Sarasota mayor: Quit bashing would-be developers, projects

Liz Alpert says people considering investing in the city should be treated with courtesy, even if the project isn't in line with what people think it should be.

By Mark Gordon
| 10:00 a.m. March 18, 2024
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Liz Alpert speaks after being awarded the key to the city by now-former mayor Kyle Battie just before she was named mayor for 2023-24.

Manatee-Sarasota

The underlying perception among some in the business community that Sarasota can be hostile, or at least difficult, to bring big development projects to fruition came to the forefront at a recent city commission meeting.

This came primarily from Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert, a city commissioner first elected in May 2015. (Sarasota has a mostly ceremonial mayor that rotates annually; city administration is overseen by a city manager who reports to the five-member City Commission.)