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= Erik J. Arroyo = Erik John Arroyo (/ɑːroʊyo/; born February 16, 1990) is a Dominican-American attorney and politician serving as the Vice Mayor of Sarasota, Florida. He was elected on November 3, 2020 to the Sarasota City Commission, becoming the youngest elected official in the history of Sarasota, Florida. Arroyo, born in Santiago, Dominican Republic, is Sarasota's first elected official to be born in a Hispanic country. He is a registered Republican, although the city elections are nonpartisan. He was previously a candidate for District 72 of the Florida House of Representatives, a position he held until he dropped out and transferred to the Sarasota City Commission race.

Personal Life & Education
Arroyo was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic, and is Pedro Arroyo and Maria "Estela" Nunez-Fernandez. He was raised exclusively by his mother, who brought him to the United States at an early age to pursue a better life.

Arroyo attended Riverview High School. He graduated in 2008, becoming the first in his family to do so. He received an Associate's degree from the State College of Florida and a bachelor's in Political Science and Communications from the University of Florida. Following college, Erik Arroyo attended the Florida A&M University College of Law, receiving his J.D. degree in 2014. He is an attorney with the law firm Band, Gates & Dramis, specializing in corporate, trust, estates, and private foundations.

He is married to Victoria Arroyo, whom he met in high school. In September 2020, the two publicly welcomed the birth of their newborn daughter, Ava.

Vice Mayor of Sarasota
Vice Mayor Arroyo was unanimously selected as the city's Vice Mayor during his first day as an elected city commissioner. A strong critic of the city's management, Arroyo initiated a conversation with the city manager on his first day in office. Four days after taking office, Sarasota's city manager Tom Barwin hand-delivered his resignation to Arroyo.

In April 2021, the Sarasota Observer wrote about the new city commission and its rendering of decisive verdicts on proposals and projects that had been sitting idle for years. Arroyo spearheaded and voted in favor of a $92 million renovation of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, the $200 Million Bay Conservancy Park development, eliminating and privatizing the city's parking department, and revisiting a public-private partnership for the management of the municipal Bobby Jones Golf Course, which operated at a significant loss. These measures earned Vice Mayor Arroyo notice for his focus on tax dollars and proposing fiscally conservative policies.

Response to COVID-19 pandemic
Further information: COVID-19 pandemic in Florida

In December 2020, Arroyo responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by reinstating a moratorium on water shutoffs. In light of the Governor's executive order preventing the collection of fines and mask ordinances, Arroyo voted in favor of removing the emergency mask ordinance and replacing it with a declaration encouraging the wearing of masks.