SARASOTA Observer
YourObserver.com
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2011
HELP WANTED
CRIME / FROM PAGE 1A
By Rachel Brown Hackney | Staff Writer
Chalk Fest seeks partnership with county for arts grant During discussion set for Jan. 11, 2012, the Sarasota County Commission is expected to decide whether it will partner with Denise Kowal and the Sarasota Chalk Festival on an application for a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Kowal emailed commission Chairwoman Nora Patterson Dec. 2 to explain details of the grant and to ask for the assistance. “As you remember, I wanted to pursue the grant last year, but Jim Shirley (executive director of the Sarasota County Arts and Cultural Alliance) pursued it on behalf of the Festival of Firsts and he did not get invited to apply,” Kowal wrote. “Can you let please let me know if and what I need to do, (because) only one grant can be pursued by each governing agency each year?” The Our Town grants offered by the National Endowment for the Arts support “creative placemaking projects that contribute toward the livability of communities and help transform them into lively, beautiful and sustainable places with the arts at their core,” according to the material Kowal sent Patterson. The NEA information added, “Pending availability of funding, grants will range from $25,000 to $150,000.” The application deadline is March 1, 2012. Projects funded would be held
hours after three people were injured in Newtown early Sunday morning after rounds of ammunition were fired into a Newtown neighborhood. The string of violence has increased as of late in the area, with gunfire also killing a young mother over the Thanksgiving weekend. “This isn’t a District 1 issue anymore, and it never was,” Shaw said. “This is a Sarasota issue.” The rest of the commission agreed. “My sense of urgency is off the charts right now,” said Commissioner Paul Caragiulo. “This problem is within our city, it’s our problem, and I’m not OK with it.” Mayor Suzanne Atwell said “the elephant in the room” of the crime problem is “a public relations nightmare for the city.” The comment upset and frustrated Shaw, even though Atwell was trying to finish her comment by explaining the city can’t worry about the image of the city any longer when it comes to fixing its crime problem. “We can’t continue to talk about how this affects the city’s PR,” Shaw said. “I want to see a result that stops me from holding funerals and children and mothers being shot.” Shaw also asked commissioners to consider what would happen if the violence is ignored. “We won’t have a Sarasota image at all to worry about anymore if they start shooting downtown,” Shaw said. “It stinks, and it smells real bad right now.” Caragiulo agreed. “This wouldn’t be tolerated in any other neighborhood in this city,” Caragiulo said. City Manager Bob Bartolotta promised the commission the city is working to fix the problem and said the problem can’t be fixed by increasing the police presence in Newtown.
between Sept. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2014. As she promised Kowal in her response, Patterson brought up the matter during the Dec. 6 County Commission meeting. Referring to Kowal, Patterson told her fellow commissioners, “She would like our blessing, (but) I don’t know if that is possible by our policies.” Nonetheless, Patterson pointed out that the Chalk Festival “has continued to grow and attract a lot of folks. Patterson added that the county would not be obligated to contribute funds by partnering with Kowal on the application. “You’re saying that other arts organizations could apply for this (grant)?” Commissioner Joe Barbetta asked. “We can’t prevent that,” Patterson said, adding that she could check with Shirley to learn his view of Kowal’s request. “I don’t want to be part of that (application) without seeing more input,” Barbetta said. Patterson suggested Interim County Administrator Terry Lewis and County Attorney Stephen DeMarsh research the matter and report back to the commission. In an email to Kowal, Lewis said the County Commission also wanted budget staff to look into the application process.
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“This is not just a police issue, it’s a community issue that everyone needs to buy into,” Bartolotta said. “We have doubled police presence in Newtown since I got here, and it hasn’t gotten us anywhere.” Bartolotta and the Sarasota Police Department are investigating a long-term solution that involves the entire community, including local ministers and community outreach programs. Shaw discovered the program called “Operation Ceasefire,” which involves the assistance of criminologist David Kennedy, who has devoted his career to reducing gang and drug-related inner-city violence. Kennedy’s homicide-reduction program brings gang members into meetings with community members they respect, social services representatives who could help them and police officers who want gang members to stay alive and not to be arrested. Kennedy’s program has worked to reduce homicide rates in Boston as much as 66%. The program, now dubbed “The Boston Miracle,” has been implemented in more than 70 cities nationwide. “We have to start with community action, and people must realize this affects the entire city,” Bartolotta said. “It appears to be effective.” Shaw has high hopes for the program. “The dynamics of violence we have here is broader than just putting people in jail,” Shaw said. Deputy City Manager Marlon Brown, meanwhile, said city staff would work on giving the violence issue a other than a “goal for the city.” Also at the meeting, commissioners presented a variety of goals to Bartolotta, who will present a list of approximately 40 goals to review and have commissioners review and approve in January.
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