Seven candidates competing for seats on the Indian Rocks Beach City Commission gathered at City Hall on Feb. 24 for a public forum centered largely on the growing tensions over short-term vacation rentals in the beachside community. The election is March 10.

The two-hour event, co-hosted by the League of Women Voters of North Pinellas County and IRB Home, featured mayoral candidates — incumbent Denise Houseberg and challenger Lan Vaughan — as well as five contenders for two open commission seats: Matthew Barrowclough, Don House, Michael Mirmanesh, Kellee Watt, and incumbent Janet Wilson.

The spread of vacation rentals into residential “finger neighborhoods” — a trend accelerated by the 2024 hurricanes — has fueled a grassroots movement called Homes Not Hotels and triggered multiple lawsuits against the city. Candidates largely agreed that the issue is reshaping the community, though they differed on solutions.

Mirmanesh pointed to the “commercialization of our neighborhoods” as the top quality-of-life concern. House argued rentals should never have been permitted in residential areas east of Gulf Boulevard. Barrowclough, who owns short-term rentals in the city, said existing code already provides tools to address violations and that problematic behavior, not rentals themselves, is the core issue.

Beyond local divisions, candidates across the board expressed concern about state interference in municipal decision-making. Wilson called Tallahassee the city’s “worst enemy” on the issue of local control, while Vaughan noted that hundreds of bills have been filed in recent years to override local authority — a dynamic she said contributed directly to the short-term rental conflict.

Houseberg urged residents to stop pursuing lawsuits, saying the litigation makes it difficult to govern effectively.

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