Ex-sheriff supports new law requiring city officials to tell all

Financial disclosure by city long past due

Since a new Florida law was passed requiring elected officials in municipalities to disclose their finances annually via Form 6, commissioners and council members in cities from small to large have complained.

Some have gone so far as to resign.

The complaints have ranged from government overreach to the inconvenience of having to fill out a more comprehensive disclosure every year.

As Sarasota County’s elected sheriff for 12 years, I was required to complete and submit Form 6 − as are all elected state and county officials and many appointed ones are. Even my wife, as a former trustee for State College of Florida, filed a financial disclosure form.

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We never questioned it because we believe that voters have the right to ensure that the people chosen to govern them are free of conflicts and are not subject to undue influence.

In my opinion, holding city officials to this standard is long past due.

They often vote on contracts and zoning issues representing millions, and even billions, of dollars. To those who refuse to fill out the form and plan to resign, I say it’s probably for the best.

Tom Knight, Sarasota County

Knight was Sarasota County sheriff from 2009-2021 and is a Sarasota County Commission District 3 candidate.

Engage seniors in arts to improve health

Sarasota is renowned as an arts community and has an extraordinary community of artists.

It has been well researched and documented that engaging people in the arts, especially seniors, results in health improvement as well as emotional and physical well-being.

Many organizations are devoted to that, such as Arts for the Aging, in Maryland, and Opening Minds through Art, with locations nationwide.

Unfortunately, there is nothing like these programs in Sarasota. The biggest obstacle is that the community organizations and retirement communities don’t employ art teachers.

CEOs and managers need to rise above the complacency of their out-of-date policies, apply for grants to pay the teachers, make them feel supported and transform their arts and culture programs.

If local charities really want to improve Sarasota’s arts reputation, they should consider making grants to retirement homes and community organizations to enable them to pay the art teachers who have the education, skills and capacity to accomplish their goals.

Sally Coler, Sarasota

Making sense of our befuddled lives

Life confuses me.

Why is it that I love Christmas and I love Hallmark movies, but if I see one more Hallmark Christmas movie before September, I'm going to scream?

Why is it that people vie for the closest parking space to the front door of the gym?

Why is New College's focus on the liberal arts not so liberal?

And why is it that some Americans think that Americans with a different point of view are somehow less American?

Americans have been the disjointed, junkyard mutts of the world for nearly 250 years.  Own it.

I love our country's diversity and differences of opinion. It makes us strong and resilient.  It makes us interesting and groundbreaking. It makes us American.

As we begin a new year, let’s give each other a break. It’s OK if we disagree.

That’s what we’re supposed to do.

So let’s be respectful of our befuddled neighbors. They're Americans, too.

Lin Williams, Venice

Understanding high stakes in Ukraine war

Thank you very much for your treatment of the war in Ukraine, “An evolving portrait: Two Sarasota photographers document the impact of war,” Dec. 29.

It is most timely that the invasion is being given extensive coverage as it provides a frightening understanding of the high stakes involved.Ukraine’s fight for its sovereignty is unique in today’s era, where conflicts are internal rather than between states.

Russia’s pretext to invade Ukraine on the basis that it is not a state and that one of its linguistic groups needs protection is contrived madness.

Russia’s terror in Ukraine is affecting the entire world order.

Sanity must prevail. The European Union, USA, NATO and others must step up for the return to the rule of law.

Russia has committed a crime. It must stop. And it must be punished.

The article helps us comprehend the magnitude of Russia's invasion and lend unequivocal support to Ukraine’s sovereignty via its victory.

Oksana Bashuk Hepburn, Longboat Key

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: City officials must reveal all, just like county and state