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SRQ DAILY Feb 27, 2016

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"It is hard to imagine today's Sarasota without the assets conceived of in the early 1960s."

- Tom Barwin, Sarasota City Manager
 

[The Detail]  Follow the Money!
Cathy Antunes, cathycantunes@gmail.com

Follow the Money!

This bit of wisdom tells us to take a close look at how money moves through our political system. Understand the money flow and who is involved and you gain clarity around who influences elections and what they may expect to gain from doing so. Simple enough. But these days, following the money is a different animal. Political committees have changed the campaign funding landscape as donations are swapped from political action committee to another. Political committees are exempt from limits on donations, and can stuff voter mailboxes with a barrage of political ads late in local elections. Candidates who don’t attract lush PAC funding are unable to respond to the onslaught. This dynamic is a huge factor in City and County elections. School Board candidate Eric Robinson works for over 40 political committees. A review of their financials raises a number of issues.

With names like Building on Your Dreams and Citizens For Florida Prosperity, these committees sound nonpartisan and committed to the public good. And with over $5 million reported in contributions in Robinson-managed PACs, their impact on elections cannot be understated. 

Providing accounting services for these committees been profitable for Mr. Robinson, as his accounting firm has been paid almost $200,000 for services in the past few years. That’s a nice supplemental income stream, and doesn’t include what candidate campaigns may pay him. But closer inspection of political committee financials point to a capricious billing approach. For instance, Mr. Robinson’s firm was paid $30,748 by Citizens for Common Sense, which took in $256,000 in donations. Manatee Against Taxation was billed $54,591.22 for accounting, though the committee took in $115,000. The lushly funded Citizens Against Taxation ($282,000) has only paid $1,500 for Robinson’s accounting services. With accounting billing ranging from zero to over $50,000, these wide disparities warrant explanation from a financial professional who wants us to trust him with one of Sarasota County’s largest budget—the School Board's.

Consulting has also been a lucrative benefit of working with political committees for Mr. Robinson and his wife.  The same committee that paid only $1,500 for accounting, Citizens Against Taxation, paid Robbie’s LLC, a firm owned by Mr. Robinson and his wife, County Commissioner Christine Robinson, a single payment of $140,000 for consulting in 2014.  In 2015, Robbie’s LLC, received $5,000 for consulting from Legal Reform Now, and Eric Robinson was personally paid another $40,000 for consulting by the same committee. 

According to Legal Reform Now’s state financials, it is $127,000 in the red. How does a political committee spend money it doesnt have?And while Robbie’s LLC took in at least $140,000 in consulting in 2014, Commissioner Robinson’s state financial disclosure indicates only $7,000 in income from Robbie’s—another strange disparity.  

Having millions in political committee “assets under management” is a big responsibility, and a profitable one. The voters deserve answers to these and other questions regarding funny accounting practices from a candidate asking us to trust him with the School Board budget. In the end, voters would do well to ask: if elected, who would Mr. Robinson really work for?

Cathy Antunes serves on the boards of the Sarasota County Council of Neighborhood Associations and Sarasota Citizens for Responsible Government. 

[Higher Education]  Avant-Garde: Investing in Our Future Creatives
Dr. Larry Thompson, lthompso@ringling.edu

Connecting students and emerging creatives with a world-class education is a task we at Ringling College of Art and Design take seriously. As you may know, undertaking an art and design education demands a different learning environment than that offered by traditional colleges and universities. Creatives need to make, build and do—a concept we call the studio model of teaching. This model places importance on providing a low student-to-teacher ratio, the most up-to-date technology and facilities and opportunities that place our students in the “real world” before they graduate. But these experiences can come at a cost—one that may become a barrier to achieving the art and design education that many students desire and deserve.

Every Spring, we hold our annual student scholarship fundraiser, An Evening at the Avant-Garde, for the sole purpose of closing this gap and empowering more students to receive the creative education they seek. Proceeds from our ticket sales go to our Student Scholarship Fund, previously amounting to $50,000, $100,000 and even $225,000 raised in one night for students in financial need. We do this because we believe in the value of a creative education, and we want to empower our students to make this investment in their own future. And it pays off!

Definitely one of our more spirited events, Avant-Garde is a night of celebration that encourages attendees to come in costume, according to the year’s theme. This year’s theme, Bringing Characters to Life, recognizes the thousands of characters created and stories spun by our talented alumni, including those who worked on award-winning films such as Inside Out, Shrek and Avatar. We toast to their successes, yes, but more importantly, we are there to make a difference in the lives and futures of art and design students.

Currently, 8 out of 10 Ringling College students rely on financial aid to meet tuition requirements. This is why we do what we do—to relieve the financial burdens that often distract and deter us from our goals. We are proud to say some of our most extraordinary students, benefitting from events such as these, take every opportunity available to learn and grow during their four years on campus. In fact, last year’s recipient of the Avant-Garde Scholarship went on to become a 2015-16 Trustee Scholar as well—the most prestigious honor, awarded to the top students of every major each year.

A community event, Avant-Garde brings together every corner of the Ringling College family and especially its friends and supporters. Wearing a costume is optional but many participants will sport a different costume and share their varying perspectives on art and education, but all will be there with one goal in mind: to foster, encourage and connect talented art and design students with the education they need to succeed. Creativity has never been more in-demand, and we are committed to fostering and developing the next generation of creative leaders. Come support a student. We hope to see you there!!!

Dr. Larry R. Thompson is president of Ringling College of Art and Design. 

Avant-Garde 2016 will take place at the Ringling College of Art and Design campus on March 19. More information is available at www.ringling.edu/avantgarde.

[City Government]  Sailing Into a Future Vision
Tom Barwin, Thomas.Barwin@sarasotagov.com

Charting community aspirations is much like sailing across open water. If those in and guiding the boat focus their attention exclusively on the choppy waves hitting the side of the boat, they are more likely to become seasick and stray off course. Focusing on the horizon by those at the helm not only assures arrival at the desired destination, but also calms passengers and crew.

In the sailboat we call community, it seems aspirational communities refresh their future visions every 50 years or so. During those times, the voices and energies of inspired, insightful and often can-do citizens come together in anticipation of the winds of change.

100 years ago, the Ringlings and their colleagues instilled Sarasota’s vision to create a community of the arts and business against a backdrop of natural beauty on the Gulf Coast.

Approximately 50 years later in the early 1960s, a broad array of citizens came together to advance several visionary community goals sustaining Sarasota as a high quality of life community as it grew.

For those who may not be aware, Sarasota voters in December 1964 approved a $4.1-million bond issue that authorized:

  1. Relocating City Hall from its 1917 location on Main Street on the Bayfront to its current location, cost $750,000.
  2. Moving the Public Works Department, shop and municipal storage area from the Bayfront, where the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall is now located, to the current Public Works/Utilities campus on 12th Street, cost $150,000.
  3. The building of a municipal theater auditorium, which became the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, cost $1.35 million.
  4. Building a New Recreation Center in Newtown replacing an inadequate, obsolete, WWII USO entertainment barracks, cost $100,000.
  5. Building sidewalks to schools for half of the 15,000 school children who walked to neighborhood schools, cost $100,000.
  6. The Curved Bayfront Street Improvements along the downtown Bayfront, cost $1.1 million.
  7. Lido Beach restoration and pavilion restoration, cost $550,000.

In 1964, with 40,000 full time residents, Sarasota “Freeholders” passed the “Program for Progress” by a wide margin. It is hard to imagine today’s Sarasota without the assets conceived of in the early 1960s.

Now, 50 years after implementation of the ambitious “Program for Progress,” a similar era of inspiration and the refreshing of Sarasota’s future vision appears to once again be underway.

Over recent months, ideas have advanced and sails have been raised toward refreshing our course.  

These initiatives include:

  • Updating transportation plans and options, triggered by the City Commission appropriating $500,000 for creative transportation planning to better move people once they get here.
  • Master Planning the Historic 324-acre Bobby Jones Golf Course and exploring how to retain the property as a recreational and critical environmental natural asset, in perpetuity.
  • Updating the City Zoning Code for the future and responding to and integrating tools to create more affordable housing in the community.
  • Completing a permit process to secure federal, state and local funding to stabilize our shorelines for the next 50 years (versus emergency restorations), as the city and region undertake sea level adaptation plans and strategies as sea levels are predicted to rise.
  • Completing an oral, pictorial and buildings history of historic Newtown as it begins its 101st year, as historic economic renewal picks up momentum in Newtown.
  • Working with Ringling College, New College, University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee and State College of Florida on their C4 initiative as they grow and evolve, expanding Sarasota’s identity to include being a college town/educational/creativity hub.
  • Completing the final eight miles of the Legacy Bicycle Trail to Payne Park, thereby connecting Downtown Sarasota to Venice by a protected bicycle trail.
  • Modernizing and enhancing the 42-acre Cultural District Bayfront park and amenities as articulated to the City Commission last Monday by the Bayfront 20:20 coalition.


As these initiatives demonstrate, the community is going through another inspirational era that will help define the reality of Sarasota over the next 50 years.  As in the past, it’s a time to set our eyes on the horizon and be guided by clear skies and bright stars between the storms.

Tom Barwin is city manager for the City of Sarasota. 



[TODAY]  Purses With Purpose

Booker High School Senior, Raven Peters, who is working towards her Girl Scout Gold Award, is hosting “Purses With Purpose” today, February 27th from 1-3pm at the Girl Scout Event and Conference Center on Cattlemen Road in Sarasota.  The event will highlight the prevalent issue of human trafficking with knowledgable members of the community speaking on the topic.   The event is is free of charge and guests are asked to bring empty purses, sanitary and/or toiletry items. The purses will be distributed to victims of domestic violence and human trafficking.  

[SOON]  An Evening With Oscar

Get your glam on and head to The Players Theatre tomorrow evening, Sunday, February 28 to watch a live broadcast of the Oscar awards! The evening will support CAN (Community Aids Network) and The Players Theatre. The red carpet complete with paparazzi and a champagne tower begins at 7 pm, with the live broadcast beginning at 8 pm. Emcee Bob Trisolini will provide entertaining commentary and  live piano during commercial breaks. $35 per person will buy your seat for the occasion, including lite bites by Café L’Europe and a Cash Bar in the lobby. Dress is Hollywood glam. Contact The Players Theatre box office for tickets at 364-2594 or go online to the link below. 

The Players Theatre

[SCOOP]  Center For Sight Permits Video Recording During Live Surgeries

Center For Sight, one of the nation’s leading ophthalmology practices, is now permitting the use of personal video cameras and mobile technology during all surgical procedures, as approved by the patient and subject to patient privacy concerns. Family members and friends are encouraged to join their loved ones’ during surgery, viewing the procedure from state-of-the art observation rooms adjoining the operating room. A personal narrator is assigned to the patient’s family, explaining each step of the procedure from start to finish. Guests can film the surgery with their personal device, either from a short distance through the observation window, or up close via the large digital screen. The digital screen is connected to the surgeon’s microscope, offering a unique opportunity to see the procedure from the surgeon’s perspective. Center For Sight surgical procedures take place in the AAAHC-accredited surgery center in Sarasota.  

Center For Sight

[SOON]  Art in the Dark

If you cannot see art you must feel it! The Lighthouse of Manasotawill hold its new signature fund raising event, Art in the Dark, on Saturday, April 16 at Michael’s On East. The event will start at 6pm with a silent auction, cocktails, and interactive experiences for attendees to experience art the way the visually impaired see art – by feeling it! The evening program will include Dr. Patricia A. D’Amore, Ph. D.; M.B.A.; Director of the Howe Laboratory at Massachusetts Eye & Ear and Director of Research, Senior Scientist and the Ankeny Scholar of Retinal Molecular Biology at Schepens Eye Research Institute. Following dinner, Doug Deming and the Jewel Tones will finish out the night with lively dance music.

  

Lighthouse of Manasota

[SCOOP]  Goodwill Manasota Opening New Sarasota Retail Store

On Thursday, March 3, Goodwill Manasota will celebrate the opening of its newest retail store. The new Cass location, at 7241 S. Tamiami Trail in Sarasota, will be open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 7pm, and Sunday from 10am to 6pm. The location includes a drive-through for donations. The sales floor at the Cass location is approximately 3,600 square feet and will offer more than 10,000 pieces of apparel along with books, electronics, housewares, new goods, and other fantastic finds. To give a sense of the scale, Goodwill’s last store to open – the Ranch Lake location in Lakewood Ranch – is its largest retail sales floor at 22,800 square feet. The Cass store will also allow Goodwill to continue to enhance its leadership development and job creation initiatives: six new jobs were created to operate this location. 

Goodwill Manasota

[SOON]  Girls Inc. Celebration Luncheon

Get your tickets now for the 28th Annual Celebration Luncheon benefiting Girls Incorporated of Sarasota County.  The luncheon will be held at the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota on April 1.  The “She Knows Where She’s Going” award will be presented to Aimee DeMariano Cogan, and Tyesha Brown will be honored as "Girl of the Year."  There will also be a special In Memoriam Tribute to Donna Brace Ogilvie.   Don’t miss this fabulous event inspiring all girls to be strong, smart and bold. 

Girls Incorporated of Sarasota County

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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