Sarasota has become a national poster child for those who say the government can’t be trusted with guiding a response to a pandemic - in schools or in hospitals.
Wherever we turn, we find a politically motivated war on public entities. Vituperative School Board meetings have made national news. Now, according to the Washington Post, Sarasota Memorial Hospital faces a concerted effort to replace long-term Hospital Board members with challengers who think they can be trusted to do away with governmental oversight of public health.
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| Pat Neal |
Mr. Neal now seeks the breathtaking power to put 5,000 homes in East Sarasota, where existing zoning allows for 717 homes. This would end the rural life of Old Miakka, yet it's framed not as the taking of a 172-year-old community, but rather as a "right" inherent to a developer's private ownership. When you absolutize private property, it can rather quickly get medieval. Do we wish to give Mr. Neal such a confiscatory Droit de seigneur over the people of Old Miakka?
The pressure to privatize public health, education and planning radically undermines shared norms, values and protected rights, replacing them with a world shaped by loud voices and fat wallets.
We must not cede the public sphere to private interests. Our imperfect democratic institutions deserve protection from those who'd profit from their extinction. Our public schools, hospital, and comprehensive planning cannot be for sale.
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Pat Neal's Comp Plan Amendment comes before the Planning Commission on Thursday, August 4. The meeting begins at 5 pm at the Administration Center, 1660 Ringling Blvd.- see Item #7.
Old Miakka has organized, lawyered up, and will be at the meeting. More here: https://www.sarasotacountry.net/
And more background here and here.
