I am announcing my intentions to run for a third term this November 2023 and asking for your support.
In the last six years, the City has made significant progress in updating our infrastructure, adding new facilities, and streamlining our management. We built a new fire station, expanded and renovated City Hall, built a new police station, resurfaced miles of roads, improved many of our parks, upgraded our Emergency Response Service to Advanced Life Support, and replaced many of our outdated underground utilities.
Looking forward, we have plans for a new location for Fire Station #2, a $23.5 million pump station powered by solar to improve water distribution to our rapidly growing northeast neighborhood, a $5 million Aquifer storage recovery well, a new park for the northeast area, expansion of Laurel Road, and a hurricane-hardened Airport Administration building.
I have listened to you and voted against development that was incompatible with your neighborhoods. I voted to expand roads, sidewalks, crosswalks, and bike lanes.
I have asked the staff to look at each neighborhood and devise strategies to eliminate traffic congestion and increase safety for biking and walking. I voted for a master traffic plan to accomplish this goal. I am on the Board of the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization. We plan to build and connect roads that provide an emergency evacuation route for citizens living east of I-75.
I have requested that the City follow Sarasota County’s environmental, social, and economic sustainability commitment. “To achieve the balance necessary for a sustainable community, it is necessary to replenish the resources we use or consume, ensure our values guide us into the future, and invest in our community to ensure future prosperity.” (Sarasota County website)
I realize that we must lead by example. I have asked for conservative spending, environmental standards for our governmental buildings, efficient/safe roadways, and Land Development Regulations that allow for investment in our community balanced by environmental protections.
Thank you for electing me to the office these past years, and hope you will do so again this November.
Thanks!
Mitzie Fiedler