Venice City Councilor To Run For County Commission: Report

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — Two candidates have already filed to run for the Sarasota County Commission in the 2022 general election.

Venice City Council member Dr. Joe Neunder is the latest to throw his hat in the ring, filing to run for the commission’s District 4 seat as a Republican, the Venice Gondolier reported.

The founder of Sarasota Spinal Mechanics was elected in 2019. He’s represented the city on the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization. Before taking office, he served on the Sarasota County Planning Commission and was a member of Venice’s Historic Preservation Board,].

Neunder told the Sarasota-Herald Tribune, “Sarasota’s future is bright thanks to decades of conservative leadership at the county level. I’ll build on that legacy by keeping taxes low, protecting the natural beauty of the environment that surrounds us, supporting our brave law enforcement officers and first responders, and championing balanced, fiscally responsible budgets.”

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Sarasota County Planning Commission Vice Chair Mark Hawkins has also filed to run for the Sarasota County Commission, the Herald-Tribune reported. He’s vying for the District 4 seat.

He told the newspaper that he plans to run as a “common-sense” candidate who will take control away from the developers. In fact, he said he won’t accept donations from PACs or area developers.

Hawkins is running as a Republican, though he initially ran for the county commission in 2010 as a Democrat and lost, reports said.