The political divide of contemporary politics has never felt as consequential as it does right now. And there’s never been a greater need for our politicians to rise above the politics of the moment.

The coronavirus crisis has disrupted all of our lives— while ending a tragic number of them. COVID-19 killed more than 1,000 Florida residents as of Friday morning, 72 of them in Sarasota or Manatee. While limited testing indicates far fewer infections in this region than hotspots like Miami-Dade County, the population here remains a vulnerable one with an illness that discriminates against the older and more care-free, which is the Sarasota-Bradenton to a tee.

But a statewide lockdown forced by a public health crisis has brought consequences of its own. More than a half a million unemployment applications were sent to the state Department of Economic Opportunity this week alone. In a state that’s been, to be overly fair, tightfisted about benefits in the past, the safety net has been torn from the posts.

As the polarization of our politics pushes voters to the edges of ideologies, and as the 24-hour news cycle encourages us to politicize everything, there’s been a tragic public response to the subject of preserving the public well-being. On one side are the hoaxers, I suppose we have to call this the far right nowadays. They question if the virus deserved any response at all, calling it no more than a flu despite being much more contagious and evidently more deadly. I hate labeling this as a conservative view. But for those reflexively suspicious of government control, this is a high-profile polarity that draws in too many in fearful moments like this.

But just as dangerous are the scolds who proclaim to represent the left. You could find them online Wednesday when County Commissioners supported a very limited reopening of the beach to runners. For these folks, allowing walks on the beach invites death to us all. And don’t you dare talk about opening workplaces where those half a million unemployed workers could earn a living.

Now I’m not certain myself if Sarasota was ready to open the beaches. But then I’m not sure Manatee saves anyone keeping them closed. Fortunately, someone as conflicted as myself isn’t casting the vote at commission hearings. But whether you agree with Manatee, Sarasota, Ron DeSantis or Andrew Cuomo, the truth is we have elected officials whose only job is to make hard decisions. We’ve no choice but to trust in their judgment. If we believe they have erred, our duty as voters is to hold them accountable at election time.

But I won’t threaten officials with my vote. Not right now. That’s because the last thing that should inform decisions about public health is public opinion. Our leaders need to weigh a wide array of issues to ensure the most lives are saved with the least collateral damage inflicted. Officials, whether at the local, state or national level, need to make decisions for the greater good based not on the popularity of their choices but on the best data from the top experts.

And yes, public health officials absolutely must be heard. But they need not be heard exclusively. Business leaders and economists have a role to play. Liberals may bristle at the notion commercial well being can be balanced against protecting the vulnerable. Conservatives will recoil at intentional regulation that not only kills jobs but could literally close businesses down.

This pandemic demands more than philosophical debate. The stakes are too high, the balance is fragile and the math painfully hard. Worse, there are no right answers.

Voters essentially will deliver their own verdict on politicians, but it’s a disservice to the honorofic before officials' names for even the impact on their reelection to play a role in the decision-making process before them today.

Jacob Ogles is contributing senior editor for SRQ MEDIA. 

Eight months ago, I launched this series of columns to demonstrate that creativity is relevant to all fields and professions. I have shared examples from leaders in many different sectors to support my firm belief that creativity will be the critical skill needed for success in ANY field as automation increasingly changes the ways in which we work and live.

Then the Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic hit. It changed everyone’s plans for just about everything. Every country turned its focus to handling this pandemic. The decisions made at all levels of government have impacted every organization, from large corporations to small mom and pop stores and to non-profits, large and small. Likewise, the lives of every person have been touched. Some have seen their way of working change drastically; some have lost their jobs altogether. Students of all ages, along with their families, are managing remote learning. Everyone is living in much smaller bubbles in a collective effort to prevent this virus from spreading exponentially and overwhelming our healthcare system. We as a global society have been faced with an unimaginable set of challenges as a result of COVID-19.

However, in the face of this incredible change and uncertainty, I have seen some astounding creativity. Schools at all levels conceived, developed and launched online learning in a heretofore unthinkably short amount of time– often less than a week. Businesses, even those that had not previously been known to embrace technological advancements, found themselves moving to remote work or establishing other innovative approaches to business continuity in a very short time frame. Did we ever think restaurants, for example, would be touting their contact-free service capabilities? However, what we may not know is the staggering creativity that was required to implement these drastic changes, especially so quickly. I can tell you from what we experienced at my own institution that it has been — and continues to be — truly remarkable; unbelievable, in fact.

Already, the world is turning to creative thinkers to help solve some of the pressing issues we face in dealing with this crisis. The United Nations has issued an open brief to the world for fresh, innovative ways to translate “critical public health messages into different cultures, communities and platforms” to help prevent spread of the virus. According to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterre, “the creativity of the response must match the unique nature of the crisis — and the magnitude of the response must match its scale.” NASA has challenged its workforce to generate ideas for ways the agency and its resources can help address the challenges presented. Companies not normally focused on healthcare are working to solve problems faced by medical professionals. They are creating workable ventilators from snorkeling and scuba masks and investigating ways that N95 face masks can be reused. Other companies are finding ways to meet the shortage of masks available for use by the general public. These and other creative solutions have led surgeon Ed Livingston, an editor at the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), to call this “the biomedical engineering community’s Apollo 13 moment.”

As Mitchel Resnick, LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab, asserts, “the coronavirus crisis highlights the growing need for creativity in today’s society,” and “the ability to think and act creatively is now more important than ever before.” In short, creativity is getting us through this unprecedented time in our history. It is enabling innovation to address healthcare needs and keep businesses and schools running. As we continue on and emerge from this pandemic, creative thinking will lead us to solutions for catalyzing the economy. It will show us how to retain the best of what we have learned through this experience to improve our lives and work and to find a new normala. Until then, creativity will help us feed our souls, as artists stream live performances from their homes, museums take us on virtual tours, and films and books bring us along on adventures.

I wish you all safety and health, of body and of spirit.

Larry Thompson is president of Ringling College of Art and Design.- 

In celebration of this month’s 50th Anniversary of Earth Day and National Arbor Day celebrations, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is excited to announce a fun, interactive way to learn about plants and nature from one’s own backyard. It’s easy to get involved with the EcoFlora Project! Using a smartphone or a camera, snap a picture of a plant in Sarasota or Manatee county and upload it to iNaturalist. Each month, Selby will feature a new EcoQuest Challenge to focus on different species and keep things exciting!

THE FIRST ECOQUEST CHALLENGE

The first challenge will take place April 24-27 and is the internationally-recognized City Nature Challenge, which encourages citizens of communities around the world to locate, document, and identify plants through photographs that share where plants are geographically located. This is a truly international effort! It was held competitively in past years, but this year everyone counts, so please sign in to Selby’s local Challenge! Learn more here. The EcoFlora Project is a collaboration with the New York Botanical Garden, Chicago Botanic Garden, Denver Botanic Garden, and Desert Botanical Garden and is funded through the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences. 

Visit here to learn more.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regional economy has hit arts and cultural organizations among the hardest. To help key nonprofit arts groups weather this crisis, Gulf Coast Community Foundation has awarded $470,000 in new Arts Appreciation Grants to 10 of the region’s cornerstone arts organizations. The emergency grants, approved by the foundation’s Board on Tuesday, represent an unscheduled second round of the foundation’s arts grants program during its current fiscal year—effectively doubling its investment in these organizations at a uniquely difficult time.

“This pandemic hit at the very height of the performance and fundraising season, so the blow has been devastating for our region’s signature arts and cultural organizations,” said Mark S. Pritchett, President | CEO of Gulf Coast Community Foundation. “By advancing this funding now, the Gulf Coast Board aims to provide these beloved institutions with needed cash flow as well as help energize their donor bases to lean in too at a time when support is needed most.”

Gulf Coast Community Foundation typically awards its Arts Appreciation Grants once a year to key arts and cultural partners. With minimal paperwork and wide flexibility in how the funding may be used, the grants are designed to let the organizations focus on what they do best: advancing their artistic missions. Gulf Coast awarded the same amounts to the 10 grant recipients earlier in its fiscal year. The emergency round of Arts Appreciation Grants was quickly approved by the foundation’s Board in response to the unprecedented effects of the coronavirus pandemic. While Gulf Coast’s joint COVID-19 Response Initiative with Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation has prioritized funding for the health and human-service safety net, Pritchett said the foundation and its donors also recognize the acute needs across the entire nonprofit sector. He noted that The Sarasota Ballet, for example, not only had to cancel major revenue-generating performances and events, but also was helping to support a group of international dancers stranded here by travel restrictions.

“Since the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic increased dramatically a month ago, Gulf Coast and its donors have invested $2.4 million in safety-net supports and vital nonprofit organizations,” said Pritchett. “Our donors’ gifts have gone to a variety of organizations, ranging from All Faiths Food Bank and Suncoast Humane Society to arts groups like Asolo Repertory Theatre.” The following Arts Appreciation Grants were awarded by Gulf Coast Community Foundation this week:

Asolo Repertory Theatre - $70,000
Sarasota Ballet - $55,000
Sarasota Opera - $50,000
Sarasota Orchestra - $50,000
The Ringling Museum - $50,000
Venice Theatre - $50,000
Florida Studio Theatre - $45,000
Embracing Our Differences - $40,000
Venice Symphony - $30,000
Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe - $30,000 

Click for more information about the Gulf Coast's COVID-19 Response Initiative

Thanks to the generosity of local philanthropists the Rosenthal family - through the Rosenthal Roots Family Foundation - the first $10,000 that Hershorin Schiff Community Day School raises through the upcoming 2020 Giving Challenge will be matched. Added to The Patterson Foundation match for gifts from unique donors between $25-$100, that means gifts to Community Day can be tripled.

For over a decade the Rosenthals have funded the Papa Ed and Mimi Sustainable Organic Kibbutz School Garden and Outdoor Classroom, as well as the school's Go Green program, which provides clean water through reverse osmosis filters installed on drinking fountains throughout the campus, thereby reducing plastic water bottle pollution. Ed and Betty also have supported the school in innumerable other ways, from contributing substantially to the Mobile Classroom Van to their recent major gift to support our move to The Larry Greenspon Family Campus for Jewish Life for the 2021-2022 school year.

“The Rosenthals have, for many years, shown leadership and a heartfelt commitment toward our school,” said Community Day head of school Dan Ceaser. “They are generous, innovative, and always at the forefront of showcasing pride in our Jewish history and culture, concern for our fellow man, and a deep passion for being good stewards of the Earth. Their legacy will be felt for generations to come within our school community.”

Given the widespread and harmful impact that the coronavirus has had on so many - including the school community - leaders have decided that 100% of donations to Community Day School during the 2020 Giving Challenge will be directed toward tuition support for families in need for the 2020-2021 school year. The school is hoping to raise $20,000 this year in support of our scholarship programs.

The 2020 Giving Challenge takes place on Tuesday, April 28 - Wednesday, April 29, from noon to noon. The Giving Challenge is presented by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County with giving strengthened by The Patterson Foundation. Supporters should go to givingpartnerchallenge.org and search for the page "Hershorin Schiff Community Day School" to make their gifts once the Challenge begins. 

Three generations of the Rosenthal family: Courtney and Eric, Ed and Betty, Jonathan (seated), and grandkids Mia, Wes, Ace and Ari Photo by Daniel Perales Studio

Click for more about Community Day.