INDIAN ROCKS BEACH — Short-term rentals and the erosion of local control dominated the conversation as seven candidates vying for three City Commission seats faced voters during a forum at City Hall on Feb. 24.
The two-hour event, hosted by the League of Women Voters of North Pinellas County and IRB Home, drew a packed house to hear from mayoral candidates — incumbent Denise Houseberg and Lan Vaughan — and five commission contenders — Matthew Barrowclough, Don House, Michael Mirmanesh, Kellee Watt and incumbent Janet Wilson — competing for two open seats. The election is March 10.
The candidates fielded questions confidently and concisely as the League’s official timekeeper kept them on track, and it became clear the race will come down to where each stands on the issues reshaping the barrier island community, chiefly, the explosion of vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods.
“The commercialization of our neighborhoods,” Mirmanesh, a plastic surgeon and father of four, said when asked for the No. 1 issue affecting quality of life. Watt, a 20-year human resources veteran, cited the city’s declining population, and House, a longtime beachfront property owner, said rentals “should never have been allowed east of Gulf Boulevard” in residential areas.
The post-pandemic migration of vacation rentals into the city’s “finger neighborhoods” — a trend exacerbated by the 2024 hurricanes — gave rise to the Homes Not Hotels grassroots movement, which has divided residents and spawned several lawsuits against the city.
Vaughan, an outspoken proponent of the Homes Not Hotels group, called for unity after saying the 2026 “campaign has taken a dark side.”
“We need to listen to all our citizens, our advisory boards and let them all have a voice,” she said.
Barrowclough, who owns short-term rentals in the city and said he is often labeled “the Evil Empire” in town and online, countered that the city already “has mechanisms in the code to address the issue” of noncompliance.
“Behavior is the problem that needs to be addressed,” he said.
Houseberg acknowledged that “we might not always agree, and I think that’s OK,” but made a plea to “stop all these lawsuits” because they make it difficult to govern.
Wilson, who serves as the commission’s liaison to the Suncoast League of Cities and its parent organization, the Florida League of Cities — a statewide lobbying group that supports home rule — said the biggest threat to the community is what’s happening in Tallahassee.
“Our loss of control,” said Wilson, a former educator and high school principal. She called the state Capitol “our worst enemy.”
It was a point every candidate could agree on.
“There is a true imbalance between state and local control,” Vaughan said, noting that more than 800 bills have been filed in recent years to override local decision-making. “And that’s what caused this STR mess.”
Former longtime Mayor R.B. Johnson, who attended the forum, said such events help voters make informed decisions.
“Sometimes when you see and hear the candidates answer specific questions, you get a little more sense of how they comport themselves and how they respond when they’re put on the spot,” he said.
Election Day is March 10. A video replay of the forum is available on the IRB Home YouTube channel. For more information, visit indian-rocks-beach.com or lwvnorthpinellas.org.