The Sarasota City Commission ushered in the New Year facing complaints from residents who said the mayor violated citizens’ First Amendment rights during its first meeting of 2026.
Mayor Debbie Trice twice interrupted speakers during the public input portion of the Commission’s Jan. 5 meeting, warning them that they could not make “personal attacks” or refer to individual commissioners by name and insisting they were required to address the commission only as a body. In another exchange, she threatened to remove a speaker after he continued talking past his time limit.
Trice, who began her one-year term as mayor in November, defended her actions in an interview with Suncoast Searchlight, saying she was trying to enforce proper decorum and exercise her own judgment about what is appropriate in public meetings…