A week ago, Sarasota City Commissioners Paul Caragiulo and Shannon Snyder were in a high-stakes political battle against one another. Now Caragiulo wants to help his former opponent to keep his old job, but there remains no sign whether Snyder wants to go along.

Caragiulo, fresh off a victory over Snyder in a Republican primary for Sarasota County Commission, today plans to propose reappointing Snyder to his own City Commission seat. Snyder and Caragiulo both had to vacate their seats, effective in November, in order to run for higher officer thanks to Florida's resign-to-run law. The resignations cannot be rescinded. However, the City Commission is allowed to re-appoint the same person to the vacated post.

"It would make a lot of sense, providing he wants to do it, and there is only one way to find out," Caragiulo said. "My intention is to keep things relatively stable." Caragiulo said he would like to see Snyder vacate his post on Monday and then have the City Commission re-appoint Snyder for the remainder of his own term.

Snyder could not be reached for comment and has not weighed in publicly on the matter. The  City Commission meets for a regular meeting at 2:30pm today.

Of course, the City Commission before the primary already laid out a plan for finding replacements to fill both Caragiulo's and Snyder's seats on the board, and potential contenders have already surfaced. Stan Zimmerman, who used to cover the City Commission for the Sarasota News Leader, plans to submit his application for Snyder's District 3 post as soon as doors open at noon today.

Zimmerman noted Snyder's resignation is non-rescindable, and to reappoint him immediately after the primary "flies in the face" of the resign-to-run law. He hopes Snyder brushes off suggestions on an appointment. He also noted that a process was put in place that applicants, including himself, were prepared to follow in seeking an appointment. Applications can be turned in as soon as noon today and before noon of Sept. 12. "There will be at least one applicant who has put in an application before anything can happen, and that will be me," Zimmerman said.

The commission initially intended to make appointments in November, after both Snyder and Caragiulo had left their posts. Caragiulo still has another election ahead of him, a Nov. 4 general election against independent Alexandra Coe and two write-in candidates, before he is assured the post on the County Commission.

Caragiulo and Zimmerman both note the city has never had to fill two vacancies on the commission simultaneously. Since it became clear both Caragiulo and Snyder would run, there has been consternation in circles sympathetic to those commissioners about having just three city commissioners filling two seats on the board with appointed commissioners to serve beside them until May. 

Joshua Wolff, a sophomore at Pine View School of Sarasota, has been nominated to attend the Congress of Future Medical Leaders in Washington, D.C. The Congress is an honors-only program for high school students who want to become physicians or go into medical research fields. The purpose of this event is to honor, inspire, motivate and direct the top students in the country who aspire to be physicians or medical scientists, to stay true to their dream and, after the event, to provide a path, plan and resources to help them reach their goal. 

The Congress of Future Medical Leaders

Realtor Jim Mulvey has joined the Venice office of RE/MAX Platinum Realty as a team member with his wife, Malissa Radonovich. He has 30 years of management and customer service experience, primarily in the food service industry. He has served as director of Corporate Accounts for the Poultry Foodservice Division of ConAgra Foods, director of Development for McDonald's distributor Martin-Brower in the New York Metro area and area manager for Noodles and Company in Maryland and Florida, among other major companies.

RE/MAX Platinum Realty

The Education Foundation of Sarasota County received a $500,000 grant from Helios Education Foundation to help transform teacher preparation, classroom instruction and organizational culture in every middle school in the Sarasota County district. The funding will support a two-year project to address the precarious fall-off in academic achievement and motivation that often occurs when students reach grades 6, 7 and 8.  Over the two-year grant period, more than 145 teachers from all eight middle schools will receive in-depth training to use technology-enhanced classrooms, present a more challenging curriculum, and deploy instructional strategies to engage all students as active learners.  The funding will also provide tools to track and assess changes in student behavior and achievement.  

The Education Foundation

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