CityPAC's special interest report is based on campaign data on file with the city clerk's office.

SHEDDING LIGHT ON CityPAC

Formed in 2022, CityPAC Sarasota is a non-partisan in-the-sunlight political committee financed by people who live and work here.

Our only special interest is residential quality of life for everyone in Sarasota.

We DO track city commission votes in our bimonthly City Hall Monitor newsletter, and rate commissioners’ civic practices using sun and cloud icons.

We DO endorse city commission candidates who meet our published criteria.

We DO NOT fund individual candidates and we are NOT a candidate committee.

We DO host candidate forums and community conversations to educate voters

(and the candidates!).

INSIDE THE CANDIDATE CHAT / OUTSIDE THE ECHO CHAMBER

CityPAC’s July 18 city commission candidate forum (watch video) was moderated by WSLR’s Cathy Antunes, who recently published an illuminating new edition of her ebook on Sarasota's “dark money” PACs.

Current city commissioners Erik Arroyo and Kyle Battie did not reply to CityPAC’s forum invitation. To echo the Sarasota League of Women Voters: “a candidate's absence…raises suspicions about the candidate's reluctance to be heard." It also suggests they don’t care about you.

Dark money PACs operate opaquely. Beware of misleading emails, muddy postcards, and pushy polls - particularly from organizations without a public vetting process, such as the parks-focused development PAC backing commissioners Alpert, Arroyo, and Battie.

BUYING A FRIENDLY EAR AT CITY HALL?

With more than 3/4 of the funding floating incumbents’ flooding in from special interests, is it any wonder the public gets a rain check?