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Carrie Seidman: Dear Santa...

The Herald-Tribune - 12/24/2019

Dec. 24--Dear Santa,

Just about now you must be plotting your itinerary for this evening, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn you're thinking about giving Sarasota a fly-by. It's been a tumultuous year around here and, frankly, one that's not been distinguished by selfless professionalism, cheerful collaboration or civic unity.

I'm sure it must have seemed, on more than one occasion, as if we were being intentionally ill-behaved. But in reality, I think it's more that while we're all invested in making our community the best it can be, there's not much agreement on what constitutes that "best." Still, I can promise you, we're trying. ("Yes, you are," as my ex-husband used to say. "Very.")

Let's get the mea culpas out of the way first, shall we? Personally, I don't think anything warrants coal in someone's stocking. But I'm not sure the following deserve more than a can of antiseptic wipes with which to clean up their act:

--The three members of the Sarasota County Commission who voted time and again, against all citizen input, to push through a redistricting before the 2020 Census and, in the end, to choose a realignment map that disenfranchises the Newtown community.

--The members of the Sarasota County School Board who condoned, for far too long, former Superintendent Todd Bowden's mishandling of a sexual harassment case, as well as those who put personal power politics ahead of their first priority, our students.

--Officials of Selby Gardens and the Sarasota Orchestra for failing to recognize that when you envision a major organizational change, in site or size, your first step should not be to produce a glossy plan, but to talk to your neighbors about what isn't going to be acceptable.

--All those public officials for whom it took at 16-month red tide disaster to acknowledge that we are woefully behind the eight ball in upgrading our wastewater treatment facilities, infrastructure and septic tanks in order to preserve the health and cleanliness of our most precious resource, water.

--Whoever in the city administration determined that the welcome MURT (multi-use recreational trail) extension project across Coon Key required the removal of 226 mature, towering and mostly healthy Australian Pine trees.

--New College of Florida, for flagging the applications of students who disclosed a mental health issue in their application essay and subjecting them to a second review, even when the students' scores met the criteria for automatic acceptance.

--The 12th Judicial District Court, which upheld Sarasota County's challenge to the charter amendments prohibiting it from selling or transferring public parks or preserves and reopening of a portion of Beach Road on Siesta Key, which passed with (respectively) 70 percent and 65 percent approval by voters.

--City Commissioners for failing to ban outright (rather than taper gradually) the use of Glyphosate (Roundup) for weed control in city parks and green spaces, thus endangering parks and recreation workers and park visitors (many of them children) and further damaging our environment and water quality.

I could go on, but this is supposed to be a merry occasion, right? And despite the downers, we did have some positive, if often hard-won, accomplishments in 2019, so please put the following done-gooders on your list:

--The residents who united to save the family-friendly and low-key ambiance of Lido Beach from over-commercialization, by rejecting the city's plan to turn the Pavilion into a destination restaurant. The spurned lessees, owners of the popular local Daiquiri Deck chain, deserve an honorable mention for realizing when they were licked and withdrawing their proposal.

--The Sarasota Police Department for adopting a new strategy toward the prevention of sex trafficking by recognizing prostitutes as victims rather than criminals and working with Selah Freedom to connect them with the support and services they need, resulting in a downturn in illegal activity and recidivism.

--The members and supporters of Save Our Y, who quickly organized after the Sarasota Family YMCA board announced it would close its two remaining fitness centers, raising enough money and creating a transition plan to allow the gyms to remain open and continue providing healthful activities and social support to some of our community's most vulnerable citizens.

--The board of County Commissioners, for voting unanimously to keep the "Quads" land surrounding the Celery Fields public and to work with local conservation groups to establish a conservation easement that will keep it undeveloped and green in perpetuity.

--All the city, county and nonprofit agencies who have combined forces to reduce the number of homeless individuals in our area by more than 20 percent over the past three years.

--Teachers in the Sarasota Country School District for taking first steps toward incorporating more social and emotional learning in the classroom to build resilience and foster better mental health in our children.

--Disability advocate Angela Briguglio, for singlehandedly convincing the City of Sarasota to survey and update its compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act, to make our streets and buildings more accessible and inclusive for the mobility impaired.

--The citizens who birthed SRQ Strong, a grassroots group dedicated to fostering trauma awareness through education, healing and social justice, with the goal of creating "a community that cares for itself."

So you be the judge, Santa. We know there are plenty of challenges that remain and the responsibility for tackling them ultimately lies with us. But if you'd just drop a little extra gratitude, humanity, civility and civic responsibility into everyone's stocking, we might have a better shot at making the A list next year.

Your friend,

Sara Sota

___

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