2018 Season Presenter
CAN Community Health
SIXTH ANNUAL
STUDENT TEN-MINUTE
PLAYWRITING FESTIVAL
A collection of original works by
students from local high schools
AT THE JANE B. COOK
THEATRE AT
ASOLO/FSU CENTER FOR THE
PERFORMING ARTS
5555 North Tamiami Trail, Sarasota
February 3rd 2018 7:30
February 4th 2018 2:00
Reserved Seating $12
Students $5 with ID
100 SARASOTA SCENE | JANUARY 2018
on the town
residents who will never get out of
public housing, which is supposed to be
temporary and not a permanent place.
There are so many different dynamics
to the affordable housing question and
issue.
Do you have a mantra that you live by?
I don’t think there’s just one. I try to live
by the faith principles I was raised on
and what I believe. But I also try not to
judge folks. It’s easy for us to assume
why somebody does what they do,
and you can place anybody into that
person. It could be our development
community; it could be an individual;
it could be the person who has found
themselves homeless; it could be the
low-income worker; it could be any of
us. And life happens and we are very
quick to judge. We blame them for
circumstances. Practicing as a defense
attorney in the community and seeing
folks who are at their worst, I have
learned that we treat people like we
want to be treated and we expect and
believe the best about people and we
don’t judge an entire group based upon
a decision that one person may have
made. To me it’s just using fairness.
That doesn’t mean that there aren’t
consequences either, because there is
order. There are times, and criminal law
is an example, where if a crime has been
committed, and facts have been proven,
then there should be consequences.
But we also have the ability to fashion a
remedy that makes both the community
and the person better on the other side
of it.
Years from now, what do you hope for
you and for Sarasota?
For me family is important. Years from
now I hope to be married with a family,
and hopefully raise a child or children
who have a mindset of service and not
see color, and work with folks and do
the work that needs to be done. For our
community, I hope that if we raise our
children in that way then we will have
the kind of community that we like to
see and live in. But we also have to be
willing to be able to sacrifice some of
what we have in order for others to get
what they need.
For more information, call
941-799-7224 or visit
www.theatreodyssey.org
Photography By: Dick Disammartino
The 2018 Student Ten-Minute Playwriting Festival
is sponsored in part by our Season Presenter,
CAN Community Health, and the
Dorothy B. Templeton Fund at the Community
Foundation of Sarasota County, Sarasota Scene
Magazine, Leona Collesano, Donna DeFant, Ron
& Pat Pantello, and The Bobs...Trisolini & Nosal
hot teams are the leaders on the city side
in terms of educating individuals who
are homeless to make sure that they are
aware of services, options and resources
that we offer, while at the same time
attend to the concerns of our business
owners who desire a clean and safe
place to do business that attracts folks so
that their bottom line is not impacted.
Providing resources for both helps not pit
the two against each other.
What is the one issue regarding the city
that keeps you up at night?
Again, it’s housing. I get the benefit of
meeting with so many different groups
of people in various community centers.
For a teacher or person who works in
retail, or in a restaurant, or in health
care, they have good jobs that are steady
paying, but it doesn’t keep up with the
cost of living. They are driving to work in
Sarasota from North Port and Parrish, and
sometimes even coming from St. Pete and
Pinellas County. They drive back because
they can’t afford to live here. That quality
of life is in part what contributes to our
traffic concerns and congestion. But it
also creates a distressed work force in my
opinion, because you sit on I-75 to get to
work. What do we have to do to get to a
place where you can afford to live in the
city where you work? It’s not a one-party
solution. We’re all going to have to see
how we can all play a role. This is an
issue that continues to be a challenge for
me because, if you think about it from
the 30,000-foot view, how does it impact
industry? How does it impact traffic?
How does it impact your workforce?
What about the college student who
would like to come back here and work?
I think affordable housing is definitely a
tool in attracting college students who’ve
graduated to at least give us a second
look. We are implementing on-thejob
training in colleges and vocational
schools where people are given the skills
to start out, but we’re not providing them
with affordable housing options so that
they can stay here. We also have our
established retirees who live on fixed
incomes, and now because of rises in
property tax values, they are beginning
to be priced out of their homes. Then
we have our low and very low-income