Rosemary seeks voice in homeless plans

The city of Sarasota has its eight-point homeless plan. The county has paid thousands for consultant Robert Marbut to craft 12 initiatives for tackling the issue, and a group of local CEOs has put together a "3 to 1 plan" to address chronic homelessness.

But Wednesday, a day after the County Commission asked staff to explore the feasibility of undertaking the latter plan, longtime Rosemary District-based Realtor Ian Black was left dumbfounded as to why his neighborhood — which is arguably ground zero for visible homelessness — was left out of each of those coversations.

"I'm trying to keep my cool," said Black, who has watched the ebb and flow of vagrancy in Rosemary for more than two decades. "We don’t have a voice right  now and that's what concerns me."

The "3 to 1 plan," which would consolidate social services in a 24-hour capacity at the Salvation Army or the Harvest House on North Lime Avenue, was born out of out of a coalition of social-service agencies called the CEO Group

Sarasota Family YMCA President and CEO Kurt Stringfellow, who helped bring together members of the CEO Group, said the "3 to 1 plan" came out of nearly five months of conversations, and will not be rushed. He said it's flexible and should be considered along with a variety of options for spearheading regional homeless problems.

"The '3 to 1 plan' is just a plan— it's not the plan," Stringfellow said. "I think it's very important for the city, the county and the CEO Group to all work together to help solve the issue."

But, in his address to county commissioners, Marbut continued to assert that the longer the community puts off a portal for the chronically homeless, the larger that population will grow.

Marbut told the Sarasota Observer that converting the Salvation Army to a 24-hour shelter could reduce visible homelessness in the Rosemary District. Black said he is wary the risk of intensifying social services within the district, which is on the verge of multiple new developments.

"We have a lot money at risk with all this investment in the area," Black said.

County commissioners plan to draft a letter to city commissioners requesting input on the "3 to 1 plan," and possibly schedule a meeting between the boards.

Talks between the county and city about such a facility broke down in July 2014, but Marbut said he was hopeful that a recently shuffled City Commission could be more receptive to plans for a shelter. City Commissioners Liz Alpert and Shelli Freeland Eddie replaced Eileen Normile and Stan Zimmerman in the May 12 runoff election.

"I think we need to extend that olive branch and have that really difficult conversation with the city of Sarasota about this issue,” said County Commissioner Carolyn Mason.