It’s been years since a Sarasota County commissioner lived in North Port — now the county’s largest city — or Englewood.
That’s going to change this year.
Seats in the two South County districts — 3 and 5 — are on the Nov. 3 ballot and there’s a North Port candidate in each and an Englewood candidate in District 5.
It could matter more than in previous years, now that commissioners are elected from districts rather than at large.
In the District 3 race, incumbent Republican Nancy Detert faces Democrat challenger Cory Hutchinson in what she calls the “final, final” campaign of a career that has taken her from School Board to both chambers of the state Legislature and back to a local elected body.
At age 23, Hutchinson is a bit of a political veteran himself, having run unsuccessfully for a North Port City Commission seat at age 20 and managed the campaign of another candidate.
We applaud him for running, especially in taking on Detert, who has often been unopposed. Even the best-liked candidate should have to make the case for another term to the voters at election time.
Though we agree with Hutchinson that the Commission created its own PR problem in the way redistricting was handled and got a slow start in handing out pandemic relief funds, we can’t recommend sending someone with Detert’s experience and perspectives into retirement this year.
We recommend Nancy Detert for County Commission District 3, and hope Hutchinson will stay involved.
In the other Commission race, Alice White, a Democrat from North Port, and Ron Cutsinger, an Englewood Republican, are competing to replace Charles Hines, who has served his allotted two terms.
This is one of the rare cases in which we can’t choose between the two candidates because each would bring so much to the job.
Both have long, deep roots in the area: White for 30 years, Cutsinger going back to 1973. Both have been local business owners, too.
Both have been active as volunteers in a number of capacities: White most notably with the nonprofit she started, People for Trees, and Cutsinger on the county Planning Commission.
But White has also been involved politically, both in North Port and in the adoption of the county’s 2050 Plan to manage growth east of I-75. Conversely, Cutsinger’s resume includes starting what became Venice Christian School.
If you elect White, you add some diversity to the Commission — a Democrat, a second woman and someone a bit outside the usual government circles. You also give North Port its first resident representative since Gene Matthews more than 20 years ago.
If Cutsinger wins, Englewood has its first representative since who knows when, and the Commission acquires someone with deep knowledge of South County as well as the experience of being a planning commissioner.
More often when we decline to make a recommendation it’s because we consider neither candidate deserving of your vote. That’s not the case here. We think White and Cutsinger are equally, but differently, qualified for the job they’re seeking.
County residents in general, and the people in District 5 in particular, will be well served by electing either Alice White or Ron Cutsinger.
"filled" - Google News
October 24, 2020 at 11:00AM
https://ift.tt/2HtRSqX
Two South County commission seats to be filled - yoursun.com
"filled" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2ynNS75
https://ift.tt/3feNbO7
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Two South County commission seats to be filled - yoursun.com"
Post a Comment