Citizens' Input gives residents a say in city government

Citizens' Input is one of the most important, and often most entertaining, parts of the Sarasota City Commission meetings. Along with public hearings, this is where the citizens get their chance to address elected leaders in an official public forum.

The Sarasota City Commission meets the first and third Monday of each month (with exceptions made to accommodate holidays). The meetings take place at City Hall, located on 1st St. in downtown Sarasota. Commission meetings are divided into two sessions: an afternoon session and an evening session. The afternoon sessions begin at 2:30 p.m. and go no later than 5 p.m. The evening sessions begin at 6 p.m. and last until all items on the agenda have been discussed or postponed to a later date.

The city is required to post the agenda for an upcoming meeting at least three days in advance, so citizens know what topics will be discussed. This gives citizens and organizations time to prepare their statements, and in some cases rally support for their cause.

Citizens' Input takes place toward the beginning of each commission session. Citizens are given three minutes to address commissioners on issues not already scheduled for discussion. Public hearings allow for citizen input on scheduled agenda items. Thirty minutes are allotted for each of the two Citizens' Input sessions. If a large number of people have signed up to speak, commissioners may reduce each speaker’s time to two minutes. Speakers must fill out a speaker’s card before Citizens' Input begins. These cards are found at the rear of the commission chambers. You'll be asked to provide your name, address, phone number and the topic or topics you plan to speak about.

If you plan to speak, keep one thing in mind: When you are done speaking, you probably will not get immediate feedback from commissioners. If a commissioner does comment on your remarks, this will likely occur at the end of the meeting when commissioners give their individual commissioner’s reports.

This lack of immediate response frustrates some folks, but this does not mean your efforts are in vain. First of all, you’ve put your concerns on the public record and into the official minutes of the meeting. Second, your statements have been heard by members of the media who may pick up on your comments as a potential news story. Third, the commissioners and all who attend or watch the meetings online or on television will have heard your comments, making them part of the public discourse.

In some instances, items addressed during Citizens' Input are considered important enough to be placed on a future agenda for official discussion.

This is democracy at its finest, with citizens telling their elected leaders what’s on their minds and addressing issues that may have been overlooked by the city government.

The Citizens Speak

The Dec. 3 City Commission meeting was the last meeting of 2012 and plenty of citizens spoke their piece.

The afternoon session featured six speakers addressing commissioners. Two of the speakers, Ann Snyder and Gordon Hornickle, Jr., are among the regulars that speak at almost every meeting.Ann spoke first, addressing the single topic she’s been talking to commissioners about for years: asking the city to help fund her efforts to consolidate local Alcoholics Anonymous and the Get Better Club (drug addiction) meetings into a single facility located within the city. She believes a central location would cut costs and provide more effective services to those struggling with addiction.

She suggested leasing a building located at 539 S. Washington Ave. at a cost of $4,400 per month and mentioned potential sponsor interest from Publix, McDonald’s and other corporate entities, while acknowledging that she has not yet secured the funds to establish a 501(c)3 status that would legitimize her efforts as an officially recognized non-profit organization.

In the years that I’ve been watching Sarasota City Commission meetings, I don’t recall commissioners ever discussing or taking action on Ann’s suggestions.

Star Keeper silenced?John Snyder, owner of the Star Keeper Café in downtown Sarasota, informed commissioners of a conflict that exists between the city’s noise ordinance and its zoning code.

According to John, the city’s zoning code states that no amplified music is allowed in any unconfined space outside a particular structure---in this case, the Star Keeper Café’s outdoor garden and performance area, where musical performances typically take place three times a week from 6 to 9 p.m.

John noted that the volume level produced by local musicians (usually playing acoustic guitars) is far below the city’s noise ordinance standards, yet the zoning code allows no exception to this rule. He also said he has one neighbor who constantly complains to police about the live music.

“The city needs to address this issue,” John said.

Later that night, during his commissioner’s report, Commissioner Paul Caragiulo said he had discussed this matter with John. He expressed concern that the code and the noise ordinance are in conflict, saying, “Apparently you cannot have a speaker in an outdoor dining area of any kind. If you have a speaker, you are out of compliance and this gentleman is being told he can’t have his entertainment there anymore.”

Deputy City Manager Marlon Brown said he would take a closer look at the text amendment and report back to commissioners at a future meeting.

Commissioner Caragiulo has vowed to address the city noise ordinance in 2013 in an effort to make downtown Sarasota more conducive to live entertainment. (Click here to read about how you can give your own input on the issue.)

Whistle-BlowerFormer Marina Jack employee Andrew Frazier addressed commissioners about what he calls “corruption in the city government.” This dates back more than a decade to Andrew’s efforts as a whistle-blower in regard to Marina Jack allegedly installing a kitchen and a gas line that in Andrew's opinion was installed below the flood plain, in violation of city regulations.

Andrew previously requested a public hearing on this matter, but that request has not been granted.

“City officials worked with a private business to break the city’s own flood plain laws,” he said. “This jeopardizes the city’s participation in the national flood insurance program.” Addressing the alleged police harassment to which he feels he was subjected for being a whistle blower, Andrew said, “Commissioner Caragiulo is aware of what they [the police] did to me for 11 years. They terrorized me.”

He stated his belief that the alleged violation renders the city’s lease with Marina Jack null and void; and according to his calculations, Marina Jack has accumulated more than $3 million in unpaid fines for the alleged offense.

This issue has been a personal crusade of Andrew’s for more than a decade, but the story has never gained serious traction with the local media or with city commissioners. He told commissioners he would return every two weeks to speak on this matter until it is resolved.

In regard to the unsuccessful efforts led by Commissioner Terry Turner to remove City Clerk Pamela Nadalini from her position, Andrew said to the clerk, “Welcome to my world. When you go against the good old boys in this town they go after you with a vengeance.”

During his commissioner’s report, Commissioner Caragiulo commented on the allegations: “Something needs to come over in an official capacity about addressing that. We can’t just sit here and not respond,” he said

“I’m not comfortable having someone come down here and throw a corruption scheme at the commission,” he added, noting that he does not “necessarily agree or disagree” with the Andrew’s allegations in regard to the original allegation of installing the gas line in violation of city code.

The commissioner concluded his remarks by saying that remaining silent on the matter is “not fair to Marina Jack’s and it’s not fair to the citizens.”

Gordon’s Swan SongIf you’ve watched a Sarasota City Commission meeting in the past five years, you have probably seen Gordon Hornickle, Jr. address commissioners about a wide variety of topics, sometimes speaking in support of their actions and just as often offering criticism or constructive suggestions.

The Dec. 3 meeting may prove to be Gordon’s swan song. He informed commissioners that his health is failing and he looked substantially thinner than he has in the past.

“My health is not so good. I probably won’t see you next year,” he said, before thanking Mayor Suzanne Atwell and Commissioner Caragiulo for supporting the annual Thanksgiving luncheon that takes place at Saint Martha’s Church.

Noting that his eyesight was beginning to fail him, Gordon, a former contractor, thanked Officer Thomas Wagonseller, “Badge #1137,” for his efforts at Saint Martha’s, saying, “He needs to be commended. He got more respect from the homeless than I’ve ever seen.”

Addressing Commissioner Turner’s decision not to run for reelection, Gordon said, “You’re losing a good man in Terry Turner. We need someone in here who knows pensions and finances.”

When the mayor suggested that Gordon was getting too emotional in referring to himself as a “no-blow” in the eyes of commissioners, he said, “Mayor, you don’t like me and you never have since I called you down one day.”

Gordon then left the left the table in a highly emotional state, offering his opinion that the mayor’s main area of expertise is attending ribbon cuttings.

N.O.F. District offers to host Chalk FestivalDevin Rutkowski spoke to commissioners about the new “North of Fruitville” (NOF) marketing logo that represents the businesses community directly north of Fruitville Road, including Darwin’s on 4th, Savory Street Café, the soon-to-be-opened Blue Rooster restaurant that he is involved with, and many other businesses looking to create their own niche a few blocks north of the downtown business district.

“We know there’s tremendous opportunity north of Fruitville and we’re looking forward to working with the city,” Devin said.

Making a comment that may surprise some in the community, Devin put forth the idea of the NOF district hosting the 2013 Sarasota Chalk Festival. He said representatives of the NOF district have reached out to Chalk Fest organizers regarding this matter, and he suggested that there might be some support for this idea because of the logistics associated with parking and other festival-related concerns.

Defending the City and SPDVirginia Hoffman was the last to speak during the Dec. 3 afternoon Citizens' Input session. Coming to the defense of the city and the Sarasota Police Department, she said, “I’m here to talk to you about something that’s really making me upset. I’m sick and tired of how our police department is getting a bad rap in the community and also how our city government is getting a bad rap.”

Continuing her comments, she said, “I think that there’s little people that just keep grabbing at little snippets here and there and go off running off on it with social media and on the forums. It disgusts me because I feel there’s certain players out there in the community that just love to criticize and twist the truth for whatever their own strange little personal agendas are.”

As a means to offset these criticisms, Virginia suggested the city create an electronic newsletter similar to what Sarasota County sends out.

“I believe this is one of the best things that we can do to alleviate some of this rancor and unfair rhetoric that’s being flung at the city, the city commissioners and our police department,” she said. “That negative rhetoric could be helped quite a bit if there was better communications between the city and our community.”

- Next week, read what citizens had to say about changes to downtown parking hours, the homeless in Gillespie Park, and the construction of a Wal-Mart on Ringling Boulevard.