Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/146256
NEWS BRIEFS Valerie Guillory organizes a prayer brunch each Friday in the homeless community she has created on 10th Street in Sarasota. Photo by Stan Zimmerman COUNTY SEEKING $40,000 FROM CITIES FOR HOMELESSNESS STUDY An associate Sarasota County administrator sent an email this week to the managers in all the county's municipalities, asking them to determine whether their boards would be willing to contribute to the estimated $40,000 expense of having a nationally known expert on homelessness develop a plan of action for the county. The expense to each of the municipalities, Assistant Administrator Lee Ann Lowery wrote, would be $8,000, if all participated. She sent her email on July 24 to Dave Bullock in the Town of Longboat Key, Jonathan Lewis in the City of North Port, Edward F. Lavallee in the City of Venice and Marlon Brown, deputy city manager for the City of Sarasota. Later that day, County Administrator Randall Reid notified Lowery that he already had spo- ken with Tom Barwin, city manager in Sarasota. Referring to Barwin and his staff, Reid wrote, "[T]hey are prepared to advance a joint agreement to their Commission. I advised him we were giving the other cities an opportunity to join [the] process." In her email to the city managers, Lowery wrote, "As you know, the Gulf Coast Foundation and the Community Foundation [of Sarasota County] brought Dr. [Robert] Marbut to Sarasota County last week for a look at the homeless issue in our community. Dr. Marbut also shared his expertise with us and made some initial recommendations, particularly as it relates to the need for shelters for families in north and south Sarasota County and a shelter for the chronically homeless in the City of Sarasota."