“Wants” and “needs.” It is budget crunch time in local government. Budget workshops are happening now and the most important decisions about the future of our area gets decided during these workshops. These are happening at the county level and on the municipal level. Many are happening next week. If you are concerned about taxes, projects,…

The Sarasota County Commission has adopted 10 board priorities for fiscal year 2018. All are important and we commend the board for understanding how critical and crucial these issues are to our county. Among the top five bullet points are housing affordability, small-business retention and adult homelessness. These issues affect our quality of life, our…

And Christine Robinson, executive director of the Argus Foundation, told the commission to take stock of the volume of issues that were brought up Monday. “How did this get to this point, and why do you have so many people in the room here today?” Robinson said. The commission decided the city should take the…

“It always feels like I need to remind people of what happens when you don’t have growth,” said Christine Robinson, executive director of the self-described business think tank Argus Foundation and a former Sarasota County commissioner. “Restaurants close, your workers have to move away, businesses suffer … it lowers the quality of life when you…

(Third heading in column) Back in January Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam came to Sarasota at the invitation of the Argus Foundation and delivered a speech that foreshadowed his bid for governor, which he announced earlier this month. Argus brought another potential candidate for governor, Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran, to Sarasota in March to…