Jen Ahearn-Koch
Sarasota City Commission
At-Large Candidate
Jen Ahearn-Koch came up through neighborhood politics before she ever sat on the Commission: president of her neighborhood association, a seat on the citywide coalition of neighborhood groups, six years on the Planning Board. She was elected to the Commission in 2017 and served as Mayor in 2019–2020. She's now in her second term.
A few of the issues Ahearn-Koch has championed on the Commission:
Affordability
Sarasota has a program that lets developers build far more units than normal zoning allows, if they set aside some units as "affordable." The catch: the rent the city allows for those "affordable" units can be higher than what similar apartments already rent for nearby. Ahearn-Koch is fighting for a program that delivers affordable housing for working people, not one that pads developer profits while calling it affordable.
A Voice in the Process
The city has a process that lets staff approve some major projects without a public hearing or a commission vote: "administrative-only" approval. Ahearn-Koch has opposed expanding it, arguing residents lose their say when that happens.
Livability
Short-term rental complaints used to be an islands problem. Ahearn-Koch pushed to extend the city's vacation rental ordinance citywide, so mainland neighborhoods got the same registration and inspection requirements. The Commission passed it 4-1.
Hurricane Readiness and Stormwater
Ahearn-Koch says a decade-old flood plan isn't good enough: the city needs one built for today's storms.
Stand Up for Sarasota is a political committee dedicated to giving voters factual information about City Commission candidates' records on growth, neighborhoods, and infrastructure.