Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/352007
to defend people shooting guns at 3 in the morning? This would not be tolerated in any other neighborhood." Mary Mack urged compromise. "Ninety- five percent of the people in Newtown are law-abiding people," she told the commis- sioners. "You need to engage the people in the community with the decisions that affect their lives. The community needs to know. Don't send us home at a time we don't want. Work with the business owners." At night, half of the Sarasota Police Department's on-duty officers are in Newtown, DiPino pointed out. "Nowhere else in the city do we have that much concentration," said Mayor Willie Shaw. "Our conversation is broader than the stores. Manatee County has already shut down, and everybody is winding up here." As the clock neared midnight in the chambers, Vice Mayor Susan Chapman said, "I'd like to know what they are doing in Bradenton and Manatee County. We don't want to compete for their early morning business." The issue was left there, for staff to find out why so many people from Manatee County end up in Newtown in the wee hours of the morning. ACTION TAKEN Motions were taken on six issues. Three were decided by the barest majority. First was the decision to release an "Invitation to Competing proposals have been aired for the city's bayfront property near the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. Photo by Norman Schimmel Sarasota News Leader July 25, 2014 Page 21