The community-driven process aimed at reinvigorating a prime piece of public land on Sarasota’s bayfront has taken another significant step forward. As leaders of a volunteer movement proposed in July, the Sarasota Bayfront Planning Organization has been created — and the names of its nine members were announced.
They are: Tom Barwin, Sarasota city manager; Allen Carlson, retired chief executive of Sun Hydraulics; Jennifer Compton, an attorney and partner with Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick; Keith DuBose, a native Sarasotan and attorney and shareholder with Matthews Eastmoore; Michael Klauber, president and founder of Michael’s on East restaurant; A.G. Lafley, former chief executive and chairman of Procter & Gamble; Rob Lane, a certified public accountant and managing shareholder of Kerkering Barberio; Cathy Layton, a retired commercial real estate broker and former Sarasota County planning commissioner; Cynthia McCague, a director of Pier 1 Imports and former senior executive with Coca-Cola.
All of the members are high achievers and, most important, have made substantial contributions to the civic life of their communities. They possess the ability to, as Larry the Cable Guy would say, git-r-done.
So, what will they try to do?
The nonprofit organization will attempt to turn the community’s ideas into reality on 42 publicly owned acres of waterfront property that are home to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, the Sarasota Orchestra headquarters and an array of civic buildings and public spaces.
The creation of the planning organization, which will cease to function after its work is done, is a continuation of a process led by the community-based Bayfront 20:20 initiative, which formed in 2014. Bayfront 20:20 deserves immense credit for engaging citizens, 53 wide-ranging groups and the city of Sarasota. Using a deliberate approach and funded solely with private-sector donations, the group led an inclusive process that produced consensus principles for guiding this section of waterfront’s future use.
The nine members of the organization were selected by Klauber, one of the original Bayfront 20:20 leaders, Jon Thaxton of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, banker Shaun Merriman, Bob Easterly of the Coalition of City Neighborhoods and Joe McKenna of the orchestra. The selections were the least-public part of the process to date, but the choices were first rate and the public and City Commission were well advised that a community-based group would be formed.
The unpaid, nonprofit organization will oversee a master-planning exercise financed without government funds. The organization will not be a government body, but it is understood that it will operate under Florida’s open-government laws. The planning organization will:
■ Consult a “resource team” whose members have expertise in specific areas relevant to creating public spaces and accommodating new recreational, arts, cultural and educational venues on the bayfront. Environmental engineers, traffic planners and zoning experts — as well as leaders of the Van Wezel, Sarasota Orchestra and neighborhood groups — are among the likely participants. City staffers would be significant contributors to this team.
■ Hire a professional project manager to directly oversee all the work and communicate with the players and constituents.
■ Contract with a professional planning firm to propose ways to implement and fund a bayfront project.
It is vital to note that any proposal made by the organization will be subject to approval by the City Commission and, thus, public scrutiny. True, this is not a typical, government-run approach to planning. But the process has generated an unusually high degree of public engagement for two years. So long as the planning organization is transparent and focused on the common good, this approach offers the best hope for creating an iconic public destination for enjoyment of the arts and open space on the Sarasota bayfront.
Herald Tribune, October 19, 2016
