IS IT SAFE TO GO IN THE WATER?

Remember as a kid sticking your fingers in your ears and saying “I can’t hear you”? That seems to be the approach of those responsible for public health and safety in the city of Sarasota. On September 3, Dr. Dave Tomasko from the Sarasota Bay Estuary reported that “as of now, the open waters of Sarasota Bay from Siesta Drive down to Venice Inlet are out of compliance for fecal indicator bacteria, and should not be considered to be safe for recreational activities such as swimming, jet skiing, wakeboarding, or any activity that could involve the participant accidentally ingesting water through their mouth or nose or entry of water via a cut or scrape.” Yet the city has STILL not posted signs at access points or issued public service advisories.

IS IT SAFE TO BREATHE THE AIR?

After neighbors went public with concerns about Seminole Gulf Railway storing and offloading gas tankers in a residential area, the city, county, state, and federal governments all passed the buck on which entity is responsible for regulation and enforcement of safety concerns stemming from private railroads. Net net - someone someday from some government agency may politely ask the Railway to stop endangering city residents. But don’t hold your breath. Or light a match.

ARE FLORIDA PARKS EVER SAFE FROM DEVELOPMENT?

The Oxford English dictionary defines “park” as a “large public green area in a town, used for recreation”. Nowhere in there does it talk about pickleball in nature preserves. But building near parks ups property values. It's a good deal for the developers—you get the greenspace to attract buyers, while not having to pay the green to maintain the lawn. Perhaps this explains the constant attempts to commercialize city parks. After golfers said the building isn’t the point, the city commission voted to punt on the question of whether to spend $9,000,000 on a new 17,000 foot clubhouse for Bobby Jones.

IS HISTORY SAFE FROM THE WRECKING BALL?

Erin DiFazio of the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation explained that our architecture tells a “sacred story about our past”. But is anything sacred when it comes to a city with the nickname “Tearasota"? So far this year, Victor Lundy’s Waldman Building and the historic Palm Apartments have been demolished, and the fates of the McAlpin House in Burns Square and Sarasota’s iconic Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall remain in limbo.

Tensions were high when Tampa-based developer JDMAX appealed the historic preservation board’s denial of the demolition request for the Colson Hotel – a lodging landmark of national importance given the history of segregation. The commission continued the hearing to allow the developer to pursue a possible separation of the parcel to allow new townhomes to be built on a portion of it, and sale of the hotel as a separate property to local preservationists.

COMING UP

With Marlon Brown retiring at the end of October, the city commission will hold a workshop on September 9 to discuss how it will approach the city manager job search.

RAINING DOWN

The incumbent commissioners continue to amass the vast majority of their campaign donations from special interests. Expect to see a lot of developer-funded mailers attacking resident-friendly candidates as the campaign season heats up. Count on CityPAC to keep you and your neighbors up-to-date on just how deeply beholden certain candidates are to those developers.

Based on campaign filings with the city clerk through August 23, 2024