As the school year winds down here in Sarasota, I feel a touch nostalgic for my own school days in Iowa. Looking back, I realize the friendships and connections I made as I progressed through my education truly enriched my experience and made me into the person I am today. Some of you may know I was a cheerleader, started my university education focused on a nursing career, changed to a business major and found friendship through a sorority. I see now I was drawn to each of these collaborative environments where working as a team was highly valued. Together, we felt courageous, unstoppable, empowered to make a difference.

I feel the same way when I look at our diverse community and its robust spirit of collaboration. Every day, nonprofits and community leaders alike are forming unique collaborations to cultivate goodwill, foster initiatives and create opportunities for donors to work with groups across organizations with ease to fulfill their charitable dreams.

In more ways than one, the richness of our community shines through these great partnerships that help bridge passion and potential to inspire lasting impact.

One notable example is the Cross College Alliance, a collaboration across institutions of higher education to expand learning experiences for local students. Since 2014, the Alliance has linked The Ringling Museum, New College of Florida, State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, Ringling College of Art and Design and the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, allowing for cross registration, faculty collaboration and resource sharing. 

Further demonstrating the spirit of collaboration, the initial funding for the Alliance was provided by the Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Manatee Community Foundation, and our foundation, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.

As separate entities these are all effective and important institutions, but when combined they offer more than 150 degree and certificate programs to 16,200 students under the guidance of 400 faculty members and 1,500 full-time employees. By building these relationships across so many different boundaries, the Alliance is creating a culture of cooperation and innovation that is rethinking higher education in our community.

With such a close connection, the possibilities for lifelong learning, research and growth are limitless.

In fact, just recently the Alliance was awarded a $55,000 grant through an anonymous donor with the Community Foundation of Sarasota County to support its Environmental Discovery Awards Program, a field-immersion internship program for students passionate about the environment. The Alliance’s distinct partnerships with local nonprofits and organizations not only offer these invaluable experiences for career development, but also amplify opportunities for students and communities to create a better future together. 

As the achievements of the Alliance clearly show, we all can maximize our impact through collaboration.

Our community foundation sees this value in collaborative philanthropy, and through other programs like the Giving Circles, The Giving Challenge and Season of Sharing, we strive to bring people and organizations together to uplift, inspire, and make a difference as one community.

Looking forward, let’s all find ways to build bridges. Just as my fellow classmates inspired me growing up, so too can each of us through our individual actions that have the potential to be even more far-reaching than we originally envision.

Roxie Jerde is president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. 

Have you ever had a life-altering experience that left you completely and utterly changed? If so, were you able to channel it for good?

After having returned recently from an interfaith community trip to Israel, sponsored by The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee, I have a renewed sense of commitment for what it means to be a contributing member of my community.

I am grateful to have had this experience, which was exponentially magnified because of the people who joined me on this journey. Similar to the kibbutzim we visited while traversing Israel from north to south and east to west, our group—a melting pot of diversity in all definitions of the word—assimilated into a tightly woven family that embraced Ziggy Marley’s song, “Love is My Religion.” I simply can’t imagine my life without these people in it.

While my preconceived notions of Israel were limited, we were exposed to enriching life lessons that ignited my senses and triggered great emotion. We listened to a trauma surgeon from the Galilee Medical Center share stories of the more than 1,600 patients who were treated during the Syrian War using an underground emergency department of the medical center. Seeing how the Israelites provided humanitarian aid to Syrians reminded me of the guiding principle that in everything, “do unto others what you would have them do to you.”

During two days of our visit, fighting broke out in the Gaza Strip. We could hear hundreds of rockets and missiles firing, and yet we never felt in danger even though we were just 40 miles away. With enemy countries adjacent to the Israeli border, we could see the Hezbollah flag waving in the distance. It was surreal.

The next day, we celebrated Israel’s Memorial Day—Yom HaZikaron—when the entire nation stopped for a moment of silence as sirens sounded, paying homage to those who died in service. The following day, we celebrated and danced for Yom HaAtzmaut—Independence Day—as Israel celebrated its 71st anniversary as an independent nation. From somber to euphoria, the sense of patriotism was palpable and drove home for me this truth: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

We visited a school that is a network of integrated, bilingual schools for Jewish, Christian and Arab children in Israel. Embracing their differences, respecting their heritages and seeing them playing with one another reinforced for me to honor everyone. I also learned that the Israeli military protects all public areas, including schools, which led me to conclude that school security is a matter of national defense. While educating students may be a local issue, protecting students should be a federal responsibility so that we can give justice to the weak and use vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

These were just a few of the many rich experiences our group felt together. Ultimately, the greater lesson I learned was that often, our vision is limited by where we are; we can see only from the place where we are standing. By being not just open but thirsty and hungry to learn, I absorbed a nation, culture, heritage, history and religion in ways I had not been taught before.

My world view was altered by seeing—both by sight and new understanding—what it took for this nation to go from peril to promise, and by viewing that not from a textbook but from my vantage point of standing in the actual Promised Land.

“If we could take just a little of that back home,” I thought, and then realized I could do just that by truly assimilating profound personal lessons about how I choose to live my life, such as being better at withholding judgment, demonstrating greater empathy, having deeper compassion, overcoming or effectively resolving conflict, and modeling respect for humankind.

Thank you to The Jewish Federation for this incredible trip and thank you to my newfound family for teaching me lessons I never expected, but am grateful, to have learned.

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

Photo courtesy Education Foundation: Jennifer Vigne, third from right, with interfaith community group in Israel.

There are three types of Sarasota City Commission meetings; the good, the bad and the ugly, i.e. the ones that make you physically ill. For me, the May 20 commission meeting, pitting the Save Payne’s Parkers versus Sarasota Orchestra went down as one of the ugliest, stomach-churning meetings ever. It was equally exhausting to watch as it was embarrassing in that such a mere concept of an idea could create such a froth of misplaced resistance and resentment toward one of our city’s most respected, historic civic partners.

Four out of five commissioners displayed both their complete lack of the most basic urban planning concepts and their soul-seizing fear of a petite political mob in yellow shirts and those high-visibility vests that are usually worn when directing traffic. Yes strange, yet strangely Sarasota, and I can’t help but see the irony of the color choice. Yellow.  

One can only wonder, first Mote, now the Orchestra; who’s next? Ringling College?  

I have become used to the overly affected emotional content, the intellectual dishonesty, the open invitation to engage in some first-world class warfare etc. What I can’t get used to is the complete lack of curiosity and the complete disinterest in a long-term vision for a community. 

Think of it as if YOU were gone tomorrow, what would you want for THE COMMUNITY? 

It is beyond problematic when commissioners craft public policy exclusively for a small yet very loud minority, a minority whose idea of the future is the next three minutes and the ideal is rooted somewhere in the past. Ever see that film Midnight in Paris? It’s a bit like that. Although, some might not want to watch a film set in Paris, because you know, Paris has a lot of traffic.   

The Orchestra made it very clear that this is just a concept. Yes, it’s just a concept—a completely brilliant one.  I’m not sure if it’s possible or feasible yet, but why not allow ourselves time and space to examine and explore it before we drown it in a “duck pond”?

How could four out of five commissioners completely miss how transformative this could be?

Payne Park is in the middle of the urban core and soon to be connected to what will be the biggest transportation game-changer of all time, The Legacy Trail. One can only shake their head. For anyone listening, it seemed that most of the opposition speakers had one thing in common; they didn’t hear a word the Orchestra people said. Not a word. Just because you came to say something specific does not mean that you have to say if after being provided with new information. But of course when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail, especially when you throw in a few buzzwords like green space and traffic study. They will certainly be relevant, just not yet.  

So what of the Orchestra? The fact remains that the Sarasota Orchestra has had a 70-year relationship with this community and over 50 years as a city tenant, partner and integral cultural asset. It did not deserve to be maligned and have its mere legitimacy questioned. This is not a new relationship; this has been a long and overwhelmingly successful marriage. The entire community has benefited enormously. Oh and for the record, there is nothing, and I mean nothing, elitist about a bunch of working-class professional musicians earning a living.  

We won’t get into the very strange ideas expressed by one of the commissioners, regarding how a city manager should operate, not yet. Perhaps I will save that for next month. A month should give the commissioner in question enough time to have a look at the city charter. If we are lucky, some questions about leadership will arise.

Yes, it’s about leadership alright, and we could certainly use some right now. 

P.S. This column contains less than the usual amount of satire for a reason as there is really nothing funny about any of this.

Paul Caragiulo is a former Sarasota city and county commissioner. 

Until last November, all Sarasota County voters were able to vote for each Sarasota County

Commissioner. This gave equal accountability to all voters among the five Commissioners. Since the

passage of the Single Member Districts referendum, only voters in each Commission district can vote for that Commissioner. This makes each Commissioner only accountable to one district and not all Sarasota County voters.

Equal representation is imperative in representative government. The districts must be equal in

population so each Commissioner represents the same number of constituents. This seems obvious

and necessary. At this point, however, the districts are not even close. Until the referendum, it has not mattered as each Commissioner previously was accountable countywide and only had to live in their district.

Because of the pattern of population growth in the county, District 5, which represents the Englewood and Venice area in south Sarasota County, has 75,000 registered voters. In contrast, District 1, which represents north Sarasota County, has only 56,000 voters. That means each voter in District 1 has approximately 25 percent more weight representatively than each voter in District 5.

Further, this redistricting is required under state law. It’s simply mandatory. The County Commission does not have a legal choice. Florida State 124.011 makes this crystal clear:

“Alternate procedure for the election of county commissioners to provide for single-member representation.

(1)   County commissioners shall be nominated and elected to office in accordance with the provisions of s. 124.01, or as otherwise provided by law, unless a proposition calling for single-member representation within the county commission districts is submitted to and approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting on such proposition in the manner provided in this section. Such proposition shall provide that:

(a)   Five county commissioners shall reside one in each of five county commission districts, the districts together covering the entire county and as nearly equal in population as practicable; and each commissioner shall be nominated and elected only by the qualified electors who reside in the same county commission district as the commissioner (ital added)

And finally, all redistricting needs to be done in an odd year, such as this year, because otherwise it is an election year and too late. There is no point in waiting until 2021 when it can be done now. And delaying may violate Florida law.

The driving force behind the Single Member Districts referendum was always the Democratic Party as a ploy to get one or maybe two commission seats since they have not been able to win countywide in generations. Opposition to the redistricting fix, which is mandatory, pulls the mask off the idea that disenfranchising county voters from being able to have a say on who represents them on four out of five seats was anything other than a costly partisan power grab.

The principle of equal representation is of greater importance than partisan politics. That’s why it is

both the legal duty and ethical responsibility of the County Commission to begin redistricting immediately so that each voter in North Port has the same say as each voter in north Sarasota County—unless the opposition wants to argue that they should not.

Jack Brill is Acting Chairman of the Republican Party of Sarasota 

Saturday, May 18, the annual meeting of the Hudson Bayou Neighborhood Association was held. The agenda was packed, and at the end, our President was to speak on the Selby Gardens Master Plan.

Immediately before the meeting began, Selby Gardens CEO Jennifer Rominieki came in with an entourage. Ms. Rominieki was not invited and was not on the agenda. However, we do not exclude people who are not neighbors.

Our President began her report on Selby Gardens by showing the rendering of the project. She informed us neighbors that she has attended 14 meetings trying to reach a compromise with Selby Gardens on the size and scale of this project and the use of our neighborhood street. Jennifer Rominieki from Selby Gardens stood up and interrupted her report and commandeered the meeting by engaging in debates with neighbors. When our President tried to explain that this was to be a conversation among neighbors, Ms. Rominieki ignored her and continued to dominate the room. It took a motion, a second and a vote of membership to make to Ms. Rominieki sit down.

This is not the first time this type of behavior has occurred. At the Harbor Acres Annual meeting, a neighbor was on the agenda to report his concerns with the Selby Plan. A neighbor who serves on the Selby Gardens Board of Trustees shouted him down.

Long-term residents of our single-family neighborhood have faced a withering marketing campaign characterized by misdirection, misrepresentation and deceptive wordcraft. Selby staff claims that it has used a “Neighborhood Advisory Committee.” That’s true. We meet and face long-winded explanations of why Selby Gardens will not make compromises.

The first misrepresentation is the mass, scale and size of the garage proposed at the corner of South Orange and Mound. Selby Gardens’ rendering shows a lovely structure from the top. This garage has more than an acre footprint and is the equivalent of seven stories tall. It serves a large, commercial destination restaurant to be operated by Michael Klauber. Despite Selby Gardens’ Master Plan language that announces the intention to become a “premier Bayfront event and entertainment venue,” Selby staff now denies that is the plan.

To the media, Selby staff points to the protection of its rare collections of specimens of plants and books. This is not a part of the Phase I garage/ restaurant plans. What is lost in Phase I are 111 mature trees, including five grand oaks and five historic structures. First, we were told that this plan created 50 percent more “green space.” That included the “skygarden,” a creative name for a garage. Now, the public is told by numerous signs to expect a 50-percent increase in “garden space.” That 50 percent includes roads, paved surfaces and buildings.

Legitimate questions are met with 15-minute non-answers or 1,500-word email blasts directing to other issues. When we confront these misrepresentations, Selby staff says the facts are FALSE. No details are provided. This is such a shame, because we all love Selby Gardens. My neighborhood loves the Selby Gardens Marie intended.

Susan Chapman is a former president and founding member of the Hudson Bayou Neighborhood Association. 

The Humane Society of Sarasota County recently concluded the pilot of its newest humane education program—Collars & Scholars. This program is a joint venture of HSSC and The Florida Center for Early Childhood, brought together by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. The Collars & Scholars nine-week pilot program was held at Gocio Elementary School and led by knowledgeable HSSC staff. The inaugural class consisted of a small group of fourth and fifth graders selected by Jennifer Garafola, Gocio’s school-based mental health therapist. The program uses the principles of the human-animal bond to boost students’ social and emotional health. The weekly lessons were a mix of group discussion, worksheets, activities, journaling, puppets, games, and ample time to interact with the animal visitors—typically three or four of HSSC’s Pet Therapy teams plus shelter animals. HSSC drew on landmark programs like Mutt-i-grees® (a collaboration of North Shore Animal League America and Yale University’s School of the 21st Century) to develop the curriculum. The goal was to create a safe, welcoming space for children to learn about animals and themselves. Students who began the program as shy and disengaged were, by week nine, eagerly participating, sharing their thoughts, showing respect for others, and actively engaging with the animals and presenters. 

HSSC Collars & Scholars Program

A worldwide ocean celebration is on the horizon. Join the fun during the World Oceans Day Family Festival on Saturday, June 8 at Mote Aquarium. Mote’s World Oceans Day event will spotlight the ocean's deep connection to the human spirit and the boundless inspirational power of our natural world's greatest resource. The family festival is free with regular paid admission to Mote Aquarium and is free for Mote Members.  

Mote’s World Oceans Day Event

Five years ago, The Salvation Army implemented a programming framework called Quality of Life by Choice (QLIFE) to reduce homelessness and move people toward stable housing. The program moves homeless individuals through a continuum of care that includes short-term housing, case management, and long-term goal-setting.But when clients are finally placed into longer-term housing, furniture is not included and the individuals do not have significant funds for furnishings. A supporter of both The Salvation Army Sarasota and Goodwill Manasota connected the two organizations, in hopes that items Goodwill hadn't sold in retail stores could be donated to The Salvation Army clients rather than diverted to salvage operations. Since the connection was made in the latter half of 2018, more than 10 individuals or families have benefited from the partnership, receiving items including couches, tables, dressers, chairs and more.  Photo: Salvation Army client Michael Lynes in front of his home, which is furnished in part with items from Goodwill. 

Goodwill Manasota

Boys & Girls Clubs of America has named Jim Martin, CEO & Founder of Sarasota-based Captivation Media Group, a 2019 Maytag Dependable Leader Award winner for his demonstrated dedication to keeping youth at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County on the path to achieve great futures. This national award recognizes volunteers who are committed to making a difference as dependable and exceptional role models. Through a nationwide partnership, Maytag brand and Boys & Girls Clubs of America selected Jim as one of only seven winners in the country to receive this year’s distinction, which includes a $20,000 grant for Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County. The grant will be used to expand the agency's STAR Leadership Training Program, which provides high school students with 65 hours of leadership development training and focuses on active citizenship, roles and responsibilities of civic engagement and understanding local government. By the end of the program, graduates are eligible to serve as a full-voting members on county, city and nonprofit boards or committees. 

Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County

Cadets at Sarasota Military Academy (SMA), a local public charter school, have recently completed an Oncology internship program with Sarasota Memorial Hospital (SMH). The program, launched in 2018, was created through a partnership with SMH and the Academy to benefit cadets seeking careers in medicine. The Oncology internship program, which includes a 12-week rotation throughout various hospital departments, allows cadets to explore a variety of opportunities and career options. The rotations include time spent in the surgery, genetic counseling, nursing and trauma departments. This year, SMA seniors Lukas Souza and Jonathan Borroso, and junior Isabella Evans, were selected for the program. The partnership between SMA and SMH is a result of coordinated efforts by Dr. Jessica Patella, Sarasota Military Academy Science Instructor, Dr. James Fiorica, Sarasota Memorial Hospital Chief Medical Officer and Barbara Poropat, BSN, who serves as the primary internship coordinator and facilitator. To date, eleven cadets have completed the internship program. 

Sarasota Military Academy