Richard Dorfman To Run For City Commission

Richard Dorfman took the stage Saturday night at the Joyful Noise Music Festival making a statement on "noise" and events downtown.

"If I'm elected to the city commisson, we're going to see more of these," Dorfman exlaimed, prompting applause from the crowd. This week the city commission will examine policies for downtown events at a special meeting.

Dorfman, a former sports agent and former director of broadcasting for the National Basketball Association, is taking another shot for the city commission, and this time it's for one of two of the at-large seats, which Mayor Suzanne Atwell and Commissioner Terry Turner have, instead of for District 1, which he ran for in 2011.

While candidates for the 2012 elections are rushing to get their paperwork in and fundraising started, Dorfman is an earlybird. The general election for Sarasota's at-large seats is March 12, 2013.

According to Dorfman's bio, he holds a bachelor's degree in communications adn business from American University, was born in New York City, raised in New Jersey. He also contributed to reports for CNN and CNBC.

Dorfman told The Observer, who first reported his filing, that he wants a different approach for the city:

"Dorfman also wants to create a better dialogue between the city and its neighborhoods. 

“There’s an obvious ‘us versus them’ dialogue that exists between the city and its neighborhoods,” Dorfman said. “We need to reconcile the disconnect between the city’s residents.”

Dorfman, however, admits it’s a difficult task during a time of budget cuts and fewer basic services within city limits."