Southwest FL – As many of you are aware, the physical luncheon at Michael’s on East was cancelled due to the lack of participation as a result of the Coronavirus situation. However, we were pleased to host a ZOOM video presentation with Mayor Jan Ahearn-Koch who was originally scheduled to attend our May Scholarship luncheon.
The mayor, a leader in our community’s battle with the virus, provide some insights into the city’s process leading up to the initial “lockdown” and the more recent action requiring the wear of masks when in public within the city limits. She responded to questions that ran the gamut from homelessness within the city to school reopening, and city/county relations.
Mayor Ahearn-Koch has an extensive background in academia and service. In 1986, she graduated from the American University in Paris with a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs. She went on to receive her Master of Arts in International Affairs from Columbia University’s Graduate School of International and Public Affairs in 1989. She also holds a Benjamin Franklin diploma from the Institut d’Etudes Politique.
Within the Sarasota community, she has served as the president of the Tahiti Park Neighborhood Association for nearly a decade, as a neighborhood representative to the Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations and served on the City of Sarasota planning board in 2015.
Jan Ahearn-Koch was elected to the Sarasota City Commission in 2017, and in November 2019 was unanimously appointed Mayor by her fellow commissioners.
MOAS is the Sarasota Chapter of Military Officers Association of America. MOAA is the nation’s largest and most influential association of military officers with over 380,000 members. It is an independent, nonprofit, politically nonpartisan organization. For more information visit, www.sarasotamoaa.com
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