News Briefs

+ County to evaluate SCAT efficiency
Sarasota County commissioners gave staff the OK for a study that will examine the potential privatization of transit services during a workshop Tuesday.

An independent cost estimate will give the county a basis for evaluating bids from private operators and compare the efficiency of county’s transit system to those of 11 other municipalities.

The study, which cost roughly $65,000, is slated for completion by June, with a presentation for the board coming the following month.

+ New School Board candidate emerges
A third candidate has emerged in the race for the Sarasota County School Board District 1 seat Carol Todd vacated earlier this month.

Former Sarasota County School District Director of Long-Range Planning Ken Marsh joins Geoffrey Griswold Fisher and Bridget Ziegler in the race for the position.

Marsh spent more than a decade as a planning administrator with the Sarasota County School District, according to a news release, with experience in other areas of the organization since 1995.

Current school board members discussed Todd’s replacement at a work session last week, ultimately agreeing to advocate leaving the vacancy unfilled until the election in August.

+ Sarasota Chalk Festival moving to Venice
On April 22, the Venice City Council approved a special event agreement to bring the 2014 Sarasota Chalk Festival to its streets in November. Since its inception, the Chalk Festival has called Burns Court home, but event founder Denise Kowal said issues with the city were too significant to overcome.

Kowal believes the vast majority of Sarasota appreciates and enjoys the event, but that the Sarasota City Commission wasn’t as accommodating to the festival as it should have been.

“They clearly have not found this to be as much of a benefit to the community as the community has felt,” Kowal said. “There’s a big disconnect there”

 Meetings & agendas
Regular City Commission meeting — 2:30 and 6 p.m. Monday, May 5, Commission Chambers, City Hall, 1565 First St., Sarasota.

Regular County Commission meeting — Wednesday, May 7, Commission Chambers, County Administration Center, 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota