Commissioners agree unanimously on hiring her
Karie Friling of DuPage County, Illinois, has won unanimous support of the Sarasota City Commission to serve as the new city manager.
The vote came during a special meeting of the board that was conducted on Feb. 27.
Friling was one of five finalists for the position who spent last week in the city, engaging with the commissioners and members of the public before the board vote.
On Tuesday, Feb. 24, the commissioners conducted final interviews in the City Commission Chambers of City Hall, asking an hour-long series of questions of each candidate, with city residents welcome to attend the session.
“We are really excited that not only will we have a new city manager after 17 months, it will be the first female city manager in the history of the City of Sarasota,” Mayor Debbie Trice told the public early on during the City Commission’s regular meeting on March 2.
“Friling is a seasoned public sector executive” with more than 30 years of leadership experience “serving communities of varying sizes and complexity in Illinois,” the city news release said. She serves as the executive director of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, where she oversees 500 employees and a county organization with more than 950,000 residents and “a significant capital program focused on environmental resilience, public access and sustainability,” the release added.
Prior to beginning her work with DuPage County, the release continued, Friling served as village manager of Homer Glen, Illinois.
“She is a credentialed manager in the International City/County Management Association (ICMA),” the release further noted.
During the City Commission’s efforts to replace former City Manager Marlon Brown, who resigned effective Oct. 15, 2024, Vice Mayor Kathy Kelley Ohlrich emphasized the importance of the ICMA credentials.
In her Dec. 12, 2025 cover letter to the commissioners, Friling wrote noted, “I was particularly drawn to Sarasota’s cultural identity and the City’s vision for the new Performing Arts Center. [See the related article in this issue.] My work has regularly involved collaborations with cultural institutions, tourism organizations, foundations, and nonprofit partners to create community destinations and expand regional impact,” she added.
“I would welcome the opportunity to support Sarasota’s world-class arts landscape. I am also very familiar with your strong community pride, as I have visited your city many times and have family that resides not far from Sarasota,” Friling continued.
In the city’s Feb. 27 newsletter, Mayor Trice wrote that another factor in Friling’s selection “was the easy rapport she developed with City staff and with members of the public who attended [a Feb. 23] open house [that city leaders hosted at the Robert L. Taylor Community Complex in Newtown].”
“I look forward to many spectacular years for Sarasota with Karie Friling at the helm,” Trice added in the newsletter.
“Friling was selected following a rigorous national search conducted by Sumter Local Government Consulting” of Atlanta, which yielded more than 80 applications, the release noted.
Friling’s application materials are available for review on the City of Sarasota website at www.Sarasotafl.gov, along with her interview with the City Commission as a whole, the release added.
City Attorney Joe Polzak “will begin contract negotiations with Friling soon and will bring an employment agreement to the City Commission for consideration in the near future,” the release pointed out.
During the regular City Commission meeting this week, Polzak reported that he had been in contact with Friling and that she is looking forward to completing the contract process.
Mayor Trice jokingly told Polzak not to let Friling know that the meeting that day lasted until 8 p.m.
City Auditor and Clerk Shayla Griggs responded that Friling probably had been watching it.
On Feb. 27, the City Commission also approved an employment agreement with Jennifer Jorgensen, the city’s director of governmental affairs, to serve as the interim city manager, effective Friday, March 6, at 5:01 p.m., “when Interim City Manager Dave Bullock resumes retirement,” the release noted.
Jorgensen won unanimous City Commission support to hold that position, the release said.