Late on another hot and humid August morning I headed over the bridges to the big city, Sarasota, for the monthly meeting of the movers and shakers of the county, the Tiger Bay Club. This is a test of endurance. Inside the pleasantly cool restaurant, Michaels on East, I heard what I took as a great remark, “You really have to like chicken to put on a jacket on a day like today.” Good line, eh?
I started this mini-series a few weeks ago with a short exposé of our town manager’s potentially reduced security level. That was meant as a fun piece, believe it or not. It actually was pro-town manager in the new reality around here
I attended the monthly Tiger Bay luncheon meeting in Sarasota in early March. As I’m almost tired of saying: the crowd was good, the food only fair. The agenda for that Thursday was the appearance of Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight and City of Sarasota Chief of Police Mikel Hollaway. These two police professionals cover the city and larger county. They answered questions from the day’s moderator and from the floor
Sign pollution and overzealous bicyclists were two hot topics at Thursday’s Town Commission Workshop.
Occasionally I will get an e-mail from a reader that tells me that I am not always communicating my point of view as accurately as I think. With your indulgence, let me try to clarify my guiding principles during my Longboat Key life and beyond.
The Town attorney will likely remind Webb and others that freedom of speech is held on a higher constitutional plane than the freedom to stamp out dissent.
After a July 16 editorial in Longboat Key News, Planning and Zoning Board member Brad Saivetz came under fire from fellow board member and chairwoman BJ Webb who called for an examination of his actions. Former Mayor Ron Johnson also wrote a letter calling for Saivetz to resign from the Planning and Zoning Board.
I asked a few weeks ago, “Is it finished?” Well I suppose it is, at least the Town Commission’s part. Other forums will likely review the town’s actions in approving the Longboat Key Club and Resort’s Outline Development Plan Amendment Application (that’s a mouthful). This writer, who participated in the first act of this drama, was not surprised at the outcome reached on the last possible day.
