bserver O
EAST COUNTY
Happy New Year!
You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.
IN FOCUS
YEAR IN PICTURES
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Thursday, DECEMBER 27, 2012
SPORTS
80-year-old qualifies for The best images Senior Games. from 2012.
Highlights of East County sports from 2012. PAGE 1B
governance
OUR TOWN
By Pam Eubanks | News Editor
Country Club West changes its manager
+ BRHS students honor veterans Students at Braden River High School have continued their Christmas tradition of honoring servicemen and women. Web design students created a customized Christmas greeting with a personal audio message for soldiers and sailors who are away from home this season. “We would like to invite our friends in Manatee County to send this link to friends and family in the service to let them know how much we appreciate their sacrifice this holiday season,” Braden River Assistant Principal Don French says. The greeting can be found at manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/ highschool/brhs/christmas. htm.
+ Bashaw students learn through dance Zumba instructor Sandra Aguirre taught Bashaw Elementary School students Latin dance from Mexico Dec. 12, at the school. The lesson, held in sessions throughout the day, helped students prepare for their Art and Music show next May. The show will feature a Mexican theme. Barbara Sullivan, a music teacher at Bashaw, says the school believes health and education work hand-in-hand.
+ Kiddie Academy hosts holiday breakfast Kiddie Academy welcomes more than 230 people to its Family Holiday Appreciation Breakfast Dec. 8. Children enjoyed breakfast, pictures with Santa, train rides, crafts, the movie “The Polar Express” and more.
Country Club West will no longer contract with the Inter-District Authority for property management services, starting Jan. 1.
Pam Eubanks
Leonardo Leal-Guerrero says he’s thankful for the opportunities he has had and the people he’s met while attending Stanford University.
NEW BEGINNINGS
by Pam Eubanks | Managing Editor
HOME HOLIDAYS FOR THE
As a homeless student, Leonardo Leal-Guerrero graduated with top honors from Braden River High School in 2011. Now, he’s a sophomore at Stanford University.
EAST COUNTY — At 19 years old, Leonardo Leal-Guerrero still doesn’t have a place to call home. These days, however, it doesn’t bother him like it did before. As a sophomore at Stanford University, Leal-Guerrero, for nearly the first time in his life, has consistency — a roof over his head, food to eat and adults on which he can call for help and guidance. “I’m not alone anymore,” says Leal-Guerrero, who returned to his hometown during Stanford’s winter break. “I actually have people I can count on, if I had an emergency or if my car breaks down. It feels great; before, everything was so (inconsistent). “Having stability now is a calming feeling,” he says. “I can focus on graduating, not on where I have to stay or how to pay rent. I’m really happy to be there (at Stanford).”
LAKEWOOD RANCH — As Lakewood Ranch Community Development District 6 transitions to Lakewood Ranch Town Hall for management services, the community’s homeowners association will be doing the opposite. Lakewood Ranch Country Club West, the association in CDD 6, will start property-management services with Advanced Management Inc. starting Jan. 1. Lakewood Ranch Town Hall currently manages it. The change leaves remaining homeowners associations in Town Hall’s fold — the Greenbrook Village Association, the Country Club/Edgewater Village Association and the Summerfield/Riverwalk Association — with a cumulative $155,000 budget shortfall. “There’s enough ember equity (in each association) we can tap for this purpose,” Town Hall Finance Director Steve Zielinski said. “There’s not going to be an additional assessment.” GBVA, CEVA and SRVA adopted their 2013 budgets in October, using the prior year’s allocations for Country Club East as their guideline. Town Hall learned of the pending Country Club East association change in early November. Zielinski said the money will be taken out of surplus dollars from the budget, and there will be no special assessments for 2013. The impact, however, likely will be in 2014, because an increase in assessments will be difficult to avoid. Zielinski said GBVA, CEVA and SRVA each have a dedicated property manager; Country Club West did not, because services were spread out among Inter-District Authority (Town Hall) staff. Costs associated with the use of other Town Hall personnel, including individuals in the financial department and others, are included in the $155,000 annual cost. Zielinksi said CEVA will likely bear the brunt of the cost — $68,000 to $70,000 — because of the community’s size and number of maintenance-free neighborhoods. The best way to redistribute costs, however, is still being determined.
SEE HOME / PAGE 6A
SEE CDD / PAGE 6A
INDEX Births...................4A Community...........5A
Classifieds .......... 9B CDD Update.........6A
Cops Corner....... 20A Crossword............ 8B
Sports.................. 1B Weather............. 22A
Vol. 13, No. 52 | Two sections YourObserver.com