Karie Friling knows Sarasota as a visitor. Soon, she’ll be the person responsible for running its city government. 

Friling, the city's new manager, was selected on Feb. 27 after a national search to fill the role, which sits at the center of City Hall’s daily operations: overseeing departments, preparing budgets, negotiating contracts and carrying out city commission decisions. Her contract sets her base salary at $279,500 per year. She begins June 1 and will be the first woman to hold the job in the city's history.

Friling succeeds former city manager Marlon Brown, who left the position in October 2024. Since then, Sarasota has been led by a series of interim managers, including former Public Works director Doug Jeffcoat, former Longboat Key Town manager Dave Bullock and Jennifer Jorgensen, the city’s governmental affairs director, who is serving until Friling arrives.

Friling currently serves as executive director of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County in Illinois, where she oversees 500 employees and an agency serving more than 950,000 residents. Before that, she was village manager of Homer Glen, Illinois, and spent more than a decade in Orland Park, where she was development services director and assistant village manager.

She steps into the job as Sarasota faces major questions about growth, housing, stormwater, downtown planning, post-hurricane recovery and the city’s relationship with residents. Her selection also puts an outsider in charge of an unusually complex small city—one where development pressure, neighborhood identity, tourism and local trust sometimes collide.

"My commitment to the community is I will be visible, I will be engaged, I will be approachable, I will be authentic," she says. "There’s a lot of hard work that has to be done, but I really want people not just to see me as the city manager. I want them to see me as Karie, who's part of the community and a neighbor, too."

Here, Friling talked about what she has learned from three decades in public service, how she views the contentious Live Local Act and why her first year in Sarasota will begin with listening. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You were village manager in Homer Glen, Illinois. How do you think your past experience translates to the job you're stepping into here? 

"Homer Glen was a unique opportunity because it's the youngest city in the entire state of Illinois, and when I was there, it was only 20 years old. It gave me the opportunity to bring my urban planning, community development and economic development experience to a town that was coming into its own.

"When you have 20-plus years of experience in community development and economic development, and you work for a number of different communities, sometimes you can see the mistakes [that have been] made in the past. When you’re going into a town that’s relatively young and recently incorporated, you’re able to use that experience and wisdom to make sure you don’t repeat [those mistakes]. Homer Glen was building things like infrastructure and conservation efforts from a foundational base. It was an opportunity to get things right from the beginning."

What should residents expect to see from you in the first year?

"I'm not naive enough nor arrogant enough to say that I’m going to come in and, in a year, have all the answers. 

"I believe the role of a city manager, first and foremost, is to help the city commission and the community make good decisions together. My job is to bring my expertise over three decades, grounded in data, fiscal discipline and long-term resiliency, and help in the process of making those decisions.

"When I get there in June, my job will be to listen. I want to listen to staff. I want to listen to elected board members. I want to be out in the community. I want to meet with residents and all the different stakeholders in the city. I plan on trying to keep my mouth shut as much as possible so I can listen."

What will you be listening for?

"Recurring themes, positive, negative or otherwise, because then we can get to work addressing them.  There are so many different things that are happening in the city of Sarasota—a lot of competing priorities. I hope that I can help bring stability, because there hasn’t been a permanent city manager for some time. 

"I have a lot of experience with is budget management and long-term financial planning. Obviously, I’m very aware of the enormous hit that you guys took in 2024 with the storms that came through. The city has been very good at steadily increasing the [fiscal] reserves that had to be drawn from because of the response [those storms required]. In my first year, I want to make sure that we’re on solid financial ground, long term, and that we’re [continuing to] build those reserves back up so we can do some strategic long-term planning—particularly around prioritizing capital projects."

Can you give an example?

"There are still a number of stormwater projects that are either underway or need to begin. I’ve spoken to the county administrator on the phone, and a lot of the stormwater issues cannot be [fixed] by an individual agency. It takes partnership. 

"Another thing I’m excited about working on is affordable housing. I know that’s something that’s very near and dear to the city commission, and it’s something I personally believe in—that everyone has the right to decent, affordable, safe housing for their families.

"And finally, getting the master plan completed for downtown. I know that we just started that process, and I’m excited about getting in on the ground level."

"Those are all externally facing goals. But as a city manager, what I have to do is balance the external goals and internal goals. When I come in, what I’m looking at is not just what we're doing outwardly to help our residents and our community be the best city in the state of Florida. I also want to make sure that the staff and the organization, the culture of the city, is functioning at the level that we want it to—excelling at excellence. I am a big proponent of high-performance improvement projects. I am Six Sigma Green Belt trained, and that’s all about evaluating processes and ensuring that we’re doing things the most efficient way we can, in the most cost-effective manner with the taxpayers’ money."

What do you wish more residents understood about municipal government and its powers and limitations?

"The profession of public service is one of the most noble professions that an individual can choose to go into, because you really are becoming a public servant. That’s something I’ve always wanted to stress. It's important not just to city staff, but also to constituents that we serve. We’re there because we want to do what’s best for the overall community.

"What a lot of local residents and members of a community don’t always understand is that when we look at the different levels of government—federal, state and local—the one that impacts you the most is that local level of government. 

"Most of the stories and articles in the newspaper are happening at the federal or state level. I’m not saying those things aren’t important. They do impact our lives. But when you think about the local level, we’re talking about whether your garbage is being picked up, whether your stormwater is operating the way it needs to, whether you turn the faucet and clean water comes out, whether you have a local store that you can go to to buy your groceries, or whether you can afford to live in a community or not."

To that point, Florida's Live Local Act has also changed what local governments can and can’t do with certain development proposals. If a Live Local Act project checks legal boxes but raises neighborhood concerns, what do you think City Hall’s role should be? 

"It's a challenge for any Florida community, not just the City of Sarasota. Obviously, we cannot overrule state statute and state law. Developers, based on the way the act is written, do have certain rights to develop property. But that doesn’t mean local voices should be muted. I think it comes down to relationships: sitting down at the table with that proposed developer and trying to understand where there are areas of common ground, and making sure that a local community doesn’t lose its culture, identity and character."

You’ll be the first woman to serve as Sarasota city manager. How do you think about the significance of that?

"It's an honor and a responsibility that I do not take lightly. I was also the first female executive director in DuPage County, and that was an honor and responsibility as well.

"I’ve been doing this work for three decades. I did not get hired because I am a female. But I certainly recognize that having females in these level of positions is extremely important for the next generation.

"I believe it is my duty to mentor and help other females be successful in public service. That has been part of who I am from the very beginning. I am going to be an open book and help as much as I can. 

"When I started in this profession 32 years ago, 90 percent of the time I was the only female at the table. Today, that's not the case. I have seen so much change in three decades. I’m not saying that there aren’t times when I’m still the only female at the table. But it’s a lot less likely."

What do you want residents to know about you as a future neighbor?

"I have been to Sarasota so many times in my life. I have family that lives in the area. When I came to interview—this is going to sound corny—I felt like I was coming home again. I was always here as a tourist, and there’s so much culture and life and vibrancy to the city. So when I found myself in the position where I was interviewing to become the city manager, it was a little surreal.

"Now I’m starting to see it through the eyes of a fellow neighbor. It’s a little scary when you make a big change. I’m an empty nester, and I feel like I have one more adventure in me."