Martin Luther King week activities continued in Sarasota on Sunday, January 20th, with a march from city hall, down Orange Avenue, and ending in the park named for the civil rights leader. The local media had not publicized this parade, and so there were several hundred participants but only a handful of spectators. In the photograph above I am clad in my new campaign tee-shirt and accompanied by Representative Keith Fitzgerald and the President of the Sarasota Democratic Club, Pat Liebert. The local Democratic candidates then went to the beautiful Siesta Key home of Peggy Strml for a meet and greet. A large crowd turned out to hear Christine Jennings, Barry Sullivan, Curt Lavarello and Jono Miller speak. Photos of this event may be seen at: http://sarasotadems.org/galleries/mng-jan08/
Monday, January 21, was my busiest day yet. Regina and I began at the annual breakfast held at the Newtown Estates Community Center. A large crowd was treated to an excellent breakfast, music, awards and speeches. It was quite a drive from Newtown to the Beachhouse Restaurant where I attended the meeting of the Anna Maria Island Democratic Club in order to hear Dr. Susan McManus. I then headed to Lincoln Park in Palmetto to take place in some of the festivities there. Next up was an appearance at the Manatee County fair where I worked the Democratic booth for a while, and made the acquaintance of a variety of fair goers and workers. Then back to Sarasota to finish up with music and barbecue in the park, while I continued to gather petition signatures.
As you can imagine, I was a little tired on Tuesday. But I made it to Nokomis where their lively Civic Association has quarterly meetings. On Wednesday night I attended a discussion on religion and politics at the Unitarian Church. Thursday saw the return of Senator Bob Graham as he addressed the Sarasota County Bar Association on the subject of judicial independence. We also celebrated Regina's birthday with a lovely meal at Derek's in the Rosemary District.
There was a court appearance on my schedule Friday morning that I managed to wrap up in time to head to Venice for a meeting of the newly formed South County Tiger Bay. Representatives from Venice, North Port, Sarasota County and the regional water agencies tried to reassure the audience that there is no serious water problem in the area. Many people had a rather skeptical reaction. Later Friday, Dr. Bernice King gave an inspirational speech to about 350 people gathered to support the Newtown Front Porch Revitalization Campaign. The banquet, at the Hyatt, featured easily the best meal I have yet had at a function like this. It was also nice to see some old friends honored, like Wade McVay from the Sarasota Police Department.
My big event Saturday was a speech at the Venice Democratic Club. Around 80 people turned out to hear me discuss the history of the public defender's office, the local criminal justice system, and my campaign. I was really overwhelmed by the level of attention and interest this talk generated, as we continued a lively discussion well into the afternoon. On Sunday, January 27, I participated in the forum put on by the Coalition on Inclusion and Diversity. The small group workshop I attended help open my eyes to some of the challenges faced by disabled citizens. Regina and I finished this busy week by heading to Rhea Chiles gallery on Anna Maria to see the beautiful new show by Jean Blackburn, and support the friends of Myakka River.
Don't forget to vote tomorrow. Even if you are not a registered Democrat or Republican, there is still an important and misguided constitutional amendment to vote against. Supervisors of Elections throughout the State of Florida are reporting a strong turnout already, thanks to early voting. I will be outside the precincts located at the Mullins Center in North Port if you want to stop by and say hello. I have given notice to my office that I will be leaving on March 3 so I can campaign full time.
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