by Christine Robinson | Jan 20, 2018 | News
Competition amongst counties and regions for economic development is fierce, almost as fierce as it was during the recession. Now is the time to diversify and make sure we are well-positioned for the next inevitable recession, which will hopefully come later than...
by Christine Robinson | Jan 20, 2018 | News
Christine Robinson, executive director of the The Argus Foundation, was honored Thursday by the North Port Area Chamber of Commerce with the 2018 Business Advocate Hall of Fame Award. The award is given to a community member who displays outstanding business...
by Christine Robinson | Jan 14, 2018 | News
The NAACP’s local organization has endorsed an initiative aimed at letting voters in the city of Sarasota decide whether to change their election schedule. The endorsement provides a boost to the effort and should help alleviate some concerns about the proposal’s...
by Christine Robinson | Jan 12, 2018 | News, Uncategorized
Chapters keep being added to the voluminous story behind the affordable housing topic. Like elsewhere across the country, Sarasota and Manatee counties and the region’s municipalities continue to struggle with the hot-button issue. The latest chapter is being written...
by Christine Robinson | Jan 9, 2018 | News
A push to change the timing of Sarasota’s city elections got a lift Monday with an endorsement from the NAACP. But while leaders of that group see a shift to November elections as a way to boost minority turnout, critics of the measure remain skeptical that city...
by Christine Robinson | Jan 4, 2018 | News
Off-year voting dilutes minority and young voter influence. Decide the Date Sarasota is a petition initiative to place the question of when to have city elections on the ballot. I am chairing this initiative because I believe that more people who vote, the more...
by Christine Robinson | Dec 18, 2017 | News
When I was a county commissioner, many decisions on the dais were difficult. I would read, research, ask questions, sit through presentations, listen to public comment and make the best decision I could on each issue before voting. The decisions were never made...
by Christine Robinson | Dec 16, 2017 | News
We lost a giant in the business community this past month. Ron Royal was a past president of The Argus Foundation, past Sarasota Chamber chair and past chair of the Gulf Coast Builder’s Exchange, to name a few of the many business leadership positions he held. His...
by Christine Robinson | Dec 15, 2017 | News
A group led by a pair of politically prominent Sarasotans is attempting to do what the City Commission has repeatedly refused to do: Provide voters an opportunity to determine when municipal elections are conducted. It’s about time that someone offered an alternative...
by Christine Robinson | Dec 12, 2017 | News
Decide the Date is co-chaired by Larry Eger, the elected public defender for the 12th Judicial Circuit, and Suzanne Atwell, the former mayor who repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, pushed for such a referendum during two terms on the commission. It also is supported by...
by Christine Robinson | Dec 12, 2017 | News
In October, the City Commission discussed holding a referendum about moving municipal elections from the spring to the fall. The board ultimately declined to pursue a ballot initiative, citing a lack of established public support for the concept. Now, a citizen-led...
