To: Alta Vista Neighborhood Association Members
….and those who want to be

Don’t forget to mark your callendar for our next AVNA Meeting, Thursday, May 30th at 7:00 pm at Concordia Lutheran Church. This will be our annual “Pot Luck Meeting”
where we are asking everyone to bring a covered dish, a serving utensil and a plate
and eating utensil for yourself. Emily Post asked me to remind you that a covered
dish is not a single bag of chips or a single bottle of Coke. ((We will need sodas and snacks so if you want to bring side orders of snacks or a beverage, you would want to bring enough for about twenty servings.

If you have any questions or need further information, please feel free to send me an Email at: gregginsarasota@aol.com or give me a phone call at: 941/366-4534. I have an answring machine, so if I don’t answer the phone, I am probably in the garden or in the music studio. This will be a fun meeting and we will be welcoming the Summer Season in real Sarasota Style! See you There!

Gregory Schwartz
Secretary
Alta Vista Neighborhood Association

The Alta Vista Neighborhood Association will meet this
Thursday at 7:00 pm at the Concordia Lutheran Church.

This will be the first meeting with Pete Theisen sitting in as our new elected President!

You will also be receiving a copy of the minutes from the March AVNA meeting shortly.

Hope to see you Thursday!

Hi Everyone,

It’s almost meeting time! Please, if you have a sign, put it out and if you don’t have a sign, please let me know and I will get you one. Our meeting is next Thursday, March 28th, same place same time.

We are still looking for a president. If you know someone you think would like to give it a try, or would like to give it a shot yourself, PLEASE let me know as soon as possible. We are holding elections next week and need a full board to continue as Alta Vista Neighborhood Association. After all the work we have done we don’t want to see AVNA be disbanded, but that is what will happen if we don’t have a volunteer for president. Please consider this position – it is very important to all of us.

Thank you,

Candy Spaulding
AVNA

Hi Everyone,

Our meeting last night went very well. We had a great turnout. Thank You to all who came last night. Terry Turner, our city commissioner, was there and helped us understand the zoning and the reason the three commissioners voted down the site plan for Walmart. They all feel it isn’t compatible with our neighborhood as is. We are in the process of finding out how to change the zoning of Ringling Shopping Center. The building we would all like to see isn’t possible right now with the zoning the way it is. If we can get it changed (which I was told it won’t be hard to do as all five commissioners agree that it is needed) it opens up all kinds of options that I think everyone will love. I will keep you posted on the progress.

We also discussed elections and Gregory Schwartz was nominated as secretary. He has been such a big help to me. He reads my letters ahead of time and makes sure they are in perfect shape to be sent out to the neighbors. I really appreciate his help. He will be a big asset to our board members. We are still looking for a president as I am no longer able to serve in the capacity needed. Please think about helping your neighborhood as it is very needed at this time. There is a lot of help so it’s not that big of a job but very needed. If we don’t have four board members, president, vice president, secretary and treasurer, we won’t have an association. As you can see from our experiences Alta Vista Neighborhood Association is greatly needed. Please consider helping… it is well worth the effort.

Our next meeting will be March 28th, same place same time. Please have a great month and I hope to see you all on March 28th.

Thank you,

Candy Spaulding
Alta Vista Neighborhood Association

Hi Everyone,

Thanks to all of you who came to the meeting last night. We had five of the six candidates for City Commission. They did a great job answering our questions and telling us about themselves. It was very informative!

We discussed the appeal for Walmart. The hearing is on Tuesday, February 19th at the City Commission meeting room, at 6:00pm. Please try to make it to this meeting as it’s very important to our neighborhood. Walmart’s lawyer has informed the City Manager that they will not make any changes and will fight the appeal. I’m really disappointed that they are not willing to negotiate. Your presence will make a difference.

I’ve mentioned that I will no longer be able to perform the duties of president. I am now on the nominating committee to try to find a replacement. Please let me know if this is something you would like to do. It’s fun, it’s easy and you meet a lot of wonderful people. We have a core group that is very helpful to the neighborhood. Please consider this opportunity to help and be an active part of the Alta Vista Neighborhood Association.

Our next meeting will be Thursday, February 28th, same time – same place. Hope to see all of you then.

Candy Spaulding
Alta Vista Neighborhood Association

Hi Everyone:

Our next AVNA Meeting will be at 7:00 pm on Thursday, January 31 at
Concordia Lutheran Church. We are going to have a candidate forum with
5 of the 6 candidates running for City Commissioner, to answer questions
and tell us why we should vote for them. Our Mayor, Suzanne Atwell will
not be able to attend since she has a previous engagement, but she sends
her regrets. If you have any questions that you would like to ask any of the
candidates, please submit them to me via Email. The AVNA Board will
ask the candidates your questions from your submissions that you send.
I will allow them 5 minutes each to answer the questions. I am trying to
keep the meeting to a reasonable time frame.

Our AVNA Board Elections will be coming up in March. We will be
looking for a nominating committee to help find new Board Members. I will
not be able to continue to be president due to family obligations. Juanita
can no longer be secretary, so we will be looking for a new president
and secretary. Please be open to the possibility of these two positions.
We have to have a Board in order to stay an association. It’s easy and it’s
a lot of fun! I have met some wonderful people and am sorry to leave.
Please keep this in mind as we will be asking for volunteers.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the new year and I look
forward to seeing you all next week.

Thank You,

Candy Spaulding
Alta Vista Neighborhood Association

Hi Everyone,

Your Alta Vista Board would like to wish all of you a very prosperous, healthy and happy new year. Hope to see you at our next meeting which will be January 31st.

Candy Spaulding
AVNA

Here is a document to go before the City Commission on the Walmart Appeal.

Hi Everyone,

This is a reminder that our neighborhood meeting is next
Thursday, October 25th. We will meet at the Concordia
Luthern Church at 7:00pm. Officer Snodgrass has assured
me that we will have an officer in attendence. Our guest
speaker is John with the Fire Department. He’s going to
explain a program they have that will ensure that when a
paramedic or fireman comes to your house, they will have
access to your medical history! We will also discuss the
new Wal-Mart and the upcoming election and the lengthy ballot.

The post below this one is an explanitation about the last city
amendment on the ballot. I’m passing this along for those
of you who want information about what is on the ballot.

If you have a sign, now is the time to put them out, please.
Thanks to all who do!

Candy Spaulding
Alta Vista Neighborhood Association

Sarasota needs a strong auditor and efficient management of city services!

Currently, the auditing department is combined with several operating departments (pension administration, central records, clerk, and information technology) into an office of “City Auditor and Clerk.”

This structure creates a conflict of interest for the city auditor. The conflict of interest is of particular concern with respect to two of the auditor’s sister departments — central records and pension administration.

This structure also has resulted in a lack of focus on the audit function. The city auditor is distracted by operational duties, and auditing has become a secondary, neglected activity.

This structure divides operating responsibilities between two managers—the city manager and the city auditor. The division of operating responsibilities has created conflict, petty bickering, and low staff morale. It has had a very adverse impact on the delivery of city services to our citizens.

By voting Yes for the proposed amendment—at the very end of your city ballot—you will Create a strong city auditor reporting directly to the city commission

Eliminate the conflict of interest inherent in the current structure Reduce waste in redundant services

Lower risk of fraud
Streamline operating services
Promote better services for city residents
Make an already good government a lot better

paid for by Sarasota Citizens for Good Government, 426 S Shore Dr, Sarasota Fl 34234

Hi Everyone,

We had a great meeting last night. Lots of you came which I am very glad to see. We had sandwiches that Publix helped us with and Root Beer donated by Shamrock Pub. We are also very grateful to the church for allowing us to use their Willer Hall. We discussed a lot of things but first I want to let you know about the above four attachments. One is from Concordia Lutheran Church and it’s about their fall festival. This festival is a lot of fun and a great way to get to know your neighbors. The kids love all the activities and the food is awesome. I will be there and hope to see you there too. The other two attachments are our minutes from our June meeting and the treasury report. Please read them and if you have any questions please let me know.

I want to talk for a minute about the last attachment. We discussed this last night, and it’s about the offer from FPL to come into our homes and inspect them for wasted electricity. They are bringing with them a kit that will take care of any repairs needed in your home, such as leaking air ducts, energy efficient light bulbs, more efficient shower heads and they will inspect your attic for insulation and if it’s not sufficient, they will replace it free of charge. Did you all get that? Free of charge! They are only going to inspect 50 homes in Arlington Park and our neighborhood. They still have plenty of openings so please fill out the form today and mail it to the PO box for FPL on the form. They are looking for older homes that you own. Sorry, but this is not available for renters or condo owners. Please take advantage of this great opportunity to go over your bill with someone who knows how you can save money. It’s not often we get an offer from any company trying to help us save money.
HEMI FLYER
Terry Turner, our City Commissioner, was there and explained to us the amendments that will be on the ballot in November. It can be quite confusing. He’s going to send me some information that will help you understand what it’s all about. I will email that sometime early next week.

Our next meeting will be on Thursday, October 25th, same time, same place. Don’t forget to check out our website: altavistana.com
-all of this information can be found there.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Candy Spaulding
AVNA