Board to discuss draft during regular meeting on Sept. 10 in Sarasota
At the request of a Venice resident who routinely has decried what she describes as local government participation in socialism, the Sarasota County Commission chair has asked County Attorney Joshua Moye to prepare a resolution declaring the commission’s opposition to Amendment 4 on the November General Election ballot.
That draft will be considered during the board’s regular meeting on Sept. 10 in downtown Sarasota, the agenda shows.
As Ballotpedia explains, that amendment “supports adding the following language to the Florida Constitution’s Declaration of Rights: ‘… no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.’ Amendment 4 would maintain the current constitutional provision that permits a law requiring parents to be notified before a minor can receive an abortion.”
Addressing the commissioners during the Open to the Public period of their regular meeting on Aug. 27, held in Venice, Sally Nista — who, in past board appearances, has worn a name tag identifying her as a member of the Sarasota County Republican Assembly Chapter — first praised the board members for the votes they took on June 5 to eliminate county funding for several nonprofit organizations that provide human and behavioral health services.
Although two commission-appointed advisory boards had recommended the funding awards, Chair Michael Moran distributed his own proposed grant recipient lists to his colleagues in advance of their discussion that day. Commissioners did win majority support of their colleagues to add back a few of those Moran had struck, but most of Moran’s decisions were approved.
Among those nonprofits that did not end up securing county funds were the Early Learning Coalition; the United Way of South Sarasota County, for a program that had been assisting low-income residents faced with evictions; Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast; and Harvest Tabernacle of Sarasota, which had requested $190,000 for its Freedom Recovery Program, whose mission “is to safely divert individuals with substance use disorders and criminal involvement from jail or pre-arrest to the recovery program and safely be reintegrated back into the community,” as its summary explained.
On Aug. 27, Nista told the commissioners, “Please disregard the criticisms that you have received from the highly paid administrators of the nonprofits. I am very appreciative that you are remembering that this is taxpayer money that you are spending. As I have stated before,” she stressed, “taxpayer money should be spent on infrastructure systems, emergency and police services, and administrative operating costs. Every penny after that is socialism.”
‘Stand for the unborn’
Then Nista pivoted to her second topic. She noted that “multiple other county commissioners in the state of Florida have passed resolutions on opposing Amendment 4 this November.”
Nista added, “I know all of you are believers in the right to life. We need our elected officials to stand for the unborn and fight for life.”
On March 19, during the Open to the Public comment period that day, Commissioner Neil Rainford engaged in an exchange with Bronwyn Beightol, chief impact officer with United Way Suncoast.
Rainford told Beightol that one of his District 3 constituents had asked whether the operators handling that nonprofit’s 211 helpline calls refer people to Planned Parenthood.
“Yes,” Beightol replied.
Noting her use of the word “lifeline,” Rainford told his colleagues later that day, “I just found that interesting,” that 211 would refer callers to Planned Parenthood.
(On its website, Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida points out that it “provides essential reproductive health care services to neighboring communities. Our caring and knowledgeable staff provide a wide range of services, including testing, treatment, counseling, and referrals.)
Nista did say on Aug. 27 that “women should have access to contraception.” However, she added, “Abortion is not reproductive health care.”
She indicated that proponents of the anti-Amendment 4 resolution would appear at a future commission meeting to encourage formal action by the Sarasota County board.
Yet, during the Reports section of the Aug. 27 meeting, Chair Moran brought up her remarks and asked for his colleagues’ consensus to direct County Attorney Moye to draft a resolution for the commission’s consideration, as Nista had proposed.
“Happy to see something come forth for us to look at,” Commissioner Rainford responded.
“Ditto,” Commissioner Joe Neunder added.
Then Moran said, “If that reconciles differently with the community’s needs or wants, we can deal with it [after Moye provides the board members a document for their review].”
When Moran asked Moye whether Moye was clear about Moran’s request, Moye replied that he would prepare the draft for the commissioners.
The discussion of the proposed resolution is listed as Item No. 31 on the Sept. 10 agenda. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m.
No public comments can be offered on discussion items when the board members tackle them during the sessions, commissioners have pointed out. Therefore, anyone wishing to talk about the resolution would need to do it during the Open to the Public comment period that morning.
County Administrator Jonathan Lewis told the commissioners last week that, while construction continues at the R.L. Anderson Administration Center in Venice — where they were meeting on Aug. 27, amid power losses, communications glitches and little to no air conditioning — he would plan to hold the regular meetings at the Administration Center standing at 1660 Ringling Blvd. in Sarasota unless public hearings already had been advertised for Venice meetings or unless the board directed him to keep to the 2024 schedule for a particular session in Venice.
The Sept. 10 meeting originally had been scheduled for the Venice facility.