bserver O SARASOTA
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DIVERSIONS
SEASON SPECIAL
The Observer’s Guide TO The ArTs And sOcieTy | sPrinG 2012
Look inside for your spring guide to the arts and society.
OUR TOWN
Thursday, MARCH 1, 2012
inside
Historic home tour to feature five abodes. PAGE 13A
Peter Amster lifts Noël Coward’s ‘Fallen Angels’ out of obscurity. INSIDE
major cuts
by Kurt Schultheis | City Editor
Police department to be axed? A proposal to eliminate the Sarasota Police Department arose during City Commission budget discussions this week.
Courtesy photo
+ Booker observes Black History Month In observance of Black History Month, two African American business professionals paid a visit to fifthgrade students at Emma E. Booker Elementary School. Lillian Lincoln Lambert, the first African American woman to attend Harvard Business School, spoke about founding her janitorial company, Centennial One, and about her book, “Road to Someplace Better: From the Segregated South to Harvard Business School and Beyond.” Ed James III, a graduate of Pine View School, who recently received his degree from the University of Chicago, spoke about his recent experiences as a Google intern. Both speakers inspired students to pursue their dreams and become leaders in their community.
Sarasota City Commissioner Shannon Snyder urged his fellow commissioners Tuesday to realize “bold decisions need to be made because the city is already starting to unravel.”
Among those potentially bold decisions, Snyder said, could be the elimination of the Sarasota Police Department as well as drastic police pension changes. During the commission’s first
workshop on the 2013 fiscal year budget, Snyder said getting rid of the city’s police force could free up $7 million. He pointed out that the city is facing a $4 million to $5 million deficit in
the 2013 fiscal year, primarily because of rising personnel and pension costs. Future changes to the police pension alone could save the city approximately $1.5 million, but police officers last year protested any talk of such changes. The commissioners already
SEE BUDGET / PAGE 9A
HERE’S WALDO Rachel S. O’Hara
Christopher Waldo wasn’t hard to find last weekend. He joined more than 40 windsurfers to compete in the Island Style Classic Feb. 25 and Feb. 26, at Sarasota Sailing Squadron. For more photos, see page 8B.
Courtesy photo
+ Riverview High musicians recognized Four students from Riverview High School’s Kiltie Band were chosen to join the Florida Music Educators Association 2012 All-State Honor Band in Tampa. The students were Rebecca Kim, Galo Morales, Jonny Corin and Phillip Carallo. Each year, the All-State Honor Band performs during the Florida Music Educators Association conference. This year’s band conductor was Gary Green, of the University of Miami Frost School of Music.
METER MAYHEM
by Kurt Schultheis | City Editor
‘We don’t want them’ Sarasota residents and merchants took over a city parking-management forum last week, continuing to call for the removal of downtown parking meters. “They don’t work.” “We don’t want them.” “They’re chasing people away.” “They are putting us out of business.” “Bag them now and figure it out later.”
Those were just some of the comments downtown residents and merchants threw out about parking meters during a city
SEE METERS / PAGE 2A
Unanswered questions More than 50 people attended a city of Sarasota parking-management forum Feb. 23. The following were among the anonymous responses offered to city staff’s questions about the downtown parking meters: • How can we make the machines friendlier? “You can’t. They’re terrible.” • Location placement and positioning suggestions? “Take them all out. It doesn’t work.” • Enforcement times? “Why do they have to run past 5 p.m.? I won’t eat dinner downtown again until that changes.”
INDEX Briefs.................... 4A Classifieds..........12B
Cops Corner........10A Crossword...........11B
Opinion................. 8A Real Estate.........10B
Sports...................9B Vol. 8, No. 17 | Three sections Weather..............11B YourObserver.com