Sarasota News Leader

05/09/2014

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OPINION EDITORIAL EDITORIAL B e c a u s e w e w a n t Sarasota and Manatee counties to shine brilliantly when Benderson P a r k h o s t s t h e 2 0 1 7 Wo r l d R o w i n g Championships, we believe the nonprofit managing the rowing venue must start show- ing its muscle in pulling us toward the fundraising finish line. Frankly, we were gratified to learn last week that the Florida Legislature had turned down another request by the Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates Inc. (SANCA) for more money on top of the $10 million it already has received from the Legislature. It was clear that SANCA's continued reliance on taxpayer money to make the park's infra- structure a reality has not won it supporters in Tallahassee. The fatuousness of the fundraising plans the nonprofit has touted was illuminated for all to see when the news broke in early April that SANCA had failed to file the necessary paperwork with the state to maintain its regis- tration as a charitable organization that could accept contributions. As Erin Gillespie, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences, put it to the Bradenton Herald, "The only organizations that need to register with the state are those actively solic- iting donations from the public." If SANCA had been working as hard to snare private donations as its president, Paul Blackketter, has been saying it would for more than a year, the last thing we would THE NONPROFIT FIRM OVERSEEING BENDERSON PARK IS IN DESPERATE NEED OF MORE OVERSIGHT BY THE COUNTIES OPINION

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