During the evening session of the Dec. 3 Sarasota City Commission meeting, more than half of those who spoke addressed issues pertaining to the homeless, with many Gillespie Park residents sharing concerns about the homeless converging on the nearby city park.

  I wasn’t planning on doing any writing today, but I could only shake my head in disbelief when I visited the Sarasota Herald-Tribune website and read the cover story about a homeless man being arrested for “stealing utilities” Sunday night because he was charging his cell phone at an electrical outlet in the Gillespie Park gazebo. Thankfully, Judge Charles Wilson dismissed the case against 28-year-old Darren Kersey on Monday, citing “a lack of probable cause” in Sgt. Anthony Frangioni’s bogus arrest.  Kersey spent Sunday night in jail and had [...]

I value citizenship—the ability we each have to make a difference through our actions around something we care about, in the company of others. Yet, from over at least a decade of witnessing people trying to make the world a better place in one form or another, I find the thing that seems to plague most “do-ers” is that ugly phenomenon called “burnout”: A person who’s passionate about something takes on more and more responsibility, becoming isolated in and consumed by that responsibility. Eventually, they give up, heartbroken and alone in [...]

Who lives around me? What makes them amazing? How could knowing that be useful? This is what I’ll be exploring in a new series of blogs called “Amazing Neighbors.” My first interview is with someone I’ve admired since we first talked years ago: Don Hall, founder and Executive Director of Transition Sarasota, who lives about five blocks from my house off the edge of beautiful Gillespie Park. Don is a friendly guy about my age with bright blue eyes, sandy hair, and a wide smile. We met several years ago [...]

As I shared in previous articles (like this one), I’m on a personal mission to make my neighborhood a caring, connected place.  Besides the enjoyment I get out of it, I’ve also seen and experienced what a drastic change these connections can make in how we live, and in how our communities function overall, from increased safety and economic thriving to better health, education, and use of resources.  This is all tied to my work as a community-builder, but I feel it’s something that anyone can do. To that end, one of the [...]

We hear week-in and week-out about all the stuff wrong with the world. Most of it gives you the sense that we’re pretty much screwed as a species: economic collapse, “choose the lesser evil” political campaigns, pollution, poverty … cannibalism!? Seriously depressing, right? (I often wonder why no one seems to consider this as one of the potential symptoms “causing” depression for so many folks. But I digress.) On the flip-side, there are  great innovations going on: local movements for sustainability, national shifts toward better rights for the GLBTQ community and [...]