The Detail with Cathy Antunes

This week: Beth Mayberry joins me to discuss her run for the Sarasota County School Board.  Mayberry is a retired Sarasota County teacher who also brings years of experience as a certified financial planner to the table.Join us to hear her reasons for running, and what she would like to accomplish on the School Board.

This week, Cathy Antunes speaks with Sarasota City Commission member Jen Ahearn-Koch about her re-election campaign.

This week, Cathy Antunes is joined by Julie London Ferguson, who is running for the Sarasota County Commission's District 4 seat.

Megan Tennimon joins Cathy Antunes to discuss her run for the Sarasota County School Board. Tennimon is a lifelong resident of Sarasota, a mother and a former teacher. Listen to hear her reasons for running and what she would like to accomplish on the School Board.

Tom Edwards joins Cathy Antunes to discuss the Sarasota County School Board's lawsuit against Mike Moran, Sarasota County Tax Collector. For 23 years, all taxpayer funds gathered from the voter approved extra millage for public education have gone to Sarasota County Schools. When Moran took office, he started charging a commission for collecting these funds, which so far have taken over $2 million from our public schools and put it in Moran's budget. Edwards discusses the lawsuit to get these funds back, plus local propaganda efforts to downplay how universal vouchers negatively impact public school funding.

What does it take for a local government to rectify a blatantly false smear leveled against a citizen by the past administration? Kelly Franklin joins Cathy Antunes to discuss the state of her effort against the January 16, 2024 hit job she experienced at the hands of a City Commissioner and City officials who facilitated it. When a local government engages is libel against a citizen who exposes corruption, we are all at risk.

Candidate for Sarasota County School Board Jimmy Glover joins Cathy Antunes on this episode of The Detail. They discuss his reasons for running, School Board issues and what he'd work to accomplish if elected.

Lourdes Ramirez joins Cathy Antunes to discuss a shady beachfront land swap that Sarasota County is considering at their upcoming April 21 meeting. But key questions exist about the land swap which is being considered to settle a lawsuit. Can the County swap property purchased with parkland program tax dollars? Why is the County looking at approving that same parkland for development? Does the lawsuit plaintiff actually own the land they want to swap with the County? And do dark money PAC donors have an easier time gaming local government?

Home rule is under attack in Florida. Our state legislators—bought by developers—are working to gut our city and county home rule powers when it comes to being able to deny excessive or unwise development. Lourdes Ramirez joins Cathy Antunes to discuss our trouble in Tallahassee.

This week: David Rovine, member of the City's Purple Ribbon Committee, joins Cathy Antunes to discuss his take on the future of the Van Wezel performing arts hall. The City of Sarasota convened the Purple Ribbon Committee to determine the future of the "purple cow" when its was assumed it would be replaced by a new performing arts hall. Mr. Rovine has an extensive background in successful theater management and has served as the Vice-President for the Baltimore Orioles-Sarasota. 

This week, Cathy Antunes speaks with Flo Enlter, community advocate, regarding her run for City Commission in the City of Sarasota. Learn about Flo's background, her community work, and why she decided to throw her hat into the ring for City Commission.

Mark Vengroff is in the house to talk about affordable housing. Mark is the managing partner of One Stop Housing, a firm which provides affordable workforce housing here in Florida and in Memphis, Tennessee. Join Mark and Cathy to hear about One Stop Housing mission and how they make it work so their tenants can be the best they can be.

This week: Lourdes Ramirez. Ramirez leads a local non-profit, Save Siesta Key, which legally challenged a controversial land swap which had Sarasota County trading a beach side lot worth $2.8 million that was bought for conservation for four nearby beach lots valued at $100,000. The legal challenge was denied by a local judge who ruled the plaintiffs did not have standing. What's next? Tune in!

John Harshman, candidate for Commissioner in the City of Sarasota, joins Cathy Antunes on this week's edition of The Detail. Harshman has built a successful real estate brokerage and has been a Sarasota resident for 51 years. Listen to hear why he decided to run and what he'd like to accomplish if elected as Sarasota City Commissioner.

Guardian of our Greenspaces, Glenn Compton, joins Cathy Antunes to discuss what Manasota 88 is focusing on to protect the environment. From phosphate mining waste, to Manatee and Sarasota County water supplies, to how Schools of Hope can impact our hurricane shelters, listen to hear from local expert, leader and community good guy Glenn Compton.

This week: Overdevelopment. The proposed downtown Pencil Tower is BACK! Downtown advocate Ron Shapiro joins Cathy Antunes to discuss another Obsidian proposal. This 327 ft pencil tower plan was denied by the City Commission in May 2025, amid constant outcry from residents that the building proposal was out of scale and wrong for downtown. Despite many problems with the proposal, the developer is back with a new version of his former plan.

Longtime local activist Jim Lampl joins me for a discussion on how the City Commission steps on Free Speech at City Hall. Citizens giving public input that irks some City Commissioners have been accused of engaging in "personal attacks." Other elected bodies have engaged in the same tactics. Is citizen input welcome only if it strokes Commissioners egos, and what is the impact of such curbs on Free Speech?

This week: School Board member Tom Edwards joins me to discuss the resolution introduced by Bridget Ziegler which passed 3-2. Ziegler took issue with Edwards' participation in the Sarasota protest against Renee Good's death at the hands of ICE. Edwards joins me to discuss his take on the Board's action.

Professor Bruce Baker joins me with his assessment of Florida's public education system amid universal vouchers and schools of hope, and where we go from here.

This week: Liz Barker joins me to discuss the recent state audit of Florida's universal voucher program—tax dollars given to Florida parents to use to fund their child's education. The state audit found a widespread lack of accountability in the state voucher programs, with untracked dollars, duplicate payments and a structure which does not allow for accountability. The current school voucher system fosters chaos and is in need of reform. Join us!

Karen Hall joins me to run through the winners and losers—issues, officials and citizens—in local government in 2025.

Jono Miller joins me to discuss the New College Master Plan. The New College Board will hold a public hearing on December 17 about the campus Master Plan. Citizens are concerned that New College's waterfront land has been the real target of the DeSantis/Corcoran takeover. Richard Corcoran has demolished a historic architectural feature as well as a nature preserve on New College land. Miller will share his knowledge of New College's land use planning over the years and what he sees from the Corcoran administration.