Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/87353
Sarasota News Leader October 12, 2012 OPINION was thrown away in minutes, with no fiscally responsible alternative to recover the invest- ment and recapture the revenue. The parking meter manufacturer recently offered to pay the city 10% of the purchase price to buy back the new meters. • One commissioner incredibly suggested over the summer that the property appraiser should drop his lawsuit seeking property tax- es from Marina Jack. Fortunately, the proper- ty appraiser pushed on, reaching a settlement that means the marina will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes over the remain- ing three decades of the lease. • The commission was confronted by a citizen volunteer member of our Public Art Advisory Board for having broken the state's Sunshine Law. The city attorney quickly informed the commission that indeed the law was broken. Rather than apologize to the community and assure citizens that this will never happen again, the commission attacked the messen- ger and threatened to shut down the advisory board, incurring an additional $7,000 cost to city taxpayers. • A recent, no-bid sale of city parkland off Fruitville Road was approved by the commis- sion at a price $1.5 million less than what a competing developer was offering the city. • A vote last month eliminated a clean energy fund, less than two years after it was created by immense citizen participation and input. Estimated to generate $150,000 next year (less than 0.1% of the city's annual budget) for ener- gy-saving investment, the fund has now been deemed a luxury we cannot afford. A refrain heard frequently at public meetings from commissioners is, "The city is broke," or "The city is on the verge of bankruptcy." Such statements do little to grow confidence in our municipality (with a tax base worth $6.88 bil- lion), and speak volumes to its chronic cogni- tive dissonance that obscures commissioners' breathtaking fiscal inconsistency, facing such serious financial challenges while also aban- doning Sarasota's citizenry. Kelly Kirschner served on the Sarasota City Commission from 2007 to 2011. 2012 Safe Sex Halloween Bash www.SafeSexHalloweenBash.com SATURDAY • OCTOBER 27 • 9PM MICHAEL'S ON EAST Page 75