Plunging Towards Gomorrah
Posts tagged Sarasota
Real Problems: The Plight of Ohio
Jul 9th
Now that LeBron James has left Ohio for the sunny shores of Miami Beach the fallout begins. The city of Cleveland and the state of Ohio are devastated that one of their own has left for greener (sandier) pastures. Should they be surprised? I moved to Sarasota, Florida six years ago and the most common transplant I encounter are people from Ohio. It’s like a mass exodus. Some of my best friends are people who left Ohio to move to the beautiful third-world banana republic village of Sarasota. Who can blame them? Would you rather go to Siesta Key or Dayton? It’s a no brainer. You never hear anyone say, “Wow! Cleveland is such a great place!”
I don’t want to rag on Cleveland, though I kinda just did (I forgot to mention Dennis Kucinich is a former mayor of Cleveland). I’m sure there are some great places there and I’m sure some people love the city. It’s obvious, though, that not everyone feels the same way. However, before anyone says what’s-his-face betrayed his hometown, what about all the people from Ohio that live in Florida? They still get excited about the Ohio State Buckeyes every time they get crushed by an SEC opponent in a bowl game. Are these transplants betraying their state by moving? If Ohio is so great why do people keep moving here? Maybe these people like the fact they don’t have to pay state income tax. Maybe it’s because it doesn’t snow here. Maybe Ohio just isn’t as nice as Florida.
Bayview Burger Bar
Mar 8th
There are plenty of reasons to love the United States. We live in a mostly free and open society. Our key principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have led to unequaled economic prosperity. However, when you boil it all down the United States is really exceptional for just one thing: hamburgers. It’s with this in mind that I went to the Ritz Carlton in Sarasota to check out the Bayview Burger Bar. Yes, I went to the Ritz Carlton to eat a hamburger. Thanks to an article in Creative Loafing I learned about this hidden-in-plain-view spot in Sarasota.
The All American Burger
The Burger Bar is only open Friday-Sunday, but it sits on the backside of the building facing the beautiful Sarasota Bay. The burgers start at a very reasonable six dollars. I got the All American Single (doubled) with Bacon. That cost me $10 and it was worth every penny. The shiny plastic silverwear looks like real silver at first. The Ritz Carlton spares no plastic expense. The burger itself isn’t enormous, but is cooked to perfection. For some reason the bartender didn’t ask anyone in our group how they wanted it cooked. That was a bit puzzling and visions of e coli danced in my head.
There are also hand-dipped milkshakes for dessert, but it was to too windy and cold for us to try them out (“cold” being defined in Sarasota as anything under 70 degrees F). Be warned, the prices are reasonable but any domestic beer is more than $5 and cocktails are around $12. One other helpful hint is to remember to get your valet parking ticket verified at the bar.
merry christmas from the herald tribune
Dec 28th
Today outside of the Sarasota Herald Tribune building I saw a man carrying a sign. It’s kind of odd to see a man picketing in downtown Sarasota. It’s a dead week here anyway. It’s a ghost town. A lot of people are on vacation vegging out in front of the TV or shopping. The only reason I bring this poor gentleman up is that I know that the Herald Tribune will not be covering the story. What’s the story? I don’t even know.
The Herald Tribune probably had good reason to fire this guy on Christmas Eve. I’m sure if some other company fired an employee on Christmas Eve and said employee decided to picket the former employer the Herald Tribune would be all over it. I contacted Creative Loafing about the gentlemen but he was gone before they got there. That’s too bad because I’m sure he must have some kind of compelling story.
sarasota bookstore succumbs to smart growth
Aug 20th
The big news in downtown Sarasota this week is the announcement that Sarasota News & Books (SN&B) will be closing at the end of the month. A few days ago Club Soda gave a tongue in cheek description of the hipster dufus, and as you can imagine the local hipster dufus community is outraged about the bookstore closing. I love bookstores; the Main Street bookstore closed a year ago and I’m still sad about it. Unfortunately these are the casualties of a difficult market, stiff competition, and community organization gone horribly wrong.
The saddest thing about these closings is that it could be avoided in most cases. What’s happening in Sarasota is a microcosm of America. In Sarasota many well intentioned “concerned citizens” worried about too much growth. In their infinite wisdom they decided to make growth more difficult. What happens when you have an increasing population in an area with growth restrictions? Property values skyrocket. Take Houston and San Francisco for example: both city’s populations have grown at a similar rate over the last thirty years, but San Francisco’s property values have skyrocketed compared to Houston. What’s the difference between these two cities? San Francisco has implemented “smart growth” laws the over past thirty years and Houston has not.
What I find most annoying about this situation is that no one is educating the public about what’s happening. The United States isn’t running out of available real estate. Around 90% of the available land in the United States is undeveloped. Local governments are creating this problems with their dumb policies. What does an outraged hipster dufus think about the local bookstore closing? Let’s take a look at a comment left by hastalavictor… at the Sarasota Herald Tribune.
It’s also time for the public to go after the greedy landlord in a grassroots sort of way. The unreasonably wealthy landlord paid $6M cash for the property. Surely he can reach a compromise with Sarasota News and Books, especially in this market. No tenant that he can find will make a significant difference for this fat cat.
Mr. or Ms. Community Organizer, I know you’re out there.
When the bookstore closes it’s the greedy landlord’s fault. This type of thinking is difficult to combat because it’s just so shallow. It’s easier to be upset with the landlord than the well intentioned “community organizers” who set this in motion two decades ago. What we don’t need is more “grassroots” idiots dictating policy. That’s what created the problem.
If cities across the United States do not start to figure out the root of the problem there will be two types of cities. There will be cities like Detroit where no one wants to live and cities like Sarasota and San Francisco which are quickly becoming rich people theme parks. The only people who can afford to live here will be super wealthy people. Maybe that’s what they’re trying to accomplish.
hello sarasota
Aug 9th
Another successful trip to Priest Lake is in the books and I’m back in Sarasota. I didn’t read as much as I would have liked, but the weather was too good to spend reading. It seems I haven’t miss much news and the world hasn’t fallen apart. Priest Lake is a beautiful place and I can’t wait to return again.
subsidized stadium projects
Jul 30th
Last summer I covered proposed move of the Boston Red Sox spring training facility to Sarasota. Ultimately the Red Sox were able to squeeze more money out of the city of Fort Myers. The Cincinnati Reds played their final season in Florida earlier this year so Sarasota was looking at having no spring training team in 2010. Last week the city of Sarasota, the county, and the Baltimore Orioles agreed on terms to move the Orioles from Fort Lauderdale.
The elected leadership of Sarasota County and the city of Sarasota is patting themselves on the back for a job well down. Meanwhile the taxpayers have to subsidize a $30 million project. In today’s Sarasota Herald Tribune Kevin Reichard, publisher of Ballpark Digest says he believes the Ed Smith stadium renovation will cost $40 million. This is hardly shocking to anyone who is knowledgeable about these kind of subsidized projects. The Heartland Institute has an article about a recent study by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation. It turns out these projects always cost more than initially believed.
A 2007 study by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation found heavily subsidized stadium projects were significantly more expensive on average than largely privately funded projects. The study found stadiums where taxpayers bore a majority of the cost were $65 million more expensive on average than those for which private entities paid the bulk of the tab.
While private financiers have every reason to scrutinize costs closely, “Government bureaucrats … are often more concerned with reelection prospects and PR plaudits than with cost containment,” the study notes.
In addition, the study found the average taxpayer subsidy per stadium is on the rise and shows no signs of slowing. The amount taxpayers paid for each facility rose 41 percent in just the eight years leading up to 2004.
The main argument for the agreement with the Orioles was the fact that it was going to be paid for in part by a tourist tax. Who pays for the shortfall? Here’s a hint; it won’t be the Baltimore Orioles.
just another friday night in sarasota
Apr 26th
A couple of nights ago I was trying to go asleep but the sound of a helicopter kept me awake. There’s nothing like a spotlight shining down on your residence to make sure the doors are locked. The next day I found out the rest of the story. This all took place just right down the street from where I live.
According to police and eyewitness reports:
Michael J. Mitchell, 18, a student at the Sarasota Military Academy, was with a group of friends when Dan A. Azeff, also 18 and a student at Sarasota High School and Sarasota County Technical Institute, walked by with another group. Azeff wore a hat with the Confederate symbol and carried a Confederate flag measuring about 5 feet by 3 feet.
Mitchell and a friend questioned Azeff about the hat and flag, asking if he was a racist. Azeff told them no, he was just exercising free speech. The fight escalated and the groups exchanged racial slurs. Mitchell reportedly pulled out a handgun and shot Azeff once in the chest, then ran off.
Right off the set of Jerry Springer and onto the street of Sarasota. A white kid from Pennsylvania sporting a Confederate Flag gets shot by a black kid illegally carrying a handgun. The only thing missing was Geraldo Rivera. The article is kind of funny as the journalist spent more time trying to figure out why the kid is carrying a flag around than asking why an 18 year old is shooting people. Obviously it’s pretty stupid to be carrying around a Confederate battle flag that many people find offensive. It’s even worse when the person is ignorant about the history; however, should Cuban American’s be allowed to shoot every idiot wearing a Che Guevara shirt? This is a story about attempted murder not ignorant teenagers.
sarasota finally elects commissioners
Apr 14th
It took a while but the city of Sarasota has finally settled on electing two new commissioners. I guess I’m not surprised that the two worst choices are on their way to wrecking havoc on the city. There will not be any change coming from pedestrian utopianist Suzaane Atwell or the closet Democrat Terry Turner. This election just goes to show that the gears of bureaucracy are firmly entrenched in Sarasota. If you get endorsed by the Seirra Club, talk about Smart Growth, and promises to support diversity (whatever that means) there’s a good chance you can get elected.
The city of Sarasota will be looking for new ways to gouge the citizens. Atwell says she doesn’t want to raise taxes or fees, but it’s time to install parking meters.
There are “missed opportunities” happening right under our noses. Parking meters are the first and easiest thing that comes to mind for me. This is a way to create additional revenue by placing them in high traffic zones in the city. They won’t curb downtown’s appeal and the funds raised from the meters, could be utilized toward downtown improvements.
The only “missed opportunity” is the fact that Sarasota won’t see real change. I guess in Atwell’s version of the world parking meters take pototo chips. The ones I’ve seen take coins. I live downtown and that would mean “increased fees” for me. Instead of finding ways of reducing costs Atwell will try to raise more money for the band of idiot commissioners to waste. One way to free up more money would be to quit authorizing costly feasibility studies.
Then there’s Terry Turner. As we all know Turner is a closet democrat. His first act as commissioner should be to fix his voter registration. Of course Turner was endorsed by most of the established city commissioners.
He [Turner] was also endorsed by Clapp and received a campaign contribution from Kirschner. Both Clapp and Kirschner were elected on slow growth platforms and voted against two recent developments: Whitaker Bayou and the Proscenium, just north of downtown.
Ah, endorsed by Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Is it any wonder Turner was elected? I’ve received numerous items in the mail defending Turner from “unfair attacks.” Pointing out facts about a person is considered unfair in Sarasota. Turner says it is unfair to portray him as being opposed to all growth. I guess every man has his price. I haven’t talked to one person the past six months that’s happy with the direction of the city. The waste and incompetence of these people is staggering; however, until the city limits change the same idiots with different names will be calling the shots. All over the country these slow growth politicians are sucking the citizens dry under the flag of smart growth. Propaganda works.
landlord troubles
Mar 11th
The Sarasota Herald Tribune has an article in today’s paper about landlords and the trouble they’re having in the housing market. The culprit is high taxes. Local governments spent too much money (no, really) during the economic expansion and now people who can’t afford homes are the ones paying the price.
Taxes on Rutkowski’s four-unit rental property on Eighth Street in Sarasota, for example, went up from $1,537 a year in 1998 to $13,373 in 2006 — a 770 percent increase.
That means Rutkowski now has to collect about $250 per month in rent from each of the four units on the property to pay taxes compared with $33 per month 10 years ago.
A 770% increase in property taxes! What did the local governments do with all of the money? They squandered on stupid pet projects and other various nonsense. Now the poor are paying the price for the government’s lack of foresight. How anyone believes that any kind of government intervention is going to solve the nation’s problems is beyond me.
stupidity continues in sarasota
Mar 10th
I got up bright and early Tuesday morning to participate in the Sarasota city elections. I braved a long line to vote… I jest, there was no one at the voting precinct when I voted. Many citizens of the city were likely just trying to get to work on time. This is the season where the morning traffic is nearly impossible to navigate. It seems as if every retired snowbird east of the Mississippi is cramming the roads to spend their child’s inheritence at the local breakfast place. I digress… the results are in and the city of Sarasota is still backwards. For whatever reason the city refuses to join the rest of civilization by electing a mayor. Word is that the remaining city commissioners will start holding tribal councils. They might as well go to the beach gather around the fire and throw sticks into the air. That would be an improvement over the status quo. The measure lost 4,406 to 6,799. Clearly turnout was an issue.
In other news there’s going to be a runoff for city council between pedestrian utopianist Suzaane Atwell, closet Democrat Terry Turner, and Paul Caragiulo whose platform is anyone’s guess. There are two spots up for grabs. A runoff election will be held on April 14 and I’ll be sitting at home for that one. Atwell and Turner are just more of the same. Turner can’t figure out what party he belongs to and Atwell believes in some kind of fantasy pedestrian world. Just think, at least one of these people will have a chance to be our rotating mayor.
Overall a sad night for Sarasota. A city that is run poorly, with citizens too apathetic to do anything about it, a newspaper in favor of the status quo, and with leaders who are completely inept. Sound familiar?
