City commissioners talk of strong qualifications of all candidates for appointment to that board
On a unanimous vote this week, the Sarasota City Commission reappointed Shane LaMay, an architect with the Sweet Sparkman firm in Sarasota, to the city Planning Board.
By consensus, the board members also named Tiffany Nisbet to that board, to fill the seat left vacant by the end of the term of Daniel DeLeo.
DeLeo had not sought reappointment, the Agenda Request Form for that July 6 agenda item explained.
Nisbet will have to resign from the city’s Board of Adjustment, City Auditor and Clerk Shayla Griggs pointed out after the vote; however, Griggs made clear to the commissioners that Nisbet was aware of that requirement.
The Agenda Request Form explained, “Members of the planning board my not hold any other public position or office in the government of the city.”
Nisbet’s resume, which was attached to her application, says she has been on the Board of Adjustment since 2023. She noted in her application that she also is serving on the Ad Hoc Downtown Master Plan Update Committee.
In her application, Nisbet wrote, “I have over twenty years of professional experience in finance, banking, wealth management, real estate, and property-related matters. Prior to becoming a REALTOR® with RE/MAX Alliance Group in 2015, I held leadership and advisory roles with Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, and Wells Fargo Private Bank, working with high-net-worth individuals, business owners, and complex financial matters. As a fulltime REALTOR® serving Sarasota and Manatee Counties, I routinely review zoning regulations, permitting issues, land use considerations, flood zone requirements, development proposals, and municipal regulations affecting property owners. I regularly analyze planning and development issues, review public records, attend public meetings, and stay informed on matters affecting Sarasota’s growth and redevelopment.”
In response to an application question about why she wanted to serve on the Planning Board, Nesbit added, “My service on the Board of Adjustment and the Downtown Master Plan Update Ad Hoc Committee has strengthened my interest in Sarasota’s long-term planning and growth management. … I believe my professional background in real estate and finance, combined with my municipal board experience, allows me to evaluate issues objectively while balancing private property rights, economic realities, neighborhood concerns, and the City’s long-term vision. I would welcome the opportunity to continue serving Sarasota in a greater capacity by contributing thoughtful, informed, and impartial decision-making as a member of the Planning Board.”
At the outset of the July 6 discussion, Vice Mayor Kathy Kelley Ohlrich proposed LaMay’s reappointment. While the other board members indicated their willingness to proceed with that, Commissioner Liz Alpert responded, “I wouldn’t reappoint him.”
“I think we have very highly qualified applicants,” Ohlrich did note. Then she told her colleagues that her review of the current Planning Board members found that they are “heavily weighted for District 2 residents.” One member does live in District 3, she added, but none of them is a resident of District 1.
Therefore, Ohlrich continued, she wanted to nominate “highly qualified candidate Rebecca Owens,” who does live in District 1, to fill the vacant seat.
First, though, Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch proposed that the board members go ahead and address LaMay’s request for reappointment; Griggs concurred with that suggestion.
Ahearn-Koch formally nominated LaMay, and Ohlrich seconded it. When Mayor Debbie Trice called for the vote, Commissioner Alpert ended up joining the others in supporting LaMay’s new term.
Consideration of the applicants for the second seat
Following the vote, Trice sought discussion on Ohlrich’s recommendation of Owens.
In her application, Owens explained that she is the assistant director of capital construction with the Ringling College of Art + Design. She added that she earned a master’s degree in building construction and facility management in 2009 from Georgia Tech University and that she holds a graduate certificate in planning and economic development from the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University.
Further, she pointed out, in late January, she “passed and received [her] WELL-AP accreditation.” The WELL AP website explains that that is the “leading health and well-being credential.” It “denotes expertise in the WELL Standard (WELL), a library of evidence-based building and organizational strategies that can improve the health and well-being of people everywhere.”
Thus, Owens continued, “I’m very interested in how we can make all our buildings and workplaces holistically WELL for both users and visitors alike.”
“Your point is well taken,” Ahearn-Koch told Ohlrich, referring to the distribution of district residents on the Planning Board. Yet, Ahearn-Koch noted her interest in Nesbit and talked, too, about applicant Justin Bloom. “His … qualifications are valuable,” along with his long-time residency in the city, Ahearn-Koch said.
In his application, Bloom wrote, “I am a 1991 graduate of New College with an Area of Concentration in Environmental Studies and a 1996 Tulane Law School graduate. I completed most of the requirements for a [master’s degree] from University of Florida in a multidisciplinary program focusing on Tropical Conservation and Development. My 30 years of legal practice has primarily focused on environmental law,
which has frequently intersected with municipal and land use law. I was special counsel to the County Attorney in Monroe County for several years, but most of my practice has been representing community groups and non-profit organizations.”
He added, “I have resided in Sarasota for most of my 56 years and am raising two young children with my wife in the Indian Beach neighborhood.”
Further, Bloom pointed out, “As early as the ’80s, I embraced civic engagement in Sarasota. What began with environmental activism and an interest in social welfare, matured into board membership and leadership with organizations such as the Hispanic American Alliance, West Coast Resource Conservation and Development Council, Suncoast Waterkeeper and Tampa Bay Waterkeeper. I have also served on the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program’s Citizens Advisory Committee for some 14 years, as Chair for several terms. … My most significant involvement has been with Suncoast Waterkeeper, the non-profit that I founded in 2012. I have been very involved in environmental issues in the region for the last 15 years, including numerous development related controversies, both challenging and defending municipalities.”
Commissioner Alpert told her colleagues, “I agree we have five really qualified nominees; it was hard for me to narrow it down …” While she was leaning toward Nesbit, Alpert continued, she concurred that Ohlrich’s point “was a good one.”
“I’m happy to go with Rebecca Owens,” Alpert said.
Commissioner Kyle Battie then reported that he had met with Bloom and Nesbit, but he was not familiar with Owens. (Battie represents District 1 on the commission.)
“I searched high and low in District 1 to find qualified candidates,” he pointed out, but he found no one who lives in that district who was willing to serve on the Planning Board.
Battie added that he had worked with Bloom on issues involving Whitaker Bayou. Yet, he continued, “Mrs. Nesbit has a great deal of involvement and engagement with the city, as well.”
Mayor Trice noted her disappointment in the fact that not all of the applicants had asked to meet in person with each of the commissioners, given the importance of the work of the Planning Board. She had met with LaMay, Nesbit and Bloom only, she added.
“I really felt that Mr. Bloom stood out,” Trice said, though she added that she was impressed with all three. Bloom “seems really connected to the community, the residents,” she added.
In regard to Owens, Trice pointed out that her application indicated that she had moved into District 1 “within the past year, [so she] doesn’t necessarily have a history there.”
When Ahearn-Koch expressed surprise that Trice had not met with all of the applicants, Trice stressed, “They didn’t make appointments.”
Battie reported that he had not met with Owens or applicant Norman Schimmel.
Alpert added that she had not met with Schimmel or LaMay.
Ahearn-Koch, Battie and Alpert did allude to Schimmel’s long-time involvement with city issues. He is a past chair of the Public Art Committee, and he long has contributed photography to the city’s website and publications.
After Ahearn-Koch suggested that the City Commission could delay a decision on the second appointment, Trice indicated that that was not necessary.
Battie responded that he had no concern about such a delay, either.
City Auditor and Clerk Griggs did ask Alison Christie, manager of the city’s Development Services Department, whether such a delay would hinder the Planning Board in its service.
Expressing her appreciation that Griggs had brought up the issue, Christie nonetheless said she believed that, with the decision on LaMay, the Planning Board would have a four-member quorum for its meeting scheduled for July 8, as long as all four were present.
Alpert told her colleagues, “I don’t think we should necessarily delay [the vote on the second appointment].”
Then she went ahead and nominated Nesbit; Battie seconded it, and none of the other commissioners opposed that choice.
Thus, Nesbit had won the second appointment by consensus, Griggs said.
Schimmel and Gauthier
The other two applicants wrote the following about themselves in their applications:
- Marc Gauthier noted that he had served on the Audubon Park Main Street board in the City of Orlando and on the Colonialtown South neighborhood board in Orlando. He also “was involved in the establishment of the Colonialtown South Historic District.”
Gauthier added that he is a volunteer board member and the architectural review officer for the Harbor House West Condominiums in Sarasota.
Moreover, he wrote, he recently retired from a “long career in entitling affordable communities throughout Florida. … I would now like to donate my time to help guide development in my new city. I have been in Sarasota for 5.5 years. I believe that my experience of bringing projects through the entitlement process, including [comprehensive] plan amendments, rezoning, and permitting, along with my experience as a civil engineer, provide a unique skill set that will benefit the City.”
- Norman Schimmel wrote in his application that he was named the Voice of Sarasota in 2011, a distinction accorded by Visit Sarasota County, which is the county’s tourism marketing organization. On its website, Visit Sarasota County explains that the Voice of Sarasota award is “an honor presented to an individual whose exceptional efforts have significantly promoted Sarasota County as a tourism destination.”
Schimmel also pointed out that he is a past vice chair of the Sarasota County Tourist Development Council.