City manager pitches community conversations

At the June 15 City Commission meeting, City Manager Tom Barwin proposed spending up to $25,000 on a series of roundtable discussions with local leaders in hopes of creating “action strategies” for addressing major issues.

Barwin suggested the initiative, which he called “Sarasota Together” as a placeholder, could address topics including housing, education, economic development, health care and police-community relations. He said the idea was inspired in part by recent protests over racial injustice and police brutality.

Barwin did not identify specific parties who might be included in the conversations and acknowledged the concept was not yet finalized.

“Details have to be worked out,” he said. “But primarily, the money would be for note takers to help get all of that consolidated and come back to you with action steps.”

Based on the information Barwin provided at the meeting, the City Commission wasn’t ready to get behind the proposal. Commissioner Willie Shaw said the concept was well intentioned, but he didn’t want to host a series of conversations without confidence it would lead to action.

Shaw said the city had a history of discussing topics related to inequity and racism, only to fail to take adequate steps to address the root of the issues.

“I’m tired of hearing the same thing over and over,” Shaw said. “If we’re not going to put people to work, if we’re not going to make change, then put it back on the shelf.”

The commission unanimously directed Barwin to bring back a more refined version of the proposal for discussion at the board’s July 6 meeting. On Wednesday, Barwin said he no longer intended to request city funding for the initiative, instead asking external organizations to serve as the conduit for the community conversations.

Despite the evolving details, Barwin remained optimistic about the value of the idea, stating the conversations would be focused on producing recommendations as quickly as possible.

“I don’t want to make it a yearlong production,” Barwin said. “I want to move nimbly and quick.”