link to video of this forum
CONA meetings
- monthly meeting -
see video
Monday 7 p.m. February 11, 2019
how we feed red tide
On Monday, February 11, please join CONA to hear the executive director of Suncoast Waterkeeper, Justin Bloom, discuss factors fueling red tide that potentially, are within our control and steps that may be taken to reverse our contributions to the exacerbation of the natural cycle into the protracted toxic calamity we have been experiencing.
Suncoast Waterkeeper is a Sarasota-based nonprofit that seeks to protect and restore waterways in our community and beyond, through enforcement, fieldwork, advocacy, and environmental education for the benefit of the communities that rely upon these precious coastal resources. It is one of more than 300 waterkeeper programs around the world. Waterkeepers are a combination of watchdog, investigator, scientist, educator, and legal advocate, protecting rights to clean water and empowering citizens to defend their waterways.
The meeting will open with neighborhood updates about their current issues and to include Chris Bales on Arbour Lake Preserve, Ben Cannon on Bath and Racquet Club, Sura Kochman on Siesta Promenade, and Tom Matrullo on the Celery Fields and Fresh Start.
social 6:30 p.m. - meeting 7:00 p.m.
neighbors helping neighborhoods since 1961
calendar*
January 14, 2019
election results and
recount analyzed
Ron Turner
Susan Chapman
Ruta Maria Jouniari
see video
February 11, 2019
how we
feed red tide
Justin Bloom
see video
March 11, 2019
are neighborhoods
ready for the next elections ?
panel discussion
April 8, 2019
city transportation
plan coming
to Sarasota
Colleen McGue
May 13, 2019
county commission
chair priorities
Charles Hines
June 10, 2019
municipal planning
for sea level rise
panel discussion
July 8, 2019
tba
August 12, 2019
tba
September 9, 2019
historic
preservation
issues
Lorrie Muldowney
October 7, 2019
tba
November 11, 2019
tba
December 9, 2019
fifty-eighth
anniversary party
for invitation
or reservation
see contact us
January 13, 2020
tba
our programs are
subject to change,
please check here
each month
April Charney and Matt Weidner - attorneys leading the defense
older
video archive
Foreclosure Mess 101
September 10, 2012
CONA meeting
visit the bottom of our Home page
for links to both the
video and the article
(click here)
meeting locations and information
CONA monthly meetings are free and open to the public as well as the members of the more than seventy associations the organization represents and our individual members.
Regular monthly meetings are on second Mondays of the month at the Sarasota Garden Club, 1131 Boulevard of the Arts in Sarasota, which is at the intersection of Tamiami Trail, south of the Municipal Auditorium. Parking and the entrance are reached from Van Wezel Way.
A social gathering at 6:30 precedes these regular monthly meetings that begin at 7:00 with neighborhood issue updates.
We do not schedule regular monthly meetings in July or August unless there are pressing issues of immediate concern.
Special meetings may be held on different dates, at other times, or at other locations, please check announcements and notices carefully.
Special fund-raising events may be reserved to contributors who respond to advertisements of the event to members and the public.
Sarasota municipal primary election for districts 2 and 3 city commission seats
— rewarding feedback —
Comments were gathered after one of our primary candidate forums. The meeting hall was filled with “super voters” and we had to pull out two extra rows of chairs from storage to accommodate the overflow crowd eager to hear the CONA forum. Compliments made to us immediately afterward justify the efforts made by those involved in pulling the forum together, here are a few,
“I now feel that I know all of the real issues in this race.”
“I never miss the CONA forum for a race because it is so informative.”
“Another great CONA forum!”
“It’s always a red flag when a candidate fails to show up for a CONA forum.”
“Answers to CONA questions always show if the candidates know their stuff.”
"I was extremely impressed with the probing questions—fine job."
“I am always amazed about how CONA can cover so much ground at their forum.”
Although we had prepared for more guests for the following, general election forum, the meeting hall still was filled with a more than capacity crowd. Again, we had to bring out more chairs for those standing. Immediate feedback was equally as rewarding as that following the primary forum.
meeting video archive
February 2015 through 2016, Pete Theisen was the official CONA videographer, we are grateful for his contributions to keeping our members and the public informed.
In 2017, some video was created by others, posting became delayed and follows as possible - on an individual basis - we hope to resume posting our meetings monthly, in the meantime, links to videos made available to us graciously by others will be posted to the calendar listing and thereby, into the calendar archive for each year.
videos in the following archive are posted individually and
parts follow automatically from that link
if divided into parts, unique links to each part may be provided also
Sarasota municipal runoff election for districts 2 and 3 city commission seats
John Ryan - seeking community-based leadership in watershed management Stephen Suau - beneficial uses of storm water
John McCarthy - very interesting data about the community
Larry Eger - a dialogue with our public defender
Russ Hoffman, Nathan Hoffman - experts on neighborhood ponds and lakes
2012
2015
2016
Jim Bennett - past chair, Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization
Terry Turner, Randall Reid, Frank Alcott, Cathy Antunes, Bill Zoller - panel members
for materials related to a specific meeting topic
after the meeting, go to our resources page and look for the meeting title and date—as more information on the topic becomes available—those links will be updated
( you can help—send suggestions )
Lorrie Muldowney - past manager, Historical Resources of Sarasota County
March 14, 2016 - CONA — Compatible development outcome after fifteen years of wrangling on the bayou
James Bridges of Jebco Ventures and his planner, Joel Freedman, join neighbors Jennifer Ahearn-Koch, Kafi Benz, Don Farr, Yvonne Lacey, and Pola Sommers
February 9, 2015 - CONA — How Sarasota could become a hub for organic food production - an economic development initiative
Stephen Suau
no video available but see resources
January 12, 2015 - CONA — Nora Patterson discusses her political career to date; Kafi Benz - member wish lists for CONA to tackle
Nora Patterson
Kafi Benz
no video available
neighbors helping neighborhoods since 1961
archives
calendar
feedback
videos
see
below
moderator, Dan Lobeck
district 72 candidates
Sara Kathleen Blackwell, Edward Elliot James III, Alexandra Cynthia Miller
district 73 candidates
James T. Golden, Joe Gruters, Steve Vernon
moderator, Dan Lobeck
candidates
Frank Cirillo, Doug Holder, Rick Levine, Nora Patterson, Ray Pilon, Greg Steube
candidates
District 1 - Fredd Atkins, Frank DiCicco, Mike Moran
District 3 - Nancy Detert
District 5 - Charles Hines
Lourdes Ramirez, chair, League of Women Voters speakers bureau
Gerry Swormstedt, chair, Manatee-Sarasota Sierra Club
October 10, 2016 - CONA - candidate forum - county commission D-1 and comprehensive plan update analysis
comp plan update analysis, Dan Lobeck, president, Control Growth Now
candidates
District 1 - Fredd Atkins, Mike Moran - moderator, William Zoller
check for videos posted to the yearly calendars and the archives below
CONA—Sarasota County Council of Neighborhoods Associations workshop
Twentieth Annual Florida Neighborhoods Conference
Venice, Florida - October 13, 14, 15, 2016 - submitted for CAM CE 1 hr credit
Kafi Benz, Ann Kaplan, Lourdes Ramirez,
Lorrie Muldowney, Mary Butler, Melanie Goddard
Andrew Georgiadis, president, Georgiadis Urban Design
( with focus on the Celery Fields area )
Adrien Lucas, Rob White, Tom Matrullo, Carlos Correa
video - courtesy of David G. Johnson of Grow the Dream
summary - courtesy of Citizens for Sarasota County
2017
no-show
candidate strategy
each noted on
2018 calendar above
