Civics Alumni Event Nov. 10th at Phillippi

From Vickie:

Hello Everyone,

I’d like to invite you to attend the last class of the fall 2011 session for Civics. The class will be held at Phillippi Estate Park. Please see attached flyer for more details. The theme of the program is “Our Sarasota Legacies – old, new, future.”

In the past, I have asked people to bring food to share with the group but this time I would like to ask you to bring an item to donate to the All Faith’s Food Bank. So please bring a non-perishable item to share with our community.

Please let me know if you plan to attend by November 7th.

Best regards to you all,

Input on Administrator and Volunteer Opps

Volunteer for National Public Lands Day Help celebrate the 18th Annual National Public Lands Day from 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, Sept. 24, at Sleeping Turtles Preserve in Venice.

What citizens want in a new county administrator Five public focus groups honed in on thecharacteristics and qualities that Sarasota County residents feel are most important for this position.

Clean up the coast Sept. 24 Volunteer to clean coastal and other areas during the 2011 International Coastal Cleanup. The event takes place 8 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Sept. 24, at sites throughout Sarasota County. To sign up, call 941-861-5399.

County scores high in survey

Most Sarasota County residents say their quality of life is excellent, according to results from the 2011 Sarasota County Citizen Survey. See how else the county scored in spending, property taxes and crime.

National Wildlife Federation: Community Wildlife Habitats

The NWF is offering a free webinar about how to create a community habitat in your community for wildlife - it's next week:

Webinar: Starting a Community Wildlife Habitat Project

Would you like to help your community become a Certified Community Wildlife Habitat? To learn how to get started, please join us for a free webinar. Presenters will include team leaders from certified communities around the country.

Date: Tuesday, September 27th

Time: 3:00-4:00pm Eastern time

More here.

Public Input Sought

From Sarasota Patch:

Two meetings will seek comment from residents about key county issues:

The county is actively searching for a new county administrator. Because of a tighter budget, SCAT bus fares are slated to increase by $0.75.

Today the county wants to hear from you on both of these topics at two separate meetings.

Thursday, Sept. 8

• 10:30 a.m., Selby Library, 1331 First Street, Sarasota
• 2 p.m., Phillippi Estate Park in the Edison Keith Mansion, 5500 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota
• 6 p.m., Venice Community Center, 326 S. Nokomis Ave., Venice

Friday, Sept. 9

• 10:30 a.m., North Port Library, 13800 S. Tamiami Trail, North Port
• 2:30 p.m., North Sarasota Library, 2801 Newtown Blvd., Sarasota

SCAT Fares

A public meeting on proposed increases in Sarasota County Area Transit (SCAT) fares will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. tonight, in Room 112 at Sarasota City Hall, 1565 1st Street. Three public meetings were held in August and an additional meeting was requested to gather more public feedback, the release said.

Call to Artists

A new visual art program launched by the City of Sarasota invites local artists to display their work for the public within a City owned building for three months. Pieces will be on display in the Federal Building, 111 S. Orange Avenue, beginning Monday, October 3, 2011. The displays will change four times a year. More here.

Volunteer Public Art Coordinator
Virginia Hoffman via email @ Virginia.Hoffman@sarasotagov.com

Project Manager: Dr. Clifford Smith, Sr. Planner City of Sarasota, Florida 941- 954-4195
Clifford.Smith@sarasotagov.com

A transportation survey for everyone

Do you walk? Jog? Bicycle? Drive? Walk with a pet? Need special assistance getting around? The county wants your input.

Sarasota County wants your input on what's most important in planning new bicycle paths, new pedestrian walkways, and intersections that involve vehicular traffic. Click here to go to the county's website where you can find out more, or click the button to take the survey. The survey contains a place where you can mention special concerns or priorities.

Fall Civics Taking Applications

Seats still open for fall Civics 101 session Sarasota County government's popular Civics 101 program still has a few seats open for the session beginning Sept. 8. Civics 101 is a 10-week session that introduces people to the operations and services of Sarasota County government. The Thursday-night classes give students a better understanding of how county government works and allows them to build relationships with county staff. (MORE)

Take the Survey

Sarasota County wants bicyclist and pedestrian input for future paths:

Sarasota County’s first Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan is under development. We want your input!

The first draft of the plan is expected to be available in summer 2011. The plan is designed to outline a safe, convenient and efficient bicycle and pedestrian system that provides access to major destinations within Sarasota County and surrounding counties.

Click on "Take our Survey."

"Changing the way we're growing old"

By 2050, 1 in 5 Americans will be seniors. Worldwide, almost 2 billion people will be 60 or older, 400 million of them over 80, says the AP:

Atlanta is creating what it calls "lifelong communities." Philadelphia is testing whether living in a truly walkable community really makes older adults healthier. In Portland, Ore., there's a push to fit senior concerns such as accessible housing into the city's new planning and zoning policies.

Such work is getting a late start considering how long demographers have warned that the population is about to get a lot grayer.

"It's shocking how far behind we are, especially when you think about this fact — that if you make something age-friendly, that means it is going to be friendly for people of all ages, not just older adults," said Margaret Neal of Portland State University's Institute on Aging.

Civics 101 Spring Graduation and Recognition

Belatedly (sorry!) here's the Civics 101 Graduation for the Spring Civics 101 Class. The enthusiasm of the classmates and the special recognition of Civics Class Coordinator Vickie French -- a $1,000 contribution for a tree and a plaque in her name at the Celery Fields -- are remarkable. The Civics item comes up quite early - about the 2 minute mark.

Civic Literacy and Ill-literacy

Lynda Seidl shared a link to another Civics Literacy Test:

Full Civic Literacy Exam (from our 2008 survey)

Are you more knowledgeable than the average citizen? The average score for all 2,508 Americans taking the following test was 49%; college educators scored 55%. Can you do better? Questions were drawn from past ISI surveys, as well as other nationally recognized exams. LINK.

What's disturbing is the remarkably dismal performances of college educators and elected officials. Is literacy an endangered species?

Celery Fields coming into its own

We've covered the development and opening of The Celery Fields as a park and a habitat - here's a blog post on Sarasota Patch about how happy people are finding new things to do there.

When is property not properly taxed?

Richard D. Wolff on the improprieties of how property is taxed:

An older civics conversation in Sarasota

Jeff LaHurd has a terrific piece about how Sarasota County owes its independence to a split from Manatee County in 1921, to form its own more perfect union. It's not an entirely unfamiliar ring to it:

In September, Edwards, Sarasota's first mayor, who was in charge of gathering relevant data, reported: "The territory comprising the proposed new county is paying considerably more into the county treasury in the way of taxes than it is receiving back; the area which comprises one-half of the present county is represented by one commissioner, while the other half is represented by four." More...

A terrific photo of the temporary old courthouse accompanies the text -- they had angle parking downtown even then - who knew?

Apply Online for Civics 101, Fall 2011 Session

From the Planning Dept:

Civics 101 - The fall session for 2011 starts September 8th, 2011. Applications are now being accepted.

Civics 101 is a program designed to provide a toolbox of resources on Sarasota County operations and services. The program provides an in-depth and behind the scenes introduction to operations in Community Services, Emergency Services, Financial Planning, Health and Human Services, Planning and Development, Public Communications, Environmental Services and much more. For instance, there are outdoor learning opportunities provided like visiting some of our county parks; Carlton Reserve, Rothenbach Park, and others.

Civics 101 has two sessions - Spring and Fall - both of which are held on Thursday night each week for 10 weeks. You must also participate in one of the many outdoor learning opportunities scheduled. Twenty-five residents are accepted each session on a first-come, first-served basis.

Civics participants will graduate at a Sarasota County Commission meeting upon completion of the requirements outlined in the schedule.

Fill out the application here.

Two from NPR

Bicycle-sharing schemes are a fixture in European cities like Copenhagen, but now they are taking root on American soil. In Washington, D.C., over the past eight months, the nation's largest bike-share system has become so popular, it may become a victim of its own success. Click here for story.

What to do with failed golf courses? In Palm Beach, they're turning a course into a 160-acre park with a driving range, concert lawn, bicycling lanes, picnic grounds. Deerfield Beach is turning half of an old course into a cemetery. And Davie is transforming a former exclusive course into, voila, an affordable golf course.

Incidentally, the Sarasota County Government Sustainability page on Facebook is a rather solitary place - it could use some friends.

Walk 21

Anyone who has visited Vancouver knows it's one of the coolest cities on the continent. I remember being struck by the reticence of the drivers as I walked through downtown. So polite were they that no horns were heard, no screeching tires, and in fact, one could hear the cries of the distant gulls as they few over the harbor.

They're into walking. Now they're holding a conference on walkability, Oct. 3-5, 2011.



More on walkability here, inspired by the work of Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities.

Civic reflection

As Sarasota County finalizes the terms of Jim Ley's departure, one might ask whether, and how, a more open civic dialog might have helped shape a clear, mutual understanding of what is happening.

Not a final overview -- it will be quite some time before a balanced assessment of Mr. Ley's role as county administrator will be possible. Rather, an interim understanding that recognizes his achievements while holding him and all our public officials accountable for actions that are still under investigation.

What seems missing as these details are put in place is, well, the civic voice. The sense that before sending this long-term public official out the door, what he and the County Commission have agreed upon does justice to the people whom they serve.

Under Mr. Ley's governance, the County has kept a tight lid on public spaces for discussion, input, review, and general conversation. The county by policy appears to eschew social media of all forms.

Maybe it's time to take a fresh approach to communicating with ourselves.

Parking changes in effect

New parking areas and charges are in place in downtown Sarasota - click link for map and more info.