Many are aware that Sarasota Citizens contacted County Commissioners requesting the parking agreement between Baltimore and Sarasota County be amended or nullified. 

 If you are not aware of our request here is the e-mail:  Re_ Feedback requested_ Cancel Orioles_Youth Parking Lot Agreement

Our request has prompted a response from a local reporter and I can’t help but share it with you.  I will also include a reply by Sarasota Citizens president, Cathy Antunes. 

Disclaimer:  Content is copied as written (typos and all).  Type size has been altered just because the original type was just way too big.

When is this all this continued bitterness concerning spring training and the Baltimore Orioles going to end????????????

How utterly ridicules it is that anyone can waste time and effort in having the Baltimore Orioles give $8,000 of their parking fees  back to the public sector????????????

$8,000 ????????????????

Why not ask about the $5 million of public money that was to clean up Leonard Reid Street in North Sarasota being funneled to Nathan Benderson Park??????????????

How about asking about the millions of dollars that has been misappropriated in the Environment Sensitive Properties Project????????????

How about asking about the millions of dollars being appropriated to the scam up there in Lakewood Ranch concerning Sandborn Studios??????????????

How about asking about the millions of dollars of public money that should have been coming from Marina Jacks the past 25 years??????????????

How about asking about the cover-up investigation by Sarasota County Sheriff, Tom Knight’s of the corrupt reign of the disgraced former Sarasota County Administrator, Jim Ley.

The list  of scams to be questioned and get involved in other than seeking $8,000 back from the Orioles. goes on and on.

Wasting time and energy on getting $8,000 from the Baltimore Orioles—-Give me a break.

If anybody is concerned about the scam concerning the Baltimoire Orioles coming to Sarasota, investigate a paid lobbyist like Dave Bitner for the Oriloes, the close business connection between Fla. State Representative Doug Holder and the Orioles, the Sarasota Herald Tribune’s Tom Tyron involvement, Jim Ley, Commissioners Shannon Staub and Nora Patterson working behind the scenes to bring one of worst run sports organization, the Baltimore Orioles and owned by one of the worst owners in sports, Peter Angelos to Sarasota.

Better yet, wake up to the fact that the Orioles are here in Sarasota and try to make the best out of a bad situation. Get behind Sarasota City Commission, Shannon Snyder’s plans to re-develop the area around Ed Smith Stadium using another gem of a stadium designed by Janet Maria Smith as the centerpiece of the re-development.

THIS HOW A JEAN MARIA SMITH DESIGNED STADIUM IS DESCRIBED AND WHAT IT DID FOR THE CITY OF BALTIMORE::

(By the way, Agelos had absolutely nothing to do with the Camden Yards Stadium. The stadium was completed and dedicated in 1992 and Angelos purchased the Orioles in 1993).

“ Named one of the “Ten Best Sports Books” by The Sporting News, Ballpark is the compelling story of how Baltimore’s magnificent Camden Yards ballpark was born, and the effects it has had on the city, the team, and the whole course of stadium building across the country. It’s both an examination of the city’s psyche and a close look behind the scenes at our national pastime. This is a quintessentially American story of progress, movement, change, triumph, and of an eternal renewal of hope.”

“By design, Camden Yards is the best

Experts say park sets new standard”

July 14, 1993|By Edward Gunts | Edward Gunts,Staff Writer

“Oriole Park at Camden Yards may have set the standard for a new generation of traditional, intimate ballparks, but the number of imitators is rising rapidly.

Nearly a dozen cities are building or talking about building open-air, natural-grass, baseball-only parks that will boast much of the same good-natured quirkiness that made Oriole Park such a hit, according to a panel of baseball experts who gathered there yesterday for a discussion on ballpark design.”

 Below is Cathy’s reply.  I have omitted the name of the reporter: 

Apparently our request and the information shared has touched a nerve.

(xx xxxxx) is right – there are many concerns to be addressed regarding the County’s fiscal management.  One could say that we are in the middle of an epidemic.   An epidemic of irresponsible fiscal management.

Epidemics don’t just pertain to illness.  Human behavior also can take on epidemic qualities.  (http://www.gladwell.com/1996/1996_06_03_a_tipping.htm)

When Rudy Giuliani cleaned up NYC, the police instituted a zero tolerance policy for smaller crimes (i.e. arresting the squeegee guys harassing motorists for money and those who leaped over the subway turnstiles rather than pay the fare).  What happened?  Small crimes decreased, but overall crime rates came down too.  NYC became a much safer place.  Why?  Those who were willing to harass motorists, bullying them at the stoplight for cash after cleaning the windshield without permission – those people were committing other crimes as well.  Allowing social disorder – failing to make proper arrests for subway fare beating and squeegee harassment – created an environment where other crimes flourished as well. 

The lesson?  Lower the bar, and you’ll have more problems.  Bigger problems.

So, for those who think a “small” financial problem – $8000 – doesn’t matter, we disagree.  We find it especially disgraceful that the county would direct $8000 to a billionaire team owner when they could keep it in the community benefiting children.  We believe looking for such opportunities to help the community is a commissioner’s job.  If an extra $8000 lining the Orioles pockets at the expense of Sarasota youth sports doesn’t bother you, know that you are allowing the squeegee guys and fare busters to get away – which only creates a fertile environment for the bigger rip offs that (xxxxxxx) complains about. 

A zero tolerance policy for fiscal mismanagement can begin with revoking an Orioles parking agreement that sells out Sarasota youth sports. Unfortunately, a response from a public official writing off this concerns as “bitterness”  is emblematic of a government preference for dismissing public concerns and marginalizing citizens.  That dismissive attitude was also on display when the BCC voted to move forward with a misleading ballot amendment despite overwhelming public input against it. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Cathy Antunes
President, Sarasota Citizens for Responsible Government

So, there you have it.  Two way’s to look at the situation.  We can concentrate our efforts on bigger issues, stop wasting our time on the small stuff. Turn the other cheek and let the youth survive on the crumbs left by the big dogs.  Or we can stand up and say “this is wrong” and attempt to do something about it.