wife who tells him “where to go and what to do.”
ON THE ISSUES
Property tax rate
Earlier this month, the County Commission unanimously approved a countywide property tax rate of 3.4463 mills, down 0.0098 from the current year's 3.4561. One mill generates $1 for every $1,000 in assessed property value.
The commissioners didn’t opt for the rolled-back rate, the amount that would have kept tax revenues flat.
Kuether said he would like to see the millage rate lowered more. He noted that people are “hurting very badly here in Florida,” with the high housing and insurance costs.
“If there’s anything that our county government can do to help alleviate some of that pain,” he said, “I think we should do it.”
Neunder said he was happy that the commissioners reduced the rate. He added that with the county’s large budget, there’s still “an opportunity to perhaps look deeper and see where we can provide some more meaningful tax relief.”
Asked if he would have advocated for a lower millage rate if he had been on the commission this year, Neunder said he “would have had to see the numbers.” He noted that he wasn’t at all of the county’s budget meetings.
“But I’m always going to push. I mean I’m always going to push to try to save our taxpayers money,” he said. “But certainly what they did is a step in the right direction. And we’ll see where we are next year.”
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 residents 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 continuing to try to sway legislators to allow a vote on incorporation.
Asked if he supports the Siesta Key incorporation movement, Kuether said, “Yes. Absolutely.” He said “we need to be mindful” of the Town of Siesta Key’s operating budget and how it would affect residents’ taxes.
“However, I think having a Siesta Key that’s in control of its own fate, and letting the citizens of Siesta Key have that determination, is going to make a stronger Sarasota County as a whole,” he said.
On the topic of incorporation, Neunder said he supports “whatever they (the residents) want to do.”
“If they do that, of course we look forward to working with them and making sure that they have everything that they need,” he said.
Neunder said he would be adamant that the public beaches on Siesta remain under the county’s control.
Lakewood Ranch development in eastern Sarasota County
Two decades ago, the County Commission adopted the Sarasota 2050 Plan, a growth plan that allowed for communities to be master planned but also set aside green space for protection and conservation.
In August, the County Commission preliminarily approved a change to the plan that paves the way for a new Lakewood Ranch community of homes in eastern Sarasota County.
Lakewood Ranch proposed creating a new land-use designation for about 4,120 acres of land. A maximum of 5,000 homes would be allowed to be built there.
The commissioners voted 4-0 to send the comprehensive plan amendment to the Florida Department of Economic Development for review and comment. The proposal will return to the commission on Tuesday for a final vote.
Kuether said he disagrees with the county’s decision. He said he doesn’t think it’s a problem to alter the 2050 plan, as he sees those kind of plans “as living, breathing documents.” However, he noted that the amendment the county approved “isn’t really benefiting overall Sarasotans.”
“They should be focusing more on making sure affordable housing is part of that,” he said. “They should be making sure that we’re not just sticking more houses to increase density, without supporting the rest of Sarasota County.”
Kuether added that many citizens expressed concerns about the development.
His opponent, Neunder, said he thinks the county’s decision “was rushed.”
“I think 5,000 homes is a big pill to swallow,” he said. “With 5,000 homes, you’re going to have a considerable increase in intensity, traffic. And anytime we do a 2050 plan, comprehensive plan update, it needs to be vetted very, very well.”
Neunder said Lakewood Ranch has a good reputation, though.
“You look at Lakewood Ranch, and you look at his product – I mean it’s the #1 selling community, I think, in the nation,” he said. “I have faith in his ability to do a very high-quality product.”
Lakewood Ranch was ranked the No. 1 multigenerational master-planned community in the country in 2022, as determined by RCLCO, a Maryland-based real estate consultant.
“I think they (the commissioners) did make the right decision. They probably would’ve come to a right decision,” Neunder said, adding that there are still opportunities to make changes or add stipulations to the plan, as another public hearing on the proposal is taking place Tuesday.
He said he would have liked to have seen more public workshops or venues through which citizens could ask Lakewood Ranch staff questions.
Early voting for the match-up between Neunder and Kuether starts Monday.
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: Joe Neunder, Daniel Kuether vie for Sarasota County District 4 seat
