Subscribers to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune might want to read this . . .

What has the Sarasota Herald-Tribune come to?

Twitter account of Herald-Tribune
"News Editor/Gun Writer" Lee Williams

On March 28th, 2018, Sarasota Herald-Tribune news editor Lee Williams interviewed NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer. 

This is what happened next:

Gun Writer and newspaper editor calls

Parkland response 'macabre and evil,'

asks NRA lobbyist 'How can we help?'

Lee Williams -- the Gun Writer columnist who also happens to be a Sarasota Herald-Tribune news editor -- hosted a half-hour podcast Wednesday with Marion Hammer, the Florida NRA lobbyist. 

https://omny.fm/shows/the-gun-writer/ep-30-floridas-nra-lobbyist-marion-hammer-joins-th 

Hammer said she thought gun-control advocates had a game plan ready to use victims and families of the next mass shooting in America, which happened to be in Parkland, Fla.  Rather than ask follow-up questions for details and corroboration, the Gun Writer shared her outrage over the gun-control response. 

“I don’t even know how you’d sit in a room and come up with this," Williams said. "That is so macabre and evil.”  

Hammer described how lawmakers in Tallahassee were lobbied for gun-control votes in the days after the Parkland murders. The families of victims were brought in to ask how they'd vote. 

“None of that’s been reported,” said Williams — who directs news coverage for the Herald-Tribune, but declined to have Sarasota reporters share his interview with a highly sought-after Florida news source. 

The Gun Writer did agree that media pressure was a huge factor in the Tallahassee gun-control vote. And he wanted to know when the Florida NRA would be updating grades on state lawmakers. 

“That was my next question," Williams told Hammer. "What can we do to help?”

Is it time for practitioners of actual journalism to take a hard look at what this newspaper, formerly owned by the New York Times, has become?

Developmental degradation: Two LTEs to the Herald Tribune

Scientists sought to oppose dump

On Aug. 23, Sarasota County commissioners will hold a public meeting regarding a request by Jim Gabbert, of TST Ventures LLC Recycling, to purchase surplus land next to the Celery Fields to develop a recycling dump.

I tried contacting Mote Marine to get an opinion, since Mote has been conducting a snook study in Phillippi Creek. No one at Mote replied.

PhillippiCreek.org of Sarasota’s Science and Environmental Council, a “science-based” not-for-profit working to conserve and restore Phillippi Creek, would not give any opinion on the location of the dump.

Waste Processing Facility built by Gabbert at 8001 Fruitville Rd., now WCA

What good are credentialed science organizations in the community if they cannot speak up to protect the environments they study? If their hands are tied, then community investment and tax dollars to fund their studies are an insult to the people who live in Sarasota and look to them to provide accurate scientific information.

I call upon Sarasota citizens who have environmental credentials and who are opposed to Gabbert’s dump being located next to the Celery Fields. We need you and your expertise, because no one who works at local science entities will step up to the plate and do the right thing. Instead, Sarasota scientists apparently cave to the whims of the developers and our county who support them financially.

It is a sad state of affairs that in Sarasota, money talks and science walks.

Adrien Lucas

+======+ 

Developer turns corner into eyesore

Each day, we drive by a newly developed dump site as we leave and approach our well-attended homes in Carlyle of the Villages in Palm Aire. Some residents have lived in this neighborhood since its inception in early 2000. Others are new to this beautiful area.

In recent months, Medallion Home has decimated the large corner lot at Whitfield Avenue and Lockwood Ridge Road. Not a tree is left standing for birds or habitat, merely mounds of debris. Piles of dead trees, metal and puddles of mud have turned the corner into an eyesore and a wasteland for bacterial and mosquito growth.

Homeowners who live next to and around this area have expressed their deep concerns about this festering trash dump. Multiple requests to developer Carlos Beruff, the media and Manatee County have yielded no results.

Instead, big money has managed to ruin our neighboring landscape, all the while doing a limbo under the wire of the law by planting a few cows and a horse on the land. To my amazement, the people who make such decisions are able to sleep at night.

Before one buys a home, one may want to research the integrity of the company that has built it.

Margaret S. Shaw, Manatee County

Lyons on the curious case of Sarasota's accommodation - for a dump at the Celery Fields

Please read Tom Lyons' Herald Tribune column on the curious, accommodative stance of Sarasota County toward the proposed, highly unwise idea to put a Waste Demolition plant next to a serene Preserve and Internationally touristed Bird Sanctuary, our all-round beautiful Celery Fields.

Among other things, Lyons notes:

County staff also quietly proposed changing county rules that would have barred the plant because the site was much too small, and did so as if the change was just some non-controversial tweak.

Staff essentially just passed along a designer-proposal created by land use agent Bo Medred. Medred pretended his proposal -- allowing unenclosed waste processing within 500 feet of homes -- would be useful and noninvasive, and the county - both the Planning Commission and the Board - bought it hook, line, and sinker.

See the Citizens' Timeline narrative here

especially this bit:

In October, 2016, Bo Medred asked the County to change its law and standards to accommodate Mr. Gabbert's desire to put a Waste Processing Plant at Apex Rd. and E. Palmer Blvd., next to the Celery Fields.

• Oct 20, 2016 - Bo Medred proposes new standards to reduce the number of acres required for unenclosed Waste Processing from 35 acres to 15 acres. Ordinance No. 2016-082, approving Zoning Ordinance Amendment No. 119. 
• Jack Bispham, chair of the Planning Commission, recused himself from the proceeding. Bispham is the brother-in- law of Mr. Gabbert.
• No information or testimony from an expert on Waste Processing was cited or offered by county staff or a commissioner.

Bo Medred's proposed amendment to the County's law and standards begins with Donna Thompson of County Real Estate at about 2:08 hrs. (That single segment can also be viewed here.)

Planning Commission Hearing Oct 20, 2016 on Ord. 2016-084, Amend.119

• During the PC hearing (at 2:32), Bo Medred displayed this photo of a dump in Buffalo NY to illustrate his argument as to why this 15-acre model is perfectly suitable for residential areas of Sarasota County. People's homes visible behind the piles of waste: 

Medred displayed this photo of a Waste Processing Facility on 15 acres in Buffalo NY
to the Planning Commission.

If nothing else, see the exchange around 2:33 between Planning Commissioner Laura Benson and Bo Medred:

Benson: (referencing the Buffalo illustration):  Those pictures were big dirty things.

Bo Medred: That's a . . . that's a . . . that's an opinion. 

See also the exchange with Commissioner Jack Hawkins concerning the noise levels of concrete and asphalt crushing operations that begins about 2 hrs. and 39 minutes. No staff or Commissioner put into evidence any documents about the potential problems and issues with siting a waste processing facility. No accredited expert was invited to testify as to siting, pollution, noise, or other impacts upon residences.

Planning Board ACTION:

Oct. 20, 2016 - The Planning Commission APPROVED the amendment by a vote of 6-0 (Bispham recused hmself) as a Special Exception use to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis, as Bo Medred recommended.  VIDEO

With the blessing of the Planning Commission, Bo Medred moved on, taking the proposed amendment to the Sarasota Board of County Commissions in December.

On Dec. 14, the Board approved a text amendment allowing unenclosed waste processing facilities near residences via Consent Agenda -- i.e., it wasn't even discussed.

Such negative public . . .

Via the Herald Tribune

Charlie Bailey:

"None of the almost 120 Restaurant Depots it's constructed in the United States (including 11 it is currently operating in other Florida communities) have ever been the subject of a development approval request receiving such negative public attention, especially without a legal, or even reasonable, basis." he wrote.

Adrien Lucas:

"Bottom line, our County Administrator, the Planning Board and the County Commission have failed the community," she wrote. "They continue to ignore Sarasota's Zoning mission statement that: Zoning's fundamental purpose is to protect a community's health, safety and welfare ... and we have county officials who are more than willing to ignore community concerns."

A citizen asks . . . Sarasota County and the Benderson Agreement

This request to Sarasota County for detailed information regarding commitments and funding for the rowing facility at Nathan Benderson Park is from a citizen, Pat Rounds:

To the Sarasota County Commission, SANCA and Benderson Foundation Officials: 

According to the $5+ million World Rowing Championships (WRC)/Bi-County Reimbursement Agreement signed in 2013, parties to the agreement, including SANCA, must comply with public meetings/open records law (See attached, Sect 3Q). SANCA is also required to provide quarterly updates on fund-raising for capital projects to the WRC Events Committee (See attached Sect. 3M--Fundraising). Requests for details about the time/place of WRC Events Committee meetings have gone unanswered.

In the last two years, I have requested updates from Sarasota County, SANCA (Paul Blackketter) and/or Benderson Corp. (Todd Mathes) regarding private/corporate funding for the construction of Phase III structures/Capital Projects at Benderson Rowing Park (e.g., state-of-the-art finish tower, boat house, grandstands, and other amenities). These structures were noted in a Sarasota County press release in early September, 2013 after Benderson Rowing Park was selected to host the 2017 WRC. (See statement from press release* at the end of this message.)

Other than a copy of an e-mail message (See attached Aug 4 email/2015) containing a pledge of funding for the finish tower, no Phase III/Capital Projects funding data have been provided. In response to my last public info request, I was told that SANCA officials would be presenting an update at a BoCC Meeting in late October, 2016.

Below is a link to the video of the BoCC Meeting on 10/25/16. Item #24 is a presentation by Messrs. Robinson and Sullivan of SANCA:

http://sarasotacounty.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=41&clip_id=3527&meta_id=401582

While various park-related issues were discussed, there was no mention about the status of private/corporate funding for Phase III structures. Please indicate where the Phase III fund-raising update is on the video tape.

In the 2013 bid package presented to the FISA/WRC site selection committee, an aerial-view graphic was shown depicting the rowing park which included a boat house projected to cost about $10 million. (See schematic below.) Over $40 public millions have been invested in ongoing park operations/management, WRC event prep, and FISA-approved infrastructure (Phases I/II) at Benderson Rowing Park in advance of the 2017 WRC (including a man-made regatta island).

A public/private partnership is only successful if both partners meet their obligations as pledged. The costs of Phase III structures have been estimated at up to $22 million. Thousands of international rowers and visitors are expected to participate and/or attend the WRC this fall. They expect and deserve to view the WRC at a premier rowing venue.

Nearly a year ago, SANCA Board Chair Bill Robinson noted the following in the Herald Tribune:

".....The finish tower project is estimated to be ready for use by the fall. The planning for the multi-purpose boat house is underway...."

Below, note the statement about the boathouse on the Nathan Benderson Park Foundation website:

The Boathouse, also designed by Guy Peterson, will be located on the south end of Regatta Island, opening out into the widest expanse of Nathan Benderson Park Lake. It will consist of two stories. The Boathouse will feature a variety of rowing and boating bays, supplemented by fitness facilities, dressing rooms, offices and more. The boathouse will commence construction in late 2015 and will be opened prior to the World Rowing Championships in 2017.

As of today, the finish tower is still under construction. There is no boat house, and the rickety grandstands seat about 150 spectators. (See photo below.) Any notion that temporary boat storage tents, grandstands, and rower changing rooms/shower facilities should suffice at a "world-class" venue chosen to host the prestigious World Rowing Championships is unacceptable. Not another nickel in public funding should be used or approved for Phase III structures.

Requests for information: 

• How much private/corporate funding has been raised to complete the world-class structures depicted to win the bid to host the 2017 World Rowing Championships? 
• When and where are the WRC Events Committee meetings held? Over $5 million in public revenue is being spent to host this event. Open meetings and public records statutes apply to this project and local residents should have a front row seat as plans are finalized for this international competition. 
• Please provide evidence that FISA awarded the 2017 WRC to Benderson Rowing Park with the understanding that a permanent boathouse would be optional. Plovdiv, Bulgaria, the other venue competing for the 2017 WRC, already had a fully equipped rowing facility with permanent structures when a venue was selected in 2013. At the bottom of this message, note the boat house requirements for a major international rowing event listed in the 2010 FISA Manual**, Section B.7, starting on Page 100. A copy of the FISA Manual is available upon request. 
• Please explain the meaning of the following statement below. It appears on P.23 in the Appendix of the attached Bi-County/SANCA WRC Reimbursement Agreement scribbled under the list of capital improvements, e.g, finish tower, boathouse, etc.: 

"SANCA and Benderson Development CCC shall have no obligation for these capital improvements."

It’s incomprehensible how a bid to host a major international rowing event could be submitted apparently without a binding agreement between local parties to deliver the requisite funding to complete the structures and improvements presented to the FISA/WRC site selection committee, the media, local residents, and the rowing world before the event. If Phase III funding goals have not been met, the private sector needs to step up now and finance the permanent structures depicted in the WRC bid presented by SANCA over three and a half years ago.

I hope to hear good news that funding goals have been met to construct a permanent boat house and grandstands in time for the 2017 WRC.

Your prompt response is appreciated.

Pat Rounds
District 1
Sarasota, FL 34235

==

___________________________________________________________

*From a Sarasota County Press Release posted after FISA chose Benderson Rowing Park to host the 2017 WRC (Sept. 2, 2013):

"....More than $40 million in public and private-sector funds have been committed to help transform a former borrow pit into Nathan Benderson Park, the premier rowing venue in North America, capable of hosting an Olympic-caliber event. Sarasota County's investment, $19.5 million, comes from a Tourist Development Tax (TDT), which is paid by visitors to the area. Those funds have paid for Phase I (dredge and fill) and Phase II (installation of park amenities, hardscaping and landscaping). Phase III of the project, construction of a state-of-the-art boathouse, timing towers, grandstands and other amenities, will be funded by SANCA and corporate support..."

________________________________________________________________________________

**From the FISA Manual, 2010, starting on P.100:

B.7. boathouse area - Team Facilities and Services
B.7.1. boathouse area »» Planning
• Permanent rowing venues are usually developed with at least basic permanent boat storage infrastructure.
• If canoeing is developed (or might be in the future), then the needs for both canoeing and rowing have to be accommodated.
• For major rowing events, much more extensive boat storage facilities need to be provided.
• The required space for the entire boathouse area (permanent and temporary) for a major rowing event is approximately 10,000m2.
• There should be adequate covered areas in and around the boathouse area for the Competitors to shelter in the event of rain.
• Olympic Games - in the preparation period before the rowing regatta and during the Olympic Games, separate boathouse facilities have to be provided for canoeing and rowing.
• A large, general storage area must be provided, at least 120m2.
• A high standard of security must be provided during the regatta events.
• A number of water supply points, clearly marked, should be provided for the Competitors where they can get safe and potable water for their water bottles and other larger containers.
• All Competitors’ areas must be clearly marked as non-smoking areas.
• When choosing the location of the permanent boathouse facilities the following conditions should be considered:
-- It is essential that there should be an easy and comfortable access to the boat storage area for the loading, unloading and movement of the boat trailers.
-- The terrain should be flat, or with a slope if possible of no more than 10°.
-- The terrain shouldn’t be slippery or if covered with gravel it should be well stamped. It is important that the ground conditions can remain usable even in heavy rain.
-- Provisions to be made for the facilities to be used by adaptive rowers.

The Late Waldo Proffitt Jr. on Growth

Longtime editorial writer and managing editor of the Herald TribuneWaldo Proffitt Jr. died Dec. 6. This reflection was shared with us by Dan Lobeck:

Waldo Proffitt Jr.
October 8, 1924 - December 6, 2016

As Managing Editor of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune from 1961-1998, and as a columnist and editorial writer,
Waldo Proffitt  helped shape Sarasota County for the better (together for most of that time with Publisher David Lindsay).  

He always favored carefully managed and controlled growth, as reflected in these interview excerpts.
Waldo Proffitt is greatly missed.

From an Interview – 10/16/2013:

 … growth is not necessarily good, it’s only the right kind of growth that will help the community remain a good place for people to live and that is the product that Sarasota has to sell: that this is a good place to live. And I believe that that idea has become fairly widely circulated, I certainly hope so.

...

Well, don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by density. I mean that’s not easy to do, because the more people you can pack into a given area, the more money you can make.

...

I’m very fond of Siesta Key but the fact is that now it is getting overpopulated and unless we are very careful about what we allow to be built in there, it can have an negative impact on the quality of life, and that is, I think, a statement that I think could be applied to almost any waterfront community— they are very sensitive to density.

...

From an Interview – 8/27/2003:

WP: 

I always tried to sell the concept that growth is good up to a point … I can tell you what the maximum population [of Sarasota County] will be. I figured it out to be 1.6 billion. The population of Sarasota County would give you twelve square feet for every person to lie down in the sun, and you couldn’t have any double decking because everybody wants to get the sunshine. … then you can start asking the question, how much growth should we have? Then you start asking a whole different set of questions, and then you’ve come to the concept of sustainability. How much growth can we sustain over the long haul based on the resources available? The truth is we don’t know, and people have thought about this and they still don’t know. We will never get a satisfactory answer to that question, but as long as you keep asking the question, you get people in a mind-set where they are not afraid to say, no, you can’t do that because that is something we can’t sustain over the long haul. We can’t follow this precedent.

Question: In very specific cases, if we look at Southwest Florida, already there are issues of water, pollution, and traffic. Once that starts impacting the life of an average citizen of this community, they are going to start complaining.

WP: Yes, and [they] have.

Question: But the power of the developers is that they will say, look, we want to expand, that’s jobs, more people come, more businesses, it helps the economy, more taxes, better schools, that growth is not only essential but beneficial. How do you counteract those kinds of statements?

WP: In the first place, you go back and examine the tax history in the county, which I don’t think anybody has done recently but I did several times and printed the results. The truth of the matter is that as the community grows, the per capita tax rises. Growth doesn’t lower your taxes; it actually raises them. I think in most any situation, you can check the tax records and that is what happens. 

Development tops issue list for 3rd year straight

From the Herald Trib:

SARASOTA — As Sarasota County residents' anxiety about the economic downturn melts away, their concerns about population growth and development unequivocally top their list of the biggest issues facing the county. 

It's the third year in a row that development has topped residents' list of concerns, this time with 28 percent of respondents citing the issue, according to the results of the latest annual public opinion survey conducted by the University of South Florida. 

That number is 7 percentage points higher than when population growth and development first topped the list in 2014, unseating the concerns about the economy, which have steadily dropped after the downturn, said USF political science professor Susan MacManus, who lead the survey.

MORE . . .

Psst: Someone should tell Mr. Developer Dark Money Eric Robinson.

The Sarasota Charter Review Board, Waechter, and Public Process

From today's Herald Tribune:

Bob Waechter, Sarasota County's former GOP chief, gave the board a proposed written charter amendment calling for the board members to be appointed, rather than the current system which elects the members. He said he would discuss the details during the next meeting. 

Waechter's proposal calls for a 15-member appointed board chosen by county commissioners and other officials. The move, the proposal states, would not disenfranchise voters. 

“It is time, after 24 years, to again ask the voters what they think,” he wrote.

At the Charter Review Board's meeting last night, Waechter handed copies of his proposal to members of the Charter Review Board, but did not say what it contained. The Board then agreed to consider Waechter's proposed amendment at its next meeting, in May.

Bob Waechter handing his proposed charter amendment to
Sarasota County's Charter Review Board

A board whose purpose is to publicly consider amendments to Sarasota County government thus accepted and voted to formally review a proposal whose contents were undisclosed -- until one citizen in attendance stood up, asked for a copy of the proposal, and stated that in fact it does call for an appointed, rather than publicly elected, panel.

Currently amendment proposals submitted to the Board are not published. To find out what they contain, one needs to go to the Clerk of the Court's office and seek them out.

Should proposals for Charter amendments be submitted for review without public awareness? Would it not be more consistent with the Board's purpose for it to adopt a procedure something like this:

1. Require all proposed amendments to be submitted as a digital file - preferably a pdf. 

2. Publish all amendments accepted for consideration to the Internet with reasonable promptness - within 24 hours of submission, for example. 

3. Make the CRB site known to the public so that the actions and process of the Board become more widely known.

The amount of computational power and storage to handle this chore is minimal. If the Board needs help, it can write to us at sarasotavision@gmail.com. We'll be happy to help.

The spectacle of Mr. Waechter handing his papers to the officials while refusing to even state what his amendment contained smacked of disdain for public awareness -- even as his apparent desire to do away with the public's involvement in choosing Board members suggests a peculiar disregard for democratic process.


Election of officers

The Board concluded its session with an election of officers for the coming year:

• Richard Dorfman - Chairman.

• Anthony Sawyer - Vice Chair

• Jim Gabbert - Chair Pro Tem

Cathy Antunes urges anyone interested in how Sarasota County operates to be at the May meeting of the CRB:

• Go to the May CRB meeting!  Mr. Waechter is proposing that our Charter Review Board be an appointed rather than an elected body.  It will be critical for citizens to show up and speak out against this proposal. Her commentary in full is here.

Tell the Board what you think: Email The Charter Review Board

Benderson Trucking Scheme told to take a hike

The County Commission denied Benderson Development Co's petition seeking to build a trucking distribution center adjacent to the Celery Fields, a bird sanctuary and outdoor park with a growing reputation nationally and internationally. The vote was 5-0.

The hearing on the Petition can be viewed online at this link:

http://sarasotacounty.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=40&clip_id=3164

Background on the Petition here.

• The Petition presentation begins at 4 hrs, 49 minutes.

• Public Input begins at 5 hrs. 46 minutes. John Krotec spoke first. Some of the input was highly informative. At least one speaker was a land use specialist, another was an architect. Some brought copies of the Compromise agreement developed over years by the Fruitville Community and the County and landowners; some brought maps, others did calculations showing relative size and impact that a trucking facility would have on a plan for a mixed-use development.

• The Public Hearing is closed at 7 hrs. 59 minutes and the Commission's discussion begins right after that.

Many citizens have emailed the County Commission to thank the Board for its decision to deny the Benderson Petition. According to the information presented by some of the public hearing speakers, the Board would have violated the law to do anything else. 

Those who worked hard to develop the Fruitville Initiative and those who came out to hold the County to it deserve our sincere gratitude.

Fruitville Initiative Mixed-Usse Vision by Stefano Polyzoides

Phoenix Sun: A compendium of brute Benderson/Blacketter tactics

FACE OF $70 MILLION BENDERSON ROWING FACILITY IS "INTOXICATED, ABUSIVE, OUT OF CONTROL"---PAUL BLACKKETTER

BY JON SUSCE

With more than 42,000 rowers, coaches and support staff from across the globe planning on traveling to Southwest Florida for the 2017 World Rowing Championships at Nathan Benderson Park, THE SARASOTA PHOENIX has come into possession of a video which clearly shows Randy Benderson's "point man" for the event, a wild, out of control, abusive and intoxicated Paul Blackketter, verbally abusing and physically threatening a fellow employee of the Benderson rowing facility.

The video clearly depicts a completely out of control, enraged Blackketter, no doubt verbally abusing a fellow employee with the most foul, disgusting and repulsive language.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDhyd1Yk0TA

[GO TO THIS YOUTUBE LINK TO VIEW BACKKETTER VIDEO]

Blackketter is the six figure ($175,000) Executive Director of the Randy Benderson controlled entity called Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates (SANCA), which under Blackketter's direction manages the Nathan Benderson rowing facility. Blackketter, as mentioned above is also Benderson's point man indirecting the operations for the 2017 international rowing event and all other events at the facility.

Link goes to an earlier version of this story, which is still developing. . .

Blacketter