Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/235968
Sarasota News Leader January 3, 2014 house to the east of the right of way, while the DCA Fidu Trust Estate property is to the west of it. Chairwoman Carolyn Mason joins Commissioners Joe Barbetta and Charles Hines in making the decision. "Honestly, in my wildest dreams, I never thought the commission would approve this," Commissioner Nora Patterson says in joining Commissioner Christine Robinson on the losing side of the vote. Robinson cites county Parks Policy 1.1.13 in her opposition to the action, because the property in question provides access to a Siesta canal. That policy section of the county's Comprehensive Plan says, "The County shall not vacate road segments on waterfronts along any creek, river, lake, bay, or gulf access point and shall encourage right-of-way use of these areas for coastal beach and bay access." A 30-year veteran of the Sarasota Police Department believes an effective initiative to help the community's homeless could be modeled on a county program that has aided drug- and alcohol-addicted people since 2006. That county program — the CART Initiative — has led to a 75 percent reduction in the number of such people on the city's streets since it went into effect, Paul Sutton, who recently retired from the Police Department, says during the Sarasota County Commission's regular meeting on May 22. Sutton is second vice chairman of the Community Alliance of Sarasota County, which comprises about 62 nonprofit entities "to advance communication, collaboration and advocacy of the health and human services needs of all citizens in Sarasota County through the integrated, effective and efficient Page 53 delivery systems," its mission statement says. County Administrator Randall Reid has asked it to assist his staff and City of Sarasota staff in developing an effective approach to handling the county's homelessness issues. On May 28, the Downtown Improvement District chooses to seek bids for the best way to get the light show working properly again in Five Points Park. In early January 2011, variable-color lights were installed in 28 trees in the park at a cost of $81,000. The Selby Foundation chipped in $31,000, the city added $25,000 and the Downtown Improvement District (DID) chipped in another $25,000. For a while the ever-changing lights were lovely, but as the tree limbs grew, the wires snapped. Squirrels found the wires handy to gnaw on as well. In both the city's primary election in March and the final election in May, more people 90 and older voted than people in their 20s and 30s. In March, 202 people 90 and older voted, while 154 people between 17 and 29 cast a ballot. The older voters were eight times more likely to vote (with a 21 percent turnout) than the younger ones (2.7 percent) in the March election, and six times more likely in the May balloting. A total of 5,824 registered voters were 29 or younger, compared to the 235 voters older than 90. Of the 7,085 people who voted in May, 5,040 were 60 or older. These were just a few of the findings discussed by SRQ Editor Jacob Ogles at his biennial, belated morning-after election analysis on May 30. %