We commend the former Sarasota mayors who are trying to spur a new, more reasonable discussion of whether this city should directly elect its mayor.
What is especially refreshing about their approach is its simplicity – none of the gobbledygook that rightfully doomed the last approach. The supporters of that effort wanted to expand the commission and shift the balance of power to at-large representatives.
This time, a group of 12 former mayors wants Sarasota citizens to discuss what the Florida League of Cities calls a directly elected "leadership mayor." This official would be an at-large member of the commission who would preside at commission meetings and sign official documents.
Voters would be able to add any other duties to that list, as making such a leadership position possible in the first place would necessitate a change of the city’s charter.
The local group of mayors included in a letter it sent recently to the present city commission and to the news media details about Tallahassee’s mayor. That mayor’s responsibilities are excellent fodder for local discussion.
In Tallahassee, the mayor does far more than just conduct meetings and sign documents. Among other duties, he maintains open communication among the city commissioners, appointed officials and city staff and serves as an educator, helping residents understand how the city operates.
Although we have seen more than a few cases when having a directly elected mayor has been a hindrance instead of a handicap, we do believe Sarasota needs a dynamic person at the head of the city commission. The system of rotating the mayor’s role among our commissioners has outlived its usefulness, based on the haplessness they have exhibited on too many recent occasions.
We cannot help but wonder, for example, whether the entire wretched ordeal with the police department last summer could have been contained more readily – or possibly prevented – if a directly elected mayor had been notified about what was going on instead of just the city manager’s being alerted to it.
From the communications and community visibility standpoints alone, an elected mayor in Sarasota could more than prove his or her worth. We desperately need someone who can facilitate communications between the commission members and the public. No matter how good the city’s public relations department is, people just seem to pay more attention when a city leader makes the effort to get out the word on a particular issue.
We urge Mayor Richard Clapp and the other members of our current commission to start work right away in planning community discussions of the former mayors’ proposal. The group has given the commission plenty of material with which to work.
Of course, even if voters decide to go with the change in the city charter to elect a "leadership mayor," the true test will be finding the right person to lead Sarasota as the first directly elected mayor.