Fill the Empty Words with Real Action

An Open Letter to Robin Marinelli

Dear Ms. Marinelli:

My husband just purchased a 2024 Corvette. He said the prices were good right now. I pleaded with him not to do it, as he has other big dreams that can be realized without them getting in the way of our lives.

Our budget isn’t even close to a brand new Hyundai, let alone a ‘vette. Despite saying he listened to me, he bought the sports car. Now he has to continue working for the next couple of years, when he could have retired or even worked part-time. As a result, we’re going to have to pass on a vacation for at least the next two years and lose valuable time just finally enjoying our freedom. If only my words had held weight.

I had the same thing happen with my 6-year-old grandchild. Fortunately, she didn’t want a car or even an eBike but wants to swim in her friend’s heated pool with no adults present. I told her, “Absolutely, no way”.

She replied: “Yes, Grandma. I hear you.” However, because she has said: “I hear you” before and she does the crime anyway, I have to keep an eagle eye out for her.

Then there’s my elderly neighbor, who is going to put me in my grave first. She’s on a fixed income and wants to adopt two 9-week old puppies. Did I mention she has ambulatory challenges? I warned her of the house-training, the expense of veterinary bills and that she would need a fenced-in yard.

Her reply was that she catches my drift, but the “puppies are so cute” and the companionship will be good for her.

One more - and Lord have mercy: We all told my best friend, Anna, not to marry this guy who has a criminal record that stretches the entire circumference of Waco, Texas. She told me and her children that she’s aware of our concerns. Even her accountant was trying to tell Anna how to protect her assets. The more we talked to the widower, the angrier and more defensive she got.

There’s all kind of advice and even red flags that we ignore. Is it a willful blindness & deafness to proceed despite evidence and logic not to go in that direction? Is there a hubris in that we know better than everyone else? Are we under peer pressure or undue influence that makes us resist other’s opinions?

Some pick their battles. There’s the warnings to: “Leash your dog!”; “Lock your doors!”; “Delete that e-mail - it’s scam!”; “Don’t go through the yellow light!”; Don’t eat those oysters. It’s March!”

Ms. Marinelli, your repeated attempts to convince the public at the school board meetings that you’re listening must frustrate you terribly. At the November 19 meeting, you said that you had taken three pages worth of notes. At a much earlier meeting, you attempted to reassure the public that you watch them speak through your computer monitor because you can see them better. You endear yourself to the public with your words - but they rarely match your actions.

“Setting such a precedence as to putting the cart before the horse was bad for the district, the people warned you.”

Yet another deafening blunder occurred when you chose to go against a large majority of Sarasota County voters when they declared on their ballots that they wanted a non-partisan school board. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to have seen the friction between you and fellow board member Tom Edwards. Yet your words express that you are willing to work with him. We see the same grace extended from him to you.

Yet, when you listened to all the speakers (with the exception of one) to elect Tom Edwards as vice-chair, a moderate Democrat, you voted for. . .yourself.

Having much less experience and in a gesture of collaboration (at the voter’s will), your vote clearly should have been for Edwards. Doing the right thing isn’t always easy. However, you were elected to make those hard choices that aren’t about yourself, but the district.

If your reasoning is that you get e-mails stating otherwise, then this is exactly why Sarasota needs two public meetings a month (which you also voted against at the same meeting). The media can’t report on or verify behind-the-door meetings or emails (without a public records search) for all eyes to read. One can’t say they want transparency when they vote to cut back to one meeting a month.

Every person in the room asked for two meetings. Your peer, Liz Barker, asked that it be workshopped first - as is the norm. Setting such a precedence as to putting the cart before the horse was bad for the district, the people warned you. You said you were listening, yet. . .you bought the corvette instead. You’re getting the two puppy dogs, and you’re marrying the felon.

It’s important to listen from the perspective of voting constituents, not from behind a dais, two seats away from a troublemaker. It’s self-defeating not only for yourself, but a slap in the face for the community you’re failing to represent.

An Ashton Elementary School Advocate speaks before the school board (11/19)

You know the game plan, Ms. Marinelli. Workshop, listen, consider your constituents’ voices and then vote. Anything else is a poor performance and does not represent the best interest of the schools’ teachers, students and staff.

There’s still a lot of time to act on the words “I listen”, because whether there’s one meeting a month or two, the voices that want the school district to maintain its A-rating are not going away.

The public school advocates are looking forward to a healthier relationship forged between themselves and the board, as a new and challenging year emerges. Together, the Sarasota school system can not only meet goals but surpass them.

Sincerely,

Dear Bubbie