New lobbying rules on Sarasota’s agenda

Arroyo says request isn’t linked to One Park texts

The Sarasota City Commission will discuss requiring “paid lobbyists” to register if they receive compensation for their advocacy on city issues after Commissioner Erik Arroyo requested the topic be added to the agenda for the board’s next meeting.

The request followed demands from citizen activist Cathy Antunes that Arroyo recuse himself from commission decisions that involve One Park Sarasota.

At last Monday’s commission meeting Antunes displayed text messages from a local developer to Arroyo that sought advice on an issue involving the downtown Sarasota development project. Kim Githler, a partner in One Park Sarasota, sent the text messages while fighting to keep the project on track for a later meeting after opposition threatened to derail a planned meeting in April.

Antunes received the text messages from a public records request connected to One Park.

Arroyo said the timing of his memo this week was not connected to Antunes’ comments.

“Our democracy suffers when clandestine lobbying runs rampant throughout the city,” he said. “This will require my friends as well as my nonfriends to step up for the sake of transparency.”

“Given the timing of his memo, it appears Mr. Arroyo is now targeting citizens who raise important questions about his actions with unfounded accusations or suggestions that they are paid lobbyists rather than concerned citizens ... Unfortunately, this is more bluster in Mr. Arroyo’s disturbing and growing pattern of dodging accountability.”

Activist Cathy Antunes In an email seeking comment

Arroyo declined to comment on the text messages between him and Githler, but later forwarded his response to Githler, which was not included at Monday’s meeting.

Githler texted Arroyo in March saying she had spoken with City Manager Marlon Brown about having the Planning Board take a vote “so we can move to our April 3 meeting.”

Githler is a partner in the proposed luxury condominium called One Park Sarasota located in a development on the bayfront called The Quay Sarasota. One Park has been opposed by owners in the Ritz-Carlton Residences, a finished condominium in The Quay.

“We have to be sure they do not cancel our April 3 meeting,” she said about opponents to the project. “How do I proceed with that?”

“.... Do I need to call the planning department?” she said. “Or can you see this through for us.”

Arroyo’s forwarded image of that conversation shows him telling Githler that decision would be up to the chair of the Planning Board. He also appears to indicate in the text message that he would check on it and get back to her. “Also, please text my city phone with city related matters,” he also wrote back.

Githler said she has every right to contact city commissioners or city staff during this portion of the city approval process, noting that she’s met with every commissioner about One Park Sarasota.

The April Planning Board meeting did not take place as city police launched an investigation into alleged contact between another One Park investor and a Planning Board member.

“I know for two years we have been denied our due process,” Githler said Thursday. “I do not know why.”

Antunes has been critical of Arroyo’s handling of a private charity that received donations for an event called the Mayor’s Ball that was the focus of an FDLE investigation that concluded last summer finding Arroyo failed to register the charity appropriately. Prosecutors did not file charges as Arroyo did not “willfully” violate state law, according to a memo from prosecutors about the investigation.

One Park Sarasota will have a public hearing at the Sarasota Planning Board on Oct. 11.

Antunes said she saw a connection between Arroyo filing his proposed requirement for lobbyists and her comments at Monday’s meeting, while agreeing with Arroyo that paid lobbyists should disclose their status when giving public input.

“Given the timing of his memo, it appears Mr. Arroyo is now targeting citizens who raise important questions about his actions with unfounded accusations or suggestions that they are paid lobbyists rather than concerned citizens,” she wrote in an email seeking comment. “Unfortunately, this is more bluster in Mr. Arroyo’s disturbing and growing pattern of dodging accountability.”

Antunes in her response again called for Arroyo’s recusal from One Park decisions.

Arroyo denies Antunes’ comments had anything to do with his proposal to regulate lobbying activity in the city, pointing to numerous other jurisdictions in Florida that have such requirements, and calling on Sarasota to implement similar regulations.

“It’s no shock that some will feel threatened by this initiative because it will shine a light into their own covert actions,” Arroyo said. “But the fact remains that disclosure of who’s getting paid benefits us all and the public deserves to know.”

The agenda item will be discussed at the Oct. 16 city commission meeting.