News

Hurdle threatens to sink Pineapple Square

SARASOTA -- Since Pineapple Square started taking shape in early 2004, its developer has persuaded the city to provide millions of dollars for public parking and close a downtown street for the planned $200 million project.

Ohio-based Isaac Group Holdings LLC also has received a density bonus that will allow dozens of additional condos, and has been granted permission to exceed downtown's 10-story height limit.

Isaac Chief Executive John Simon convinced city commissioners to scuttle a planned request for proposals for a city-owned parking lot on State Street. He also succeeded in avoiding the city's Community Redevelopment Area process, even though Pineapple Square will be constructed within the downtown revitalization zone.

To justify the city's concessions, Simon says Pineapple Square will generate about $9 million in new property taxes by 2016, create hundreds of new retail jobs and reinvigorate downtown's shopping district -- a massive undertaking -- all without city funds.

But now, amid commission consideration Monday of a Pineapple Square parking agreement and the closing of an old alley that cuts through the State Street lot the developer is buying from the city, Isaac Group is expected to face roughly $1 million in new -- and unexpected -- costs.

To offset the expense of moving utilities and buying a 10-foot strip that will belong to the owners of the adjacent Northern Trust Building, Isaac Group and Simon may ask the city for $250,000.

City Attorney Robert Fournier believes that the developer will have four options: Get the city to share the costs, absorb the entire expense, proceed without the alley or cancel the deal to buy the State Street lot for $1 million.

If the last occurs, Pineapple Square would be cut dramatically -- a reduction that could jeopardize the project.

Without the rights to the 20-foot-wide alley, Isaac Group would likely be unable to develop 119 proposed residences, 255 parking spaces and 20,000 square feet of retail space.

In all, Pineapple Square is slated to have 276 condos, more than 1,000 parking spaces and as many as 40 shops and restaurants bounded by Main and State streets and Lemon and Pineapple avenues.

But the new expense -- amid a softening demand for downtown condos -- could be daunting. City officials estimate it will cost roughly $45,000 to remove abandoned sewer and water lines. Florida Power & Light, whose electrical lines for Northern Trust are in the alley, projects the cost of removal at $350,000.

Meanwhile, Pointe Group Management Inc., which owns the 11-story bank building, is expected to ask $400,000 to $500,000 for its portion of the alley. By law, alleys or streets that are vacated, or closed, by municipalities become the property of owners on either side of the vacated land.

Dennis Ackerman, a local Pointe Group representative, said the building's Plantation-based owners have not yet decided whether they will sell their slice of the 350-foot alley.

Isaac Group has yet to make a formal request for city money to offset the costs, Fournier said. Simon could not be reached for comment.

City officials say Isaac Group won't get the alley until the utilities are removed. For now, at least, Fournier believes Sarasota isn't prepared to contribute to Isaac Group's new costs.

"I don't think it's the city's role to subsidize the project any more than it's already done," Fournier said. "I don't know that there's any more the city could do to facilitate the acquisition of that strip of alley."

The city's parking deal with Isaac Group is expected to spark much less heat.

Under those terms, Isaac Group will build 350 public parking spaces by Dec. 31, 2008 and maintain the spaces for free, so long as the city doesn't charge to park there.

The city will lease those spaces from Isaac Group for 100 years, at which time the public spaces will become the property of the developer.

Fournier said the city will lease the spaces, rather than own them, because it is issuing tax-exempt bonds to pay for the parking construction.

Servian leads in campaign funds

SARASOTA -- City Commissioner Mary Anne Servian set a fundraising record for a district race, with $41,316, as she faces three challengers.

Details of the campaign contributions she received since candidates' financial filings two weeks ago were not available Friday because, like the other two incumbents running for re-election, Servian opted to mail in her final report.

That is permitted by law as long as the package was postmarked by Friday.

Denise Kowal had the second-highest total in the District 2 race, with $19,075. In an unusual exchange, Kowal donated $250 to one of her opponents, Andrea Daniels.

It is the largest contribution Daniels has received since January, bringing her total to $1,612.

"I think all of us should have a chance to get our voice out," Kowal said.

Dick Clapp, the only Republican in the District 2 race, raised $13,551.

Servian, who said she did not have time to submit her filing at City Hall on Friday, had previously received money from a variety of supporters.

District 1 candidates took in the least amount of money. Incumbent Fredd "Glossie" Atkins said he raised about $19,000 and mailed his report because he was out of town.

Atkins' opponent, April Sheffield, raised $2,570.

Details were unavailable Friday on the District 3 race, where Kelly Kirschner has criticized incumbent Danny Bilyeu for his campaign contributions from individuals with business ties.

Kirschner raised $31,768. He has received money from local Democrats, community leaders, businesses and land owners.

Bilyeu, who as of two weeks ago had received at least $7,700 from individuals with real estate or development connections, said he had raised a total of $28,272.

Bilyeu raised $35,073 in 2003, when he had an additional month of fundraising due to a runoff.

Bilyeu said he decided to mail his final financial report because he did not want to debate about his contributors in the final days of the campaign.

"I'm tired of my opponent wanting to use different names of law firms and different people's names out there," Bilyeu said. "Out of courtesy and respect, I'm going to make it as hard for him to find out who they are and talk about them."

City commissioners serve four-year terms and are paid $25,400 a year.

Seating spat has Dems in a tizzy

Three Sarasota leaders quit amid battle over who sits where at gala.

City races rounding final turn

BY RICK BARRY

Mercifully, the biennial City of Sarasota campaign season isn't two years long, as it seems presidential contests have become, but our two-month celebration of local democracy might seem that long to the eight local candidates.

The election is Tuesday, and community forums and debates are becoming testy. Money is running short for many candidates, and their answers to expected questions, though familiar, are becoming markedly more pointed.

At the Alta Vista Neighbor-hood Association forum two weeks ago, Vice Mayor Danny Bilyeu and District 2 challenger Kelly Kirschner got into it after the lengthy meeting wrapped up. Billyeu had bristled when Kirschner once again mentioned the fact Billyeu had accepted substantial campaign contributions on the same day from 14 lawyers at Icard, Merrill, Cullis, Timm, Furen and Ginsburg, whose developer clients have huge projects pending before the commission.

Kirschner proposed combing through each of their donor lists and refunding those from firms or individuals with business pending before the city, and Bilyeu seemed amenable.

But after the debate: "If you think I'm on the take, Kelly..." he said, full of indignation, followed by a blustering offer to refund all his campaign contributions, "and go in debt to do it !" - if Kirschner would do likewise.

Kirschner, a newcomer to politics, has nonetheless raised more than Billyeu's re-election campaign. So the Total Refund plan is not going to happen.

Commissioner Mary Ann Servian, whose campaign was interrupted last week by the death out of state of her brother, has become more combative as her campaign wears on, barking sharply at one of her four District 2 challengers, Denise Kowal, on occasion, and at some audience members with unfriendly questions.

Kowal has consistently harped on Servian's voting record, especially her approval of the 1350 Main building, with free air rights for its arcade, zero setbacks, a density bonus and maximum height - in which Servian and her husband purchased a corner apartment. Then there's the sprawling Pineapple Square, with its street vacation and bargain basement purchase of city land.

And Kowal keeps harping on it all.

Challengers, of course, have no records to attack. Dick Clapp has some solid support in his Indian Beach-Sapphire Shores neighborhood and beyond; Andrea Daniels is building support door-to-door and forum-to-forum, but has few local connections and less money.

In District 1, Mayor Fredd Atkins is virtually unchallenged, with opponent April Sheffield unable to raise funds or even show up at most forums, and remaining all but oblivious to the pesky issues bedeviling City Hall when she does. So the mayor has become exceptionally plain spoken, saying pretty much exactly what he thinks.

At a forum last Wednesday at the Sarasota Arts Council, there was much talk of Sarasota's "creative class," of the gift of "artists' energy" - and mention of the fact the arts bring $14.6 million into city coffers each year and provide 3,000 local jobs.

And who knew Bilyeu played a mean trumpet, Dick Clapp was an accomplished artist and photographer, Atkins used to sneak into the Asolo Theatre as a child, Kowal made and sold jewelry and Daniels made and sold handmade books?

After a question on historic preservation, Atkins said he wouldn't exactly consider himself a diehard preservationist. "Some of this city's history I don't want to remember or have preserved," he said, doubtless thinking of the area's segregationist past, and racial and economic divides that still exist.

But if Atkins is a lock, the other two incumbents have their work cut out for them. Handicappers give Billyeu only an outside shot at surviving the relentless onslaught of his young challenger's barrage of critical facts and figures. Servian is almost sure to face a runoff against one of her three opponents in April.

This could be bad for Servian. If one of them makes the runoff, the other two might endorse and support the fortunate challenger, and anti-incumbency could tip a one-on-one.

Kowal must think it's going to be her. Last week she donated $250 to opponent Andrea Daniels, who fought to let Kowal speak at a Democratic Party forum, though she had only joined the party a day or two before.

But if the rhetoric has become sharper, the candidates have generally remained consistent to their themes: Kirschner, resolute, aggressive but respectful to a fault, is the neighborhood organizer; Billyeu, self-effacing and folksy, is Mr. Jobs-and-Progress through new construction.

Servian walks a tightrope between her largely pro-development voting record and occasional maverick, often losing, votes against some projects, including the massive School Avenue condo development and a few others; her three opponents voice the resentment of downtown congestion, neighborhood neglect - and the incumbent's perceived unwillingness to listen to ordinary citizens.

Turnout is traditionally low for city elections, and commission candidates don't buy network affiliate TV time, although there are reports Kowal may make a late buy; some developer-sponsored, third-party buy is also feared by Kirschner and Kowal, as do backers of the countywide growth-control measure also on the ballot.

Typically, each voter speaks for five others who don't show up, so each vote will pack a wallop in this one.

There's some evidence turnout might be unseasonably high. Nearly 12,000 absentee ballots have been requested. Only 6,878 people even voted two years ago, although there is that countywide ballot question this year.

Early voting is under way, so registered voters in north Sarasota County may cast ballots at the Supervisor of Elections Office, 2001 Adams Lane, first floor of the Terrace Building, at Ringling and North Washington boulevards. Polls are open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday, when early voting closes.

Absentee ballots must be in no later than Tuesday, March 13, Election Day, at 7 p.m., when the polls close. They open at 7 a.m.

District 2: Denise Kowal

Denise Kowal
540 South Orange Avenue
Sarasota, Florida 34236

Campaign Phone & Fax: (941) 954-3054

Email: Dkowality@aol.com

Web site: www.electkowal.com

Age: 42, 43 by Election Day

Family: Two sons, Austin Kowal 21 and Kenyon Kowal 18

Education/Degrees:
Cohasset Massachusetts High School, graduated after junior year
Wang Computer Institute, Boston - Computer Programming Certificate
Gemological Institute of America - Certificates in Diamonds and Diamond Grading, Gemstones and Gemstone Grading
University of South Florida - Master Valuer Certificate

__ CEU Credits - Congress of New Urbanism

Asset Based Community Development Institute, Northwestern University - Certificate of Completion


Occupation: Artist, commercial and residential rental property owner, jewelry designer, Master Valuer, expert witness and instructor, retailer

Experience:
Property Owner, Historic Herald Square, 20+ years
Property Owner, 610 South Pineapple Avenue, 13 years
Landlord of 13 affordable housing rentals, 20+ years
Landlord of 7 commercial units, 20+ years
Retail jeweler for 12 years either downtown or on St. Armands Circle.

Art and antique retailer downtown for 11 years

Owned and operated gemological laboratory - 4 years

Community Involvement:
Provided affordable downtown rental housing - 20 years

President Burns Square Association
President Burns Square Property Owners Association, Inc.
Participant in Downtown Master Plan 2020
Co-Chair Downtown Mobility study group, de-designation of US41
Member of stakeholder group for the Downtown Master Parking Plan
Co-founder Asset Based Community Development alumni group

ABCD instructor
Founding member, Downtown Merchants Alliance

Organized Burns Square's self-funded master planning process

Laurel Park Zoning Review Task Force

Worked with SarasotaCountyto design neighborhood stormwater improvements

Pushed successfully for neighborhood streetlight improvements

Hand-placed sidewalk mosaics to improve the surrounding neighborhood


Campaign Message:

I want to put principle into the decision-making process as a substitute for the politics of limited self-interest.

1. What would you do, if elected, to help the next city manager succeed?

I would work with the other commissioners and the manager to establish clear goals and objectives as to what is expected form the commission as a body. I would recognize my role as one of a group of five to set policy. I would respect the division of duties and authorities as defined in the City Charter, and treat the City Manager as a valued member of the team, not as a convenient scapegoat.

2. Do you agree or disagree with the city's plans to help fund a new, second baseball stadium? Please explain your answer.

If the regional economic benefit that would be realized by preserving spring training for an addition thirty years can be achieved with no additional city tax money beyond what has been already identified, I would support the project.

3. In deciding whether to approve requested comprehensive-plan amendments and rezonings, what criteria would be most important to you?

That both the affected neighborhoods and the community as a whole have been able to participate in discussion of the merits of the request; the impacts the request would have on infrastructure and how those impacts would be resolved; and whether the request would be considered "smart growth" and be of greater benefit to our community overall in that respect than would be provided without the approval.

4. What should the city do to promote pedestrian safety?

Start the process of de-designating US41 to bring local control to the effort to make it safe for our neighborhoods to access our bay front amenities. Build the pedestrian sleeves as suggested in our Downtown Master Plan 2020 as well as key locations along US41 and US 301outside the city core. Improve our bike lanes and walking trails, such as the MURT. Slow traffic within the city core and around our shopping districts in addition improve cross walks throughout our city.

5. What are the three most important steps the city government should take to maintain or increase the stock of affordable housing in municipal Sarasota?

One, continue the existing work of city staff to develop units in the near-downtown, as well as to expand the CRA into northern Sarasotato make funds available for similar work in that area. Two, continue to work cooperatively with the Community Housing Trust to support its growth and viability. Three, take an aggressive and active role in statewide efforts to mitigate the effects of property tax imbalances on the rental housing market.

6. What are the three most important steps the city should take to sustain or improve the quality of the natural environment in Sarasota?

One, remain committed to smart growth and the vision of the Downtown Master Plan 2020 - redevelopment in downtown Sarasotamust remain a viable alternative to continued urban sprawl. Two, work to mitigate impacts of runoff to the health of SarasotaBayand the Gulf of Mexico. Three, connect our community to the LEEDS Neighborhood Development studies and the Congress of New Urbanism, U.S.. Green Building Council and the Natural Resource Defense Council. We must embrace "cradle-to-cradle" concepts of sustainability in place of "cradle-to-grave" material uses that are toxic and pollute at their life-cycle's end.

7. If elected, what priority would you establish for your district?

US41 would be my priority, all of it, as well as US301. North Trail redevelopment must assume a higher priority, with the work already done as a starting point, but with deeper involvement from the neighborhoods. Near Downtown, I would actively encourage the de-designation of US41. On the South Trail, I would consider changing our signage ordinances and the creation of better access for bikes and pedestrians.

8. Should the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall remain under city ownership and management?

Absolutely. The taxpayers in the city own the Van Wezel, and until some compelling reasons are revealed I do not support such change, and to date I have heard none.

9. What qualifies you to be a city commissioner?

This city has come a long way since I moved here at the age of 18. I have worked very hard in that time to do my part through personal involvement, investment, and educating myself on the issues we face. I have been an active participant in improving not only my own properties but also the surrounding neighborhood and downtown as a whole. I am a dedicated student of smart growth, and a believer in the need for truly sustainable development and redevelopment. Above all, I will exercise leadership and decision-making based on principle, not on the politics of popularity or self interest.

SNN News 6's Drew Smith Interviews Denise Kowal

Sarasota City Commission candidate Denise Kowal talks with SNN News 6's Drew Smith.

Watch Interview>

District 2 race has hard choices

It's a strange political season in the City of Sarasota. You can smell anti-incumbency sentiment in the air. If you can't, sniff the public attitude survey on the city's Web site; the scent of dissatisfaction is overwhelming.

District 2 Commissioner Mary Anne Servian is knowledgeable, experienced, able and infinitely likable. She has recently tried to distance herself from the city commission's male majority that seems to vote as a bloc, whom she recently labeled "The Boys."

Servian answers questions skillfully and has a solid knowledge of the ins and outs of city government - the incumbent advantage. She came to the city as a neighborhood activist, fiery and feisty and determined to change what she saw as a good ol' boy network of incumbents.

But four years later, she appears to have become enthralled with at least some grandiose projects championed by the well-spoken, well-suited, eminently reasonable lawyers and other agents of "progress" who push big city urbanization.

She often casts favorable votes for intense development, including the 1350 Main condo - a monolithic incursion on arguably the city's most historic and attractive urban street, Palm Avenue, where she bought a corner unit with a water view . The place looms over lower Main Street and obliterates all sense of scale.

Also consider the sprawling behemoth that is Pineapple Square, a project that - if it flies - will owe a lot to city commission gifts of city streets and public land at bargain prices.

The refuge for incumbent commissioners is the board's "quasi-judicial role," which means: Hey, these people bought expensive land relying on standards allowed by previous commissions. We dare not change anything lest we be sued. We're helpless.

Servian appears the best-qualified of the four candidates for the job. She has departed from the traditional route often enough to maintain some of her neighborhood credibility, and she spends time with the people who elected her. She works hard and listens.

But in an anti-incumbency year, that may not be enough. For unhappy voters who crave a breath of fresh air, there is Denise Kowal. Yes, she is former City Manager Mike McNees' girlfriend, and the knee-jerk reaction is to think she is running because Servian voted to fire McNees.

There is more to the story. Kowal is also smarting from the fact Servian and a commission majority dismissed the cornerstone of a report from the Downtown Mobility Committee, a city-appointed group that met for 15 months with Kowal serving as co-chair.

After exhaustive deliberations, her committee recommended returning control of US 41 along the Sarasota bayfront to the city as a necessary step toward slowing traffic and restoring a pedestrian connection between downtown and the waterfront - as did the author of the Downtown Master Plan, New Urbanism icon Andres Duany. Commissioners rejected the proposal after opponents packed the hall.

Some also see Kowal's candidacy as payback for Servian's opposition to the more than doubling of height allowances on Kowal's properties at Burns Court - a move the Pelican Press also opposed editorially.

Kowal is a product of the city. Her father - Dennis Kowal - is a nationally respected Sarasota artist. She has raised two sons in an apartment downtown where she owns a commercial building in the Burns Court area. She has run businesses in the city for 23 years.

She has been active in civic life, serving on numerous planning and transportation advisory committees. She has taken urban planning courses on her own dime, and has Duany's endorsement.

Kowal is sharp, edgy, and knowledgeable, and if she resists becoming an unquestioning ally of the development community, she could be a shot-across-the-bow of the status quo and a partner in substantive debate for Kelly Kirschner, the anti-incumbent, anti-big city candidate in District 3.

Servian's other challengers are Dick Clapp, who has served well on advisory committees and has an intelligent, measured approach to government, and Andrea Daniels, who is well informed but lacks political or civic experience.

The Pelican Press recommends Mary Anne Servian for District 2 Commission or, for those who can't abide voting for an incumbent, Denise Kowal is worthy of consideration.

Candidates meet at public forum

Candidate Kowal pushes business experience

Andres Duany Letter to Voters of Sarasota

This year is the fifth anniversary of the Sarasota Downtown Master Plan, which was prepared by my firm. In connection with this landmark I recently toured Sarasota to assess the level of the Plan's implementation.

If I were a resident of Sarasota, overall I would feel fairly good about the evolving downtown.  This is no doubt due to the City staff, which has fought hard to preserve ideals, and to those members of the Commission who "get it". Unfortunately there are some others who evidently do not.  Some have been too willing to abandon key elements of the plan without fully understanding them and their interdependence. Among them are the traffic calming along the bay front (de-designation of US41);  the purpose of the arcades (hint: they are not there for the shade); the urgency of sophisticated parking management (now more than ever before the downtown merchants are undermined by the new Bayside Development). It seems that these elements have been undermined by kowtowing to the demands of a very few hyperactive citizens (abandoning de-designation of US41, giving away parking land and not purchasing land, abandoning arcades without a review of the cause and effect, delays in implementing roundabouts within the city core).

Which brings me to propose a remedy: Denise Kowal, who I am told is a candidate to represent the City Commission district that includes downtown Sarasota.  I have known of her independent work over the years to preserve some of the best parts of Sarasota's downtown; of her study with the Congress of the New Urbanism, her instructive travels, and dedication to the Downtown Master Plan 2020. I think that she has achieved a good understanding of the Plan and the intended goals.  If I may, I would encourage the citizens of Sarasota to vote Ms. Kowal into the City Commission. She and others like her are necessary if the community envisioned by the master plan is to be ever fulfilled. 

Kenyon Kowal Interview 

Kenyon Kowal Interview on 1220 AM WIBQ NEWSTALK RADIO, "Talk of the Sun Coast" taped on February 16th, 2007

Kenyon Kowal Interview taped on February 16th, 2007 

McNees' girlfriend to run for office 

By MIKE SAEWITZ
mike.saewitz@heraldtribune.com

SARASOTA -- Two weeks after City Manager Michael McNees resigned from his job, his girlfriend is running against one of the commissioners who forced him out.

Longtime Burns Square merchant Denise Kowal has gathered the necessary 25 petition signatures to run against Commissioner Mary Anne Servian, a former friend who used to go out to dinner with Kowal and McNees.

If McNees hadn't resigned, Servian planned to join two other commissioners in calling for his job early this month.

Kowal will not say how much of a factor McNees' ouster played in her decision.

She said she is not trying to avenge him. Insider politics, she said, is already too much of a factor at City Hall.

"I strongly feel that decisions should be based on principles, not politics," Kowal said. "It's important not to sway into political posturing just to be liked."

Servian says it is Kowal who could become a distraction in the campaign.

"I think it would certainly change the conversation about what the campaign's all about," Servian said. "I think it would be a distraction. I think it would become about the city manager, and not about city issues."

Kowal joins a field of up to eight candidates for City Commission. Three commissioners -- Servian, Mayor Fredd Atkins and Vice Mayor Danny Bilyeu -- are up for re-election on March 13.

Kowal said she plans to stick to the issues.

She was a longtime Burns Square property owner before she began dating McNees, and has been critical of the city in the past. Kowal has long complained about the need for more parking in the historic Burns Square district. She has organized community meetings with an urban planner, and fought against a rezoning effort she thought unfairly burdened Burns Square property owners.

She opened a campaign account this week, so she can begin fundraising.

The other candidates challenging incumbent commissioners are:

Neighborhood activist Richard Clapp, who will also take on Servian. Clapp has served as president of the Indian Beach-Sapphire Shores Neighborhood Association and the City Coalition of Neighborhood Associations.

Small business owner Andrea Daniels, who will also run against Servian. Daniels has run a business from the Sarasota Farmers Market. Her husband, John Matthews, operated the market until late last year.

Neighborhood leader Kelly Kirschner, who officially qualified Wednesday to challenge Bilyeu. Kirschner, a product manager for Bio-Pro Research, led a protest about the city's vote to approve a density increase for a mixed-use development on School Avenue.

Community activist April Sheffield, who will go up against Atkins. Sheffield ran and lost in 2003, collecting 19 percent of the vote. Atkins won the seat in a runoff.

Last modified: January 25. 2007 6:04AM

Democrat lunch excludes candidate

Party says the problem was label switch, not a push from Servian
By MIKE SAEWITZ - Herald Tribune - 2.8.07
mike.saewitz@heraldtribune.com

SARASOTA -- Denise Kowal is one of six Democrats running for the City Commission in March, but she's the only one who won't be allowed to speak at a Democratic Club luncheon Saturday.

Party officials say they're not giving the mike to Kowal because she switched from "No Party Affiliation" to Democrat after she joined the race.

The City Commission is one of the few area boards on which the Democrats have a majority. And the lunch dispute illustrates an internal rift in the party as it tries to hold on, some party members say.

Kowal says it is Commissioner Mary Anne Servian, a onetime friend, who swayed party leaders to stop her from speaking at the luncheon.

However, Servian says she had no part in the party's decision.

And leaders of the party say they won't budge on Kowal, one of two Democrats challenging Servian.

They say Kowal switched parties at the last minute to get help, and they refuse to provide resources and campaign opportunities to her.

"We don't look favorably on that," said Phil Rains, the chairman of the Sarasota County Democratic Party. "It's obvious what she wants to do, and we're just not going to allow that."

Kowal and her supporters say she deserves the same respect given to other candidates, like Servian and Andrea Daniels, the other Democrat running for District 2.

"Here I am in a situation where Mary Anne is politically posturing to keep me from being able to talk, which is so against what our country is about," Kowal said.

Saying she had "no control" over the party's decision, Servian wouldn't say whether she thought Kowal should be allowed to speak.

"She's a 24-hour Democrat," Servian said. "I've been a Democrat since I've been 18, so I certainly know I'm entitled to speak to the Democrats."

Kowal said she has always voted for Democratic candidates, and was surprised to find out she hadn't registered with the party.

"I've always thought of myself as a Democrat," said Kowal, a jeweler and longtime Burns Square property owner.

Kowal, who is dating former city manager Michael McNees, decided to run just weeks after he resigned in January. It was Servian who forced the resignation, when she made it clear she no longer supported McNees. Two other commissioners were already calling for his ouster.

This is not the first time political parties have waded into city elections. Both parties got involved in the 2005 race, and Republicans accused Democrats of using dirty tactics to propel Ken Shelin onto the City Commission.

One former party leader said there is an internal split over who is the best person for the seat held by Servian. Some within the party have signed on to help Kowal, while others are working on Servian's campaign.

"There's a difference within the party as to whether she's the best person for that job," said Harold Miller, a former chairman of the Democratic Party. "There are people who feel the face of the city is not all that good, and that she's too supportive of the developers' efforts, and that we need a little change."

Virginia Hoffman, a member of the Democratic Executive Committee who is consulting on Kowal's campaign, said that Kowal should be allowed to speak out of fairness.

"I'm in support of treating all Democrats equally," she said. "By excluding her, they are endorsing the two other candidates."

Rains, the Democratic Party chairman, said this year's city race is important, but the Democrats will not be picking one candidate to support.

The race is supposed to be nonpartisan, and Rains said the party will try to keep its efforts "low key," providing poll watchers and precinct captains to get out the Democratic vote.

Denise Kowal was a guest on the WSLR 96.5 FM "Surreal News Show"

She discussed topics such as Parking, Traffic, De-designation of US41 and the lack of trust in some of the City Commission's decision-making processes.  The show lasts  1 1/2 hours, and Denise appears in the first 45 minutes. 

David Kline from the Izaak Walton League telephoned in for a discussion of our nation's environment, oceans and waterways and the impacts from pollution and overuse.  Educating people on ways they can help protect our environment locally is a top priority for Denise Kowal.  Denise is a firm believer in the "cradle-to-cradle" concepts of sustainability as an alternative to our current acceptance "cradle-to-grave" materials that are toxic or non-useable at the end of their life-cycle, but remain a part of our system.

Listen to Podcast of Interview>

Servian blames 'three guys' for bad votes

By MIKE SAEWITZ
mike.saewitz@heraldtribune.com

SARASOTA -- City Commissioner Mary Anne Servian has found a novel approach to fight attacks against the commission's votes on development: Blame the men on the board.

"We have three guys that are voting inappropriately," Servian, who is running for re-election, told more than 100 people at a Democratic luncheon Saturday.

It was the latest episode in a City Commission race that seems to get more controversial with each day. And there is still a month left until the March 13 election.

Just last week, one of Servian's challengers, Denise Kowal, was banned from speaking at Saturday's luncheon because she only recently switched from no party affiliation to Democrat. Kowal sat at a table close to the stage Saturday, unable to join the discussion.

Servian's male colleagues on the commission, who were not at the luncheon, said they were miffed by her comments.

"If I was to say the two ladies were inappropriate, I would get slammed all over the place," said Vice Mayor Danny Bilyeu, who is running his own campaign for re-election. "I'm kind of saddened she would even think of saying something like that."

Commissioner Ken Shelin said Servian was way off base, and that he and the other commissioners vote independently, on a case-by-case basis.

Mayor Fredd "Glossie" Atkins could not be reached for comment.

Servian defended her comments, saying she has been joined by the other female commissioner, Lou Ann Palmer, on several votes against giving big density increases to developers.

"I must separate myself from the general feeling that the whole commission is doing these things," Servian said. "I believe I have an outstanding record of supporting neighborhoods."

City Commission races are officially nonpartisan. But party politics -- and now gender politics -- have waded into this race.

Servian listed three examples of what she believed to be inappropriate votes by the men, including a motion to give increased density to the developer of a School Avenue project hotly contested by neighbors. Servian voted against that motion.

"My opponents are using a broad brush to paint the whole commission as pro-development," Servian said.

Bilyeu said he didn't think what she said was appropriate, and said his campaign style and hers could not be more different.

"She's out there to win," he said. "And some people will do anything to win."

Last modified: February 11. 2007 6:17AM

Parties playing bigger role in nonpartisan city election

SARASOTA -- For what are supposed to be nonpartisan races, the City Commission elections are heading down a decidedly political road.

On Wednesday, the Democratic Party of Sarasota County endorsed commission candidate Kelly Kirschner, saying that the move was a response to a Republican Party e-mail urging voters to support his competitor, Vice Mayor Danny Bilyeu.

Democratic Party members also voted to spend $2,000 to try to mobilize infrequent Democrat voters and make robo-calls on the day of the March 13 elections.

And in what was perhaps the strangest twist of the night, the party chairman reversed an earlier decision to forbid candidate Denise Kowal from speaking at Democratic events because she only recently joined the party.

Acknowledging that his earlier decision had created a lot of controversy, chair Phil Rains welcomed Kowal into the party while saying little about why he changed his mind.

"Things have changed and so have I," Rains said. "We're going to let the voters decide what is proper."

The Democratic Party has acknowledged that it is important to keep a majority on the five-member City Commission, and Republicans want to hold onto the two seats they have.

Meanwhile, Rains' decision to ban Kowal from speaking led at least one party member to say there was an internal rift over which Democratic candidate was best for the seat, with some supporting Commissioner Mary Anne Servian and others supporting Kowal and candidate Andrea Daniels.

Rains said that allowing Kowal to speak and have the same privilege as the five other Democratic candidates in the races "defused the situation."

"I'm allowed to change my mind," he said.

The Kowal controversy and the Kirschner endorsement made for a lively Democratic Executive Committee meeting Wednesday at the Waldemere Fire Station, where party members gave rousing applause when Kowal was allowed to speak.

"It made me a little teary-eyed that so much was being done," Kowal said later. "To have people that actually care beyond themselves to stand up for something they think was right was touching."

Kowal was not allowed to speak at a Democratic Party luncheon Saturday because she only recently switched from no party affiliation to the Democratic Party after she qualified for the race last month. Rains said she was trying to use party resources simply to help her campaign.

Servian, whom Kowal accused of trying to shut her out of party events, said she was glad that her competitor was finally allowed to speak to party members.

"This is a democracy," said Servian, who at one point called Kowal a "24-hour" Democrat. "I think anybody should be allowed to speak."

As for the endorsement of Kirschner, Rains said the party had to fight back. But he hopes the political parties will not get any more involved than they already are.

"If they can endorse their candidates, we can endorse ours," he said.

Servian just like the 'three guys'

It was with amusement that I read Sunday's article in which Sarasota City Commissioner Mary Anne Servian asserts inappropriate voting by three male commissioners prone to giving big density increases to developers.

Servian, with the "three guys" she lambastes in the article, excluded an advisory board of professionals established to review such public/private developments from participating with the assertion that no "tax increment financing" money was being used for the project. Yet $10 million of TIF funds are slated to be applied to the Pineapple Square project -- a point that Commissioner Servian has, in an effort at splitting hairs, conceded is for public parking in the project.

Behaving more as if she were the developer's representative instead of a steward of the public's interests, Servian, along with her three male constituents, ignored staff input on the project; refuted paid independent consultants' warnings; declined the city attorney's recommendation to include a reversion clause in the developer's agreement; agreed to sell city land appraised for $11 million to the developer at less than 10 percent of its value; approved the sale of a portion of the city-owned public parking lot at First Street for an upscale Morton's steakhouse at the corner (Morton's has now declined to participate); and, when urged to have the developer construct a scale model of the project so she and her constituents could understand the physical impact such a project will have on its neighbors, preferred to parrot the developer's assertions that it would be too expensive to build a cardboard model of a project said to cost as much as $200 million.

Jean Baptiste Molière, a seventeenth-century French actor and playwright, summed it up best:

"Those whose conduct gives room for talk are always the first to attack their neighbors."
Dale S. Parks

The writer is a member of the Community Redevelopment Area Advisory Board and resides in Sarasota.

Last modified: February 14. 2007 12:00AM

Pineapple deal unifies, preserves

Dale Parks sure tells a good story in his letter to the editor but does not include all the facts.

The appraisal he speaks about was flawed from the start by including land the city of Sarasota didn't own, and the appraisal did not account for the encumbrance of a 350-car parking garage. These two elements dramatically reduced the value. In my decision to vote for this project and protect the city's assets, I factored in many elements to get the best deal for the city.

The Pineapple Square project was the most community-consensus-led project in the five years I have sat on the City Commission. There was input from SOS, Downtown Merchants, Downtown Partnership and many neighborhood organizations. No one spoke out against this project at the time of the public hearing; many spoke in favor.

This project will bring a needed retail vision that will connect Main Street, Lemon Avenue and Pineapple Square for a unified downtown core.

Our Comprehensive Plan allows for two 18-story buildings to be built in the downtown core. Pineapple Square Properties requested that one of its buildings be 18 stories but made the decision to cap that at 13, giving up five stories of residential development. This reduced the mass and height of that building and meant one of the 18-story buildings would never be built. I think that is what the public wanted.

It also owns all of the property on Lemon Avenue from State Street to First Street and decided to keep the buildings in the original form in order to maintain the character of downtown Sarasota. They could have built a series of 10-story buildings, thus dwarfing the landscape forever. I can't begin to put a value on the reduced height of the one building, but to maintain the character of Lemon and Main is priceless.

Mary Anne Servian

Sarasota

Last modified: February 17. 2007 12:00AM

District Two Commissioners Vie for Lido Key Votes

Sarasota City Commission District Two candidates addressed a standing-room only crowd at the Lido Key Neighborhood Association forum Saturday. The association's Vice President, John Lambert, mediated the questions, one of which was: "What is the one major problem that you see happening with our city commission?"

Here are the four candidates responses:

Dick Clapp: The issue is that the citizens do not have a voice with the city commission. There's way too much listening to the developers and not taking care for the citizens. We have a barrier islands comprehensive plan amendment that we're supposed to have in place. We don't have that. The commissioners keep letting it slide by, yet we get more and more growth downtown. The only thing that happens is downtown growth and more and more traffic.

Andrea Daniels: I agree