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SRQ DAILY Sep 29, 2014

Monday Business Edition

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Monday Business Edition

"USFSM is clearly a special place with an exciting future. I am grateful for the opportunity to help shape that future alongside our talented faculty, students and supporters in Sarasota-Manatee."

- Sandra Stone, University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee
 

[Survey]  Sarasota County Quality of Life

Sarasota County officials each year commission the Dr. Susan MacManus at the University of Florida each year to conduct a quality of life survey. This year, the survey found the number of people whose top concern is jobs/economy at 7 percent, far lower than in the midst of the recession, while the number who say growth/new development is the top concern jumped to 21 percent.  

[Education]  Stone Named USFSM Chancellor
Jacob Ogles, jacob.ogles@srqme.com

While the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee has made strides in getting independent accreditation and is moving forward with more plans to boost a stand-alone campus feel, the newly named regional chancellor of the institution said her priority at the start of her new job will be on maintaining a strong place for the campus within the larger University of South Florida system.

Dr. Sandra Stone, now the vice president of academic affairs at Dalton State College in Georgia, was named on Friday as the new regional chancellor at USFSM. The day of her hire, she spoke with media about the future of the school and her own professional desires.

"I have to get there and figure out what is there and where the institution needs to go in the future, how it is situated within the larger USF system," she said. As I understand there are goals for each of the campuses within the University of South Florida system. My goal is to expand enrollment and we will continue to look at these issues."

USF President Judy Genshaft said Stone will play a major role in the campus' strategic growth. “Sandra Stone’s experience, enthusiasm and collaborative spirit will help guide USFSM toward further excellence,” Genshaft said. “Her contributions will surely have an impact on the entire USF System and the region that we serve." Genshaft also made sure to offer thanks to USFSM Regional Vice Chancellor for Academic AffairsTerry Osborn, who has served as interim chancellor for several months. Arthur Guilford, who was hired as regional chancellor in 2007, retired this year.

In Stone's current post in Northern Georgia, Stone oversees a myriad of academic and outreach programs. She has previously worked for sponsored research groups, state and federal government bodies and other academic institutions.

Stone holds a doctorate in Sociology from Emory University and both bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of West Georgia, and she also completed a post-doctorate certificate in organizational behavior at Tulane University. As far as programs at USFSM go, she plans to carefully evaluate both what expectations enrolled students have going forward as well as the needs of the local business community. "One of the things I want to look at pretty soon is the strategic planning process, and I want to engage the campus community and larger community as well to see what meets the needs of the community, what meets the needs of the institution and figure a direction to move forward. I have no specifics, I haven't gotten to that yet," she said. "That definitely should include an academic master plan."

USFSM has freshman on campus for the first time this year, and recently earned its individual accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation. "It is definitely different with freshmen and sophomores than it is with only upper division. There is a different energy to the environment. I will meet with various people to help with feasibility studies. We need to determine the cost and really figure how that works. But I definitely want to keep growing the campus and establish a more traditional campus flavor."

A search committee, led by University of South Florida St. Petersburg chancellor Sophia Wisniewska spent several months considering different people for the post. 

[SB2]  Elected Mayor
Jacob Ogles, jacob.ogles@srqme.com

It's been proposed. It's been rejected. Yet the topic of whether Sarasota should have directly-elected mayor, and what powers a mayor should have, seems a topic permanently embedded within Sarasota's political DNA. The merits and drawbacks of centralized leadership were the subject of discussion at SRQ Media Group's most recent SB2 event.

The panel, convened Thursday morning at The Francis, included Bradenton's elected mayor Wayne Poston and former Sarasota Mayor Mollie Cardamone, who was elected to the City Commission and picked to lead the board for her mayoral years by her peers, as mayors in Sarasota are still named today. The panel also included Del Borgsdorf, retired vice president of The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and former San Jose, Calif., city manager, Main Street Connection president Peter Fanning and Hoyt Architects' Chris Gallagher, incoming chairman of the Sarasota Chamber.

Poston said his position as mayor helped him lead Bradenton into a significant revitalization. It put him in a position to directly drive staff forward in economic development efforts amid the Great Recession. Poston, in his post since 2000, serves ostensibly as chief executive of the city, he said, and that put him in direct contact with department heads to set the tone in the city. In that time, the city has moved ahead with a Riverwalk, seen a major renovation at McKechnie Field and seen new hotels move into the downtown core. "I'm a big believer in leadership," he said. "Somebody has to be in charge." 

Cardamone, though, noted that Sarasota at many times has seen strong growth and development with a different form of leadership. Sarasota has a council-manager form of government with a professional manager running day-to-day business at City Hall. Indeed Cardamone, who served two one-year terms as mayor in 1996-1997 and in 2000-2001, felt City Manager David Sollenberger was a mentor to her in terms of figuring the business of government. She also noted Poston's predecessor Bill Evers oversaw a sleepy Bradenton while Sarasota was seeing a Renaissance. "That was while we were on fire," she said. "We had the Ritz-Carlton come in and condos on Lido. We were going non-stop without a four-year leader."

Borgsdorf, who supported an effort to create a legislative Mayor in Sarasota in 2009 and opposed a strong mayor effort this year (the first was nixed by voters, the second never made it to ballot), said there needs to be a differentiation between forms of governance and forms of election. Directly electing a mayor only affects how voters name a leader, and can provide direct accountability. Having a strong mayor completely shifts the structure of governance and can lead to individuals hiring friends for key staff positions. "If a strong mayor moves into the the mayor's office, if affects whether you have professionals or locals, whether or not the neighborhoods are as involved or not," he said.

Fanning, who was involved in the attempted strong mayor effort earlier this year, though said the structure right now has only led to political paralysis. "How can we have leadership in our staff and still run into the number of problems we seem to continue to have?," Fanning said. He said Sarasota has regular elected good commission members but has not seen continuity in leadership in recent years, which leads to problems. Since 2000, Sarasota has seen three city managers pushed out, and every city election has provided turnover in the commission make-up. "We keep changing the people. The thing we haven't done is change the system."

Gallagher, also part of the recent effort, fought criticisms that efforts to change the governance in Sarasota have been led by small private groups, noting Sarasota's current charter was written by one individual and pushed to ballot by the Chamber of Commerce. He said the reason the matter keeps coming up for discussion is that the city, as successful a community as it has been, constantly has seen nasty divisions among its leaders. No matter the quality of individuals elected to the commission, they cannot fill the leadership vacuum. "The reason this keeps coming up is there is an ache that says we can do this better," he said.

The next installment of the SB2 series will be held on "Connecting the World: SRQ Airport and Port Manatee" and will be held at the IMG Golf Club in Bradenton on Oct. 22. 

SB2

[Recognition]  Anderson Honored by Bar Association

Michelle Anderson, coordinator of the Booker High School Law Academy has received the Distinguished Service Award from the Sarasota County Bar Association. She was honored at the association’s annual dinner Sept. 17.  The award is in recognition and appreciation of her extraordinary service and relentless passion to the legal profession and community in her capacity as the coordinator for the Booker Law Academy at Booker High School.  

Sarasota County Schools

[Exec Moves]  Cotera Joins Osprey Dental

Osprey Dental announced Dr. Delia Cotera is now practicing full time with her husband, Dr. Zachary Kesling, at their Osprey dental practice. Osprey Dental offers expertise in all phases of general dentistry, including orthodontics and implants.Born in Peru, Cotera earned her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in 1997 after graduating in the top 15 percent of her class from Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University in Lima. She earned a postgraduate diploma in endodontics from the same university in 1999. In 2002, Cotera was awarded an Advanced Education in General Dentistry certificate from the University of Maryland Dental School. She served as a faculty member in the restorative dentistry department at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Cotera is a member of the American Dental Association, the Florida Dental Association and the West Coast Florida Dental Association. 

Osprey Dental



[SYMPOSIUM]  SB2 Connecting to the World: SRQ Airport and Port Manatee; Oct 22, 11:30am-1pm

Join SRQ | The Magazine and panelists Carlos Buquera, Executive Director of Port Manatee and Mark W. Stuckey, Vice President of Special Projects and Development for the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, to look ahead at how the growth of these two regional assets will impact economic development, business opportunities, demographics and tourism. This SB2 symposium is hosted on Wednesday, October 22, 2014, from 11:30am-1pm at the IMG Academy Golf Club in Bradenton; 4350 El Conquistador Pkwy, Bradenton. Symposium tickets are $35/person and include a plated lunch. 

4350 El Conquistador Pkwy, Bradenton

Buy Tickets

SRQ Media Group

SRQ DAILY is produced by SRQ | The Magazine. Note: The views and opinions expressed in the Saturday Perspectives Edition and in the Letters department of SRQ DAILY are those of the author(s) and do not imply endorsement by SRQ Media. Senior Editor Jacob Ogles edits the Saturday Perspective Edition, Letters and Guest Contributor columns.In the CocoTele department, SRQ DAILY is providing excerpts from news releases as a public service. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by SRQ DAILY. The views expressed by individuals are their own and their appearance in this section does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. For rates on SRQ DAILY banner advertising and sponsored content opportunities, please contact Ashley Ryan Cannon at 941-365-7702 x211 or via email

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