When I opened an article entitled “Sarasota Orchestra gets earful at Payne Park feedback session” my eyes immediately locked on the slideshow, including renderings of the orchestra's amazing and wonderful vision. Yes, amazing and wonderful. 

Those who wish to share amazing and wonderful visions for this community should beware when you engage in a relevant and necessary “feedback session,” you are likely committing to an exercise tantamount to a carnival dunking booth where the penalty is not just nasty water, but nasty everything.

I did not attend the “feedback session” held at the City Commission Chambers, but spoke to half a dozen individuals present and there was complete consensus regarding the content and tone of the gathering. At first, I was a bit disappointed the event was not recorded. However, I arrived at the conclusion perhaps it is better it was not. W hat was described to me seemed like a train wreck and a satirist's dream. It's even better when you imagine the scene in chambers and add an orchestral track. Say, “The Mambo” dance number from West Side Story, but with tennis rackets... Ah yes, Bernstein. I love that guy.

So what is the controversy exactly? You might say there are First World problems and there are First World problems but it's all out war and the stakes are high. You must pick a side. Are you for classical music or are you for tennis? Yes, friends, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, some 100 showed up for the meeting and they were mostly tennis enthusiasts there to speak against the orchestra's vision and do so quite ferociously. To borrow a line from John McEnroe; You cannot be serious. 100 people showed up for a evening meeting to lambaste the orchestra. That's about 97 more people than I have ever seen at a budget hearing. The message: Downtown is not the appropriate place for a concert hall, go somewhere else, and by the way, how dare you even suggest moving our tennis courts 300 feet.

Now that is amazing, wonderful, not so much.

To be clear, we are talking about a classical music hall next to a large city park. No drilling, fracking, clubbing of baby seals or drag racing is likely to occur as a result. Breath easy folks, it will not bring about the end of Western civilization.

The Orchestra, which has been here 70 years and employs 315 people, has been looking for a new home for a while now. As you can imagine, the list of available sites for such a facility is incredibly short, less than a handful if we are talking within city boundaries. I don't mind telling you, I am for them staying in the city. Big Time.

Tennis is great, I love that people love tennis and they love a tennis facility right in the middle of downtown. So here is the best part: they can have their tennis facility, newer and better than before. In fact, the Orchestra will build it for them. They said so. They are willing, and rightfully so, to collaborate and coexist with a current use to create a civic masterpiece. Thank you Sarasota Orchestra for your willingness to stay in Sarasota. Thank you for your desire to invest in a piece of our urban core that has been somewhat neglected. Yes, there is much to vet and many details to work out, but first, I say “THANK YOU!”

Water Quality

Kudos to the Sarasota County Commission for staying serious about water quality. At last week’s budget workshop, the board directed county staff to develop an action plan for continuous nutrient level monitoring. This is important for our water quality and a great opportunity to work with other agencies and institutions to better measure our efficacy of our policies. Hats off to Commissioner Christian Ziegler for getting out in front of it. Nice work rookie.

Paul Caragiulo is a former Sarasota County Commissioner and Sarasota City Commissioner. 

Rendering courtesy Sarasota Orchestra

“All organizations start with WHY, but only the great ones keep their WHY clear year after year.” – Simon Sinek, author of “Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire everyone to Take Action.”

The author’s encouragement about the importance of knowing why we do what we do has been on my mind as we enter the final months of the school year and the last quarter of the fiscal year at the Education Foundation of Sarasota County.

The EFSC team members are engaged in a flurry of activity, checking lists to reconfirm that things are in order to close one chapter and open the next.

We easily could lose sight of WHY as we become enveloped by time-sensitive tasks that require focusing on what, when and how. But it is essential to keep our compass pointed at the North Star—our organization’s WHY—as our primary purpose.

Getting distracted from WHY by a series of required tasks is something that can happen in families, private sector corporations and nonprofit organizations. 

The concern about falling into that habit is that when we lose sight of WHY, our passion starts to fade. Our work and our lives no longer feel inspired and can start to feel mundane. WHY stems from our values, passions and aspirations. We can’t motivate or lead others if we lose enjoyment and fulfillment in WHY we get up every day and do what we do.

My thoughts are inspired by a convergence of incidents. In studying relatable aspects of leadership in my Leadership Florida class, I have been reminded about Sinek’s insights in “Start with Why,” in which he writes about the importance of keeping focused on the desired outcome of our activities.

At the same time, we are developing and creating the EFSC’s blueprint for the future. It has been an extensive, exhaustive and worthwhile effort and we have gained invaluable input that has helped us to affirm and clarify our organization’s WHY.

Asking WHY is a critical-thinking exercise that anyone can employ from time to time to nudge ourselves to answer questions such as those Sinek poses: “Why do we get up every day?” “Why does it matter?” “Why should anyone care about our organization?”

Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman said: “No one ever made a decision because of a number. They need a story.”

The power of WHY for us at the EFSC is illuminated and affirmed in stories of students. While we could sum up WHY by saying we get up every day and help support over 43,000 students, a large number easily can become a statistic and abstract sea of faces.

In coming weeks, several STRIVE award students will be telling their own stories about why and how they overcame challenges to stay on track and graduate from high school. The EFSC has the privilege of presenting their STRIVE awards but the students and our organization recognize that it was due to the support of many organizations and individuals that believed in and lifted them up that the students were able to reach their goal.  

These students are not just a component of an abstract enrollment number. They are individual students who represent our WHY.

They are WHY we open Student Success Centers in high schools, fund classroom and schoolwide grants, and work with volunteers to develop a mentoring program. They are WHY we come together with partnering organizations, such as the Local College Access Network, to magnify our work and help more students. 

Periodically asking WHY can help all of us stay focused on the thing that inspires us and, in turn, motivates and inspires those around us and keeps what we do aligned with our values and beliefs.

Do you know your WHY?

Jennifer Vigne is president of the Education Foundation of Sarasota County.  

Photo courtesy Education Foundation of Sarasota County.

Does our physical, built history even matter? It absolutely does, whether we care for it or not.

What stays? What goes? Who gets to say? We can all disagree, but the discussion has to be had.

Burns Court is unique in Sarasota. It was developed and built by Owen Burns, a significant figure in the early development of our town, and designed by architect Thomas Reed Martin. It’s 95-96, almost 100 years old.

As someone who is Sarasota born and raised, I appreciate the energy and enthusiasm that otherwise relative newcomers bring for caring for and preserving things that were part of the reason for why they, and my forebears, came here in the first place. I think those of us who are from here, or that have been around for 3-4-plus decades, have been worn down, desensitized and dulled by a relentless tsunami of more and more people, and $$$. (Everybody’s a hot shot. Everybody’s somebody important. We get it.)

Speaking as an architect myself, inherently rigid structural engineering (pun un/intended) principles and the Florida Building Code can be utterly unforgiving. The code requires certain structural requirements to be met. Period. And we’re all well aware, that because this is Florida and we have storms, the structural requirements are significant. Unfortunately, these older structures are often given little to no structural value whatsoever, even though they have seemingly fared well for 100 years or so. This property doesn’t appear to be in a FEMA Flood Zone, so at least it doesn’t have the to contend with.

But what is the particular point of this “renovation?” Is this a “Level of Alteration” issue? Things can get rather technical and complicated fairly quickly. I do not know the particular details behind the decisions made on this project. 

Regardless, as always, I would recommend hiring an experienced, local, Florida-licensed architect in a case such as this, and so many others. Unlicensed activity is rampant enough as it is.

James S. Piatchuk is an architect and owner of Piatchuk Architecture.  

Selby Gardens is and will continue to be a tremendous net benefit to the community. 

Since 1975, Selby Gardens has been a much-loved part of Sarasota’s fabric and the scientific work conducted at the Gardens is world-renowned. As a member of the Board of Trustees at Selby Gardens, it is our duty and responsibility to make strategic decisions that will ensure the Gardens are properly stewarded well into the future.

I recognize the land where Selby Gardens sits is ripe for high-rise development, and just as those who have served on the Board before me, we have thoughtfully kept the land away from such dense high-rise development, knowing that the real value of having green space in downtown is a tremendous net benefit to the community. The necessary rezoning for the new Master Plan that must occur to keep this land as a botanical garden in perpetuity is a small price to pay to keep away high-density development. 

Norbert P. Donelly is a member of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens Board of Trustees. 

The Sarasota Chalk Festival returns to downtown Sarasota for the April 5 - 7, 2019 festival that will host 50 national and international pavement artists who will transform Burns Square into a "Museum in Motion" as spectators become a part of the creative process. Organizers will debut an interactive 3-dimensional illusion environment that appears normal, but people and objects within it are distorted with water appearing to flow uphill. For more information go to chalkfestival.org 

Chalk Festival

Enjoy a Saturday afternoon (Saturday, April 13 11-1pm) with an amazing fashion show featuring swimwear from a local designer, Bloody Marys and doggy kisses. This fundraiser is only $20 or VIP for $35. VIP receives a swag bag filled with goodies and reserved seating. Florida English Bulldog Rescue will have dogs looking for their fur-ever homes.  The event is outside in the courtyard of The Bazaar on Apricot & Lime. Special guest vendors will be on site as well as 30 inside The Bazaar. Located at 821 Apricot Ave, Sarasota. Tickets on sale now. For more information visit www.bazaaronapricotandlime.com/happenings 

The Bazaar on Apricot & Lime

The Sarasota Cuban Ballet School won the Outstanding School Award, six medals, and 8 honorable mentions at the Youth America Grand Prix Regionals held between March 8 and 10 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. All SCBS students have been invited to participate at the 20 YAGP Finals to be held in New York from April 12 to April 19. Hundreds of young dancers will compete for more then $250,000 in scholarships, as well as the attention of recruiters looking for the next star of the ballet world. 

Sarasota Cuban Ballet School

Boxing, cycling, facilitated movement and yoga will be featured activities at the 2019 Parkinson’s EXPO, the event on Saturday, April 13 that brings top Parkinson’s specialists from around the country to the Tampa Bay area.  The event is free and open to the public. Leading the array of strategies for living well with Parkinson’s are the national Parkinson’s specialists who will be speaking to the latest medical findings and projections on the disease. The EXPO will take place at the Bradenton Area Convention Center at 1 Haben Blvd, Palmetto, Florida. Registration is required for the free event. 

Neuro Challenge

Sarasota Youth Opera’s annual Summer Camp engages young people in the magic of opera all led by professional singers, artists, directors, musicians, and technicians. Summer Camp sessions will take place between June 10-28 at the Sarasota Opera House. Tuition is based on age and session, with options for pre and post care available. No audition is necessary to participate, and programing is designed for all skill levels. The deadline for registration is Friday, May 10, 2019 with remaining applications accepted on a first come basis. For more information and to register, call 941-328-1307 or email youthopera@sarasotaopera.org. 

Sarasota Opera

Sarasota County Schools, with the assistance of SPRINT’s 1Million Project Foundation, aims to bring free high-speed Internet access to nearly 1,000 students in Sarasota County. In the district’s first year of participation, SPRINT will offer wireless hotspots to over 850 students identified by the district. In May, Sarasota County Schools will begin the survey process to identify students who will be offered a free Wi-Fi hotspot through the grant. The district expects to distribute hotspots to students in August, prior to the start of the new school year. 

Gulf Coast Community Foundation