Get to Know Your District 2 City Commissioners

After profiling the District Three city commission candidates, Sarasota Patch today turns to District Two – the “glamour district” encompassing downtown, the beaches and the islands. If D3 is home to the city’s blue-collar population, D2 is “the tiara zone.”

Four years ago, incumbent Mary Anne Servian was defeated in a “double squeaker” by challenger Dick Clapp.  In a multi-candidate primary, Clapp led the field of four. And in the runoff, he defeated Servian by 63 percent to her 37 percent. Now Clapp is the incumbent, facing a challenger of his own.

 The singer

Paul Caragiulo is a 36-year-old restaurateur, co-owning and operating three downtown eateries – the namesake Caragiulos’ on Palm Avenue, Owen’s Fish Camp in Burns Court, and the soon-to-open Nancy’s BBQ on Pineapple Avenue and Charles Ringling Boulevard.

He is married with two pre-school daughters. He attended Monmouth College in New Jersey and attended a conservatory in Italy for more than three years to sharpen is singing voice. He has traveled widely in Europe, and speaks Italian. His hobbies include golf, fishing, aviation and reading history, although he says after the birth of his children he has little time for the first three. He holds a private pilot’s single-engine license.

His favorite food is roast chicken. He drives a VW Jetta diesel. He is not a veteran, and has no arrest record. He can be reached by e-mail at pcforcitycommission@gmail.com.

Caragiulo held a variety of civic positions, and served on a number of civic boards. He is a precinct clerk for the Elections office, served on the advisory board for Bobby Jones Golf Course and the Civil Service board. He is on the district committee for the Boy Scouts of America, and served on the board of trustees for the Crowley Museum and Nature Center. He has been active in a variety of downtown merchants’ groups, including the current Downtown Sarasota Alliance.

He has never ridden an elephant, or “knowingly” swam with sharks. This is Caragiulo’s second run for the city commission. Two years ago he ran for an at-large seat in a nine-candidate field vying for two seats. He made the cut to get into the runoff, as the second-highest vote-getter in the March primary. But in the April final election, he was third-man-out, with 31.5 percent – trailing the second-place finisher by 104 votes.

The chemist

Incumbent City Commissioner Dick Clapp’s political roots lie in neighborhood and environmental activism. He was a major contributor to the “Save Our Sarasota” blog, focusing on green space, land use and government decision-making. He parlayed that knowledge and support base to edge aside a popular incumbent four years ago.

He is a retired chemical engineer, with a PhD in Physical Chemistry, and came to Sarasota 10 years ago. “My wife’s family goes back to 1952, when her grandparents retired here, and then her parents and eventually us,” he said. “My first visit was 1973.”

He has been married 44 years, has three grown children and three grandchildren. His hobby for many years is photography. His favorite food is bratwurst with onions, and he drives an “older Buick.” His e-mail address is rtclapp@verizon.net.

In addition to service on Save Our Sarasota and the Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations, Clapp services on the board of the TBARTA (the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority), is president of the Manasota League of Cities and is on the board of the Florida League of Cities. He also serves of the board of Resurrection House, a shelter for the homeless in Sarasota.

While he admits he does not “speak” other languages, he has studied Latin, German and Russian. Has he ridden an elephant? No. Has he swam with sharks? Yes at Mote Marine Lab on national television in a bid to draw Google’s attention to Sarasota as a site for a high-speed fiber-optic system. “Mayor Swims With Sharks!” was the headline.