Photo Courtesy: Sarasota County.

Last month, we wrote a column thanking the county commission for focusing on stormwater, but we asked for a special meeting solely on stormwater maintenance. We were surprised at the strong community reaction to that column; many from all walks of life reached out to The Argus Foundation to voice their support for the column and their concern for hurricane season.

In addition to the community response, County Commission Chair Joe Neunder reached out to us as did Commissioners Knight and Mast. We were grateful for the acknowledgment and their proactivity in discussing this issue with us.

Five days from the day the column was published, Commission Chair Neunder sent an important email to the County Administrator with a firm understanding of the community angst on the issue of operation and maintenance of the County drainage system.

Chair Neunder announced his intention to request a workshop on the issue and had six very specific and important requests for the agenda for the meeting. He ended the email by stating, “If this Board agrees to provide you with clear direction/mission (And yes, always with a motion) my hope is that we can better be prepared for this upcoming Hurricane Season in the Community that we all LOVE and are blessed to be able to call HOME.”

That was a great email and it was one written with an appropriate sense of urgency for the issue.

At the very next Commission meeting, five days later, the commission could barely wait to discuss the issue. Normally, the Chair presents his issues last, but commissioners mentioned it in their own comments, ready to discuss it. When it came time for the discussion, the commission unanimously supported a special workshop and also decided that this workshop should be expedited for a May meeting. Commissioner Mast asked for more specific budget information. This level of urgency reflected the sense of worry in the community. The elected officials really listened and acted.

After the meeting, Commissioner Knight gave the issue further thought and continued his outreach to The Argus Foundation and people and groups of all kinds from across the county. I heard from many of them who he spoke with. Under his commission report for the next set of commission meetings is a memo about the workshop with more requests for information, all of which are important.

We urge the County Commission to adopt these items for discussion at the workshop and urge the community, especially those who reached out to us after the last column, to voice their gratitude and support to the commission for taking control of this workshop and really taking a hard and transparent look at the level of service for stormwater maintenance.

On behalf of The Argus Foundation, thank you to the County Commission for listening and acting quickly.

Christine Robinson is the Executive Director of The Argus Foundation.

Photo Courtesy: Sarasota County.