The Republican Party of Sarasota for the first time this election cycle issued endorsements in the nonpartisan School Board races. For the curious, incumbent School Board member Bridget Ziegler picked up the party’s official support as she seeks reelection to a seat in District 1, which is anything but a shock. Meanwhile, the party threw its backing to District 4 candidate Robyn Marinelli and District 5 candidate Chris Kruysman.

A statement from RPOS acting chair Jack Brill tries to signal the move in conjunction with compelling discourse surrounding education politics in Florida today. “This is historic,” Brill said. “We’re taking a very firm stand to stop Critical Race Theory and return the schools to the will of the people. A high quality, public education that is not politicized with hatred is essential for our future. We’re excited that these strong candidates will ensure that students are educated and not indoctrinated, and that parents will be heard regarding their children’s learning.”

I could write a whole column on the irony of using the buzzwords “Critical Race Theory” while decrying politicization of schools. For now, I’ll just point out censoring school curricula based on the manufactured outrage of the minute in fact strives for a different goal.

But I don’t want to criticize the party for taking a stance, as I’m sure many a “good government” voice will do. That happens any time political leaders make their voices heard in these supposedly nonpartisan races, as if being a part of an already organized political coalition should mean the mandatory erasure of one’s own influence on elections.

Political parties have no compelling reason to sit out elections. Indeed, I’d argue a failure to vet candidates would be a dereliction of responsibility.

Political parties serve many purposes, including engaging voters and keeping turnout high to help win elections. But they also serve as a gatekeeper; that’s a dirty word these days but an important role. We elect officials to do important jobs, and we need competent people to do them. Even before ideology comes into play, it serves value to have educated organizations judge if candidates are capable.

Ideology, of course, does play a role. Ideally, voters end up faced with a choice of qualified individuals and choose the one whose worldview and vision rides closest to their own. The view with the greatest support wins. That’s the democratic (with a small ‘d’) model that sets U.S. politics apart from the world.

Political parties, more than any other special interest engaged in an election, brings with it a combination of expertise and a specific agenda.

Personally, I’m glad Florida in the late 1990s turned School Board’s into nonpartisan bodies. I’m old enough to remember when qualified people in minority parties simply couldn’t win this office, and both voters in the minority party and those with no party at all ended up frozen out of the process completely. Frankly, you can see that process in play with county commissions to this day. Partisan elections limit participation and give a ridiculous edge to people who get a boost based on the letter by their name.

But that does not mean parties have no role to play. Typically, the ones who feel that way are those beholden to interests that wield sizable influence (neighborhoods, chambers, unions) but fear being at odds with a group that’s better organized and practiced at politics. Well, tough. Whether it’s Democrats thumbing the scales in city races or Republicans lobbying for seats on the one county board where they lack a majority, parties have a constituency and reason to engage.

Because whatever anyone says, public education inherently has been politicized. It happened the minute public funding was put behind schools and a board was designed to be accountable to the people through the power of elections.

Jacob Ogles is contributing senior editor for SRQ MEDIA. 

One of the things I’ve loved about leading New College for the past nine years has been watching our students, staff and faculty contribute to the greater Sarasota-Manatee community. Some of their most influential research initiatives have occurred right on our campus, which is located along Sarasota Bay.

As I say goodbye to my time here, it brings me great joy to announce the beginning of a new project—one that will allow New College to more fully realize the teaching and research potential of our bayfront site.

This month, New College starts construction on a marine science research and sailing dock—an undertaking that will enhance environmental research, education and recreation programs on the bay. This marine environment—teeming with life—is the bellwether for the future of our oceans, and our students and faculty have monitored features of it for more than a half-century.

We already have a first-rate marine laboratory on campus (Pritzker Marine Biology Research Center), but without a dock, students and faculty could not properly launch their vessels into the bay. I am so glad to see them finally get the resource they need to conduct their research.  

The data they have collected and analyzed over the years (regarding everything from sharks, dolphins and manatees to mangroves, bioluminescence and red tide) has positively impacted our local community, our waters and—by extension—the world. As with all science, understanding of—and data pertaining to—our local environment, ripples out and contributes to our knowledge of our planet.

The new dock will only enhance New College’s traditionally strong and popular programs in marine biology and environmental studies (not to mention the summer marine biology education programs for underprivileged students from Sarasota and Manatee counties).

Our marine biology program currently has a 32-foot pontoon research boat (Limbatus), a smaller research skiff and a rigid inflatable rescue vessel that will soon have their own launching pad. The dock will also provide boat slips for the College’s sailing team and waterfront recreation program, and two boat lifts will offer additional access for individuals with mobility issues.

What will the construction look like, exactly? The six-foot-wide, L-shaped dock will extend 294 feet west from the shore of the Caples campus, and then 144 feet to the southwest. The dock site on the College’s Caples campus, about 50 feet south of The Ringling museum sea wall, was selected for its environmental compatibility and proximity to deep water.

New College has worked closely with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Southwest Florida Water Management District to ensure full compliance with the stringent permitting requirements governing Sarasota Bay.

“The bay is one of Sarasota’s greatest natural assets,” says Jayne Gardiner, Ph.D., director of Pritzker and an associate professor of biology at New College. “With a dock that expands access to the bay, we can conduct more environmental and marine science research into this natural ecosystem, which benefits both our students and the bay itself.”

To do this in a sustainable way, New College has ensured that the dock is constructed with environmentally-friendly materials: Surestep PVC open deck grating, designed for maximum sunlight penetration to underwater aquatic life; and high-density polyethylene piling wraps, which protect the water from any chemicals in the treated wood pilings.

During a time of rising sea levels, this dock will accelerate our understanding of the effects of climate change and our warming waters. More immediately, it will provide environmentally safe access to the bay.

Conducting research on the bay (and in Costa Rico, the Caribbean, Hawaii and other marine sites abroad) has always been integral to the culture at New College. Our faculty and staff want to heal the planet we have handed them, and our students’ futures depend on those efforts. The construction of this dock will make that admirable journey a little easier.

With an estimated completion date of early September, the dock will greet the incoming fall class at New College.

I find it comforting and inspiring to know that, years hence, students and faculty will be able to embark on bold new adventures—the results of which may, in fact, go on to change the world.

Donal O’Shea is retiring as president of New College of Florida. 

Image courtesy New College of Florida.

“Nature Displayed: Discourses on Natural History as Were Thought Most Proper to Excite the Curiosity and Form the Minds of Youth” was the (abridged) title of a 250-year-old book shared with the audience in a PowerPoint presentation during last week’s groundbreaking event at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. One of the primary objectives of the Gardens’ $72-million master plan is to fortify the 15-acre downtown campus in order to protect the Gardens’ rare plant collections, historic buildings and irreplaceable works such as “Nature Displayed” from catastrophic storm events and sea level rise. Additionally, acres of green space will be made available for the enjoyment of visitors and neighbors alike when the now-sprawling surface parking lots occupying an appreciable portion of the campus are consolidated under a multi-level parking structure adorned with solar panels and enrobed with leafy “living walls.” Once completed, the campus will be one of the first energy net-positive botanical garden complexes in the world.   

Before the ceremonial shovel-and-hard-hat segment of the celebration, uplifting words from local political leadership—specifically Mayor Hagen Brody and State Sen. Joe Gruters—reminded the audience of the slings and arrows Selby’s leadership team endured as they navigated the seemingly impenetrable thicket of an unnecessarily politicized approval process. Opposition to the Gardens’ Master Plan became so personal and so overblown it backfired, awakening the community to the poison-ivy politicking of the few that has polluted City Hall for decades. In politics—just like in physics—for every action there’s always an equal and opposite reaction. The resultant change of course in city politics has been nothing less than a sea change for the better.  

There are two key reasons why City Hall’s “Old Guard” was swept out in a King Tide last November: (1) for the first time, a more diverse electorate weighed in on the selection of their City Commissioners, and; (2) the “Old Guard,” led by former Commissioner Susan Chapman, mercilessly attacked and vilified one of Sarasota’s most prized assets—Selby Gardens—and its leadership team, demonstrating just how damaging this small but privileged group can be to our community’s cultural landscape. 

Should Commissioner Jennifer Ahearn-Koch’s slate of candidates have prevailed last November, a 4-1 vote in favor of Selby may have been a 3-2 against the Gardens. And the redevelopment of the Bayfront Cultural District, now known as The Bay, may have been stalled yet again if Commissioner Ahearn-Koch’s “No” vote(s) weren’t countered by a centrist majority. In order to preserve Sarasota’s most prized assets, they must be allowed to adapt and grow. President and CEO Jennifer Rominiecki and her lieutenant, Chief Operating Officer Wendy Deming, ought to be commended for their persistence, perseverance and resilience. But for their leadership, it might have been Payne Mansion and the 18^th century manuscripts housed within, carried out to sea, instead. 

Gabriel Hament is a Sarasota native and a Democratic political strategist.  

The pandemic challenged school districts and educators like never before. Foundations and nonprofits stepped up to help. 

Click here to read the full article in SRQ's May/June 2021 edition.