Residents won't be fooled by City Island proposal

It’s quite fitting that Park Golf Sarasota (formerly Ride Entertainment) head Jeff Koffman’s letter to the editor appeared in the Observer’s April Fools' edition.

Mr. Koffman explained that his blatant attempt to fool area residents into “activating” beloved Ken Thompson Park by turning it into a commercial amusement center is being misunderstood.

Without offering any counterpoints, Mr. Koffman asks the “minority” of uninformed residents to trust that his original plan for a skybar, ziplines, a sort of miniature-style golf course and a skyline obliterating restaurant will “bring our community together in a spirit of collaborative decision making.”

Mr. Koffman’s own rendering of this ill-conceived, half-baked plan could have easily graced the cover of the Observer’s always entertaining April 1 edition, right alongside wiener dog racing at St. Armand’s Circle.

The majority of Sarasota and Longboat Key residents won’t be fooled, and urge the Parks, Recreation and Environmental Protection Board at its upcoming April 18 meeting to recommend no to this foolhardy farce to the Sarasota City Commission.

— Bob Thill, Sarasota