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A GENUINE SURPRISE A county commissioner elucidates her Planning Commission vote that kept one member from being reappointed to the board — Rachel Brown Hackney Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson told The Sarasota News Leader this week she chose to support Philip A. Kellogg of Sarasota as a new member of the Planning Commission because "I like different voices on the board." "I just think … Kellogg's views on commercial construction … to make it more compatible in the county, were very interesting," she said in a Jan. 15 interview. "I thought it would be great to get him on the board." Patterson added that she had had no intention of hurting the feelings of Marianne Reilly of Venice, who was seeking a third term on the board. (Full story here) INCHING FORWARD A state senator once again files a state domestic partnership registry bill while Venice moves ahead on a local ordinance — Rachel Brown Hackney State Sen. Eleanor Sobel, a Democrat from Hollywood, has filed a bill for the fifth consecutive year in the Florida Legislature to create a statewide domestic partnership registry. It is expected to be heard first in the Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee when work begins on bills in February, according to legislative sources; Sobel chairs that committee. The Sarasota County Commission agreed by consensus last week to hold off on discussing a countywide domestic partnership registry until it saw how a legislative bill fared. State Rep. Ray Pilon, R-Sarasota, had told Commissioner Joe Barbetta such a bill was expected to be heard in the 2013 session, Barbetta said during his board's Jan. 8 regular meeting. However, former Sarasota City Commissioner Ken Shelin told The Sarasota News Leader on Jan. 16 that his legislative contacts "don't think this [bill] has much of a chance, either." All of Sobel's earlier bills died in committee. (Full story here) Click Any Headline To Go Directly To That Article AT A GLANCE TOP STORIES