Sarasota Hires Soccer Executive to Handle Homeless Efforts

Posted by Jacob Ogles on Monday Jun 8, 2015 12:14 pm

Doug Logan, a sports executive who served as CEO for Major League Soccer and USA Track and Field, has been hired by the City of Sarasota as director of Special Initiatives on Chronic Homelessness.

"I'm not a social worker and I'm not looking for a career," said Logan.  "I care about the Sarasota community and the state of the chronic homeless.  Homelessness is a mean, ugly and complex problem. I look forward to working with the City Manager and community - faith based organizations, nonprofits, and philanthropists - to implement the City's 8-point action plan.  I have a record of positive achievement under difficult and controversial conditions.  And, I look forward to using my talents and energies to achieve measurable results with the homeless.  Quite honestly, I hope I work myself out of a job."

The hire comes as the city continues to grapple with homelessness and at a time when the City Commission saw major turnover in an election dominated by the same issue. City Manager Tom Barwin proposed an eight-point plan to tackle homelessness presented as an alternative to a plan proposed by consultant Dr. Robert Marbut that is still being pursued by Sarasota County. But weeks after the City Commission approved the Barwin plan, two members of the board were defeated in a city election and replaced with two new commissioners committed to improving relations with county leadership.

The city has continued with its plan so far, and hiring a manager dedicated to coordinating homeless efforts was the biggest financial portion of the plan.

Logan served as Major League Soccer's first commissioner, holding that post from 1995 through 1999, at which point he launched the sports consulting firm Empresario. He later served as CEO of USA Track and Field from 2008 until 2010, when The Washington Post reports he was terminated amid tension with volunteers in the organization. At MLS, he oversaw a $90 million annual budget and managed more than 120 employees, and he also ran a live entertianment company in Mexico that had a $55  million annual operating budget, according to city officials. The Sarasota resident has been classes at New York University and is now taking a leave of absense from that job.

The city also stressed Logan served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam conflict, where he earned two Bronze Stars for combat.

"What stands out with Doug Logan is his respected leadership and experience," Barwin said. "He is a strategic thinker, capable of organizing major initiatives. Doug has successfully organized six major start-up initiatives in his career, and he will bring a broad range of start-up experience to this new initiative. Doug also is a successful national and international business leader with wide-ranging experiences in the private and public sectors that are relevant to the chronic homeless issue.  He's also a veteran who was awarded two Bronze stars during Vietnam.  Doug is a compassionate person with a desire to help, and I believe he will approach this challenging homeless issue with a fresh perspective."

Filed under Government

Tags:   City of Sarasota  Doug Logan  featured  Homelessness

Comments (0 so far)

Tags