Thank you to everyone who attended our very first annual Economic Summit at the Sarasota Board of Realtors today. A special “Thank You” to all of our panelists for participating in the discussion today. Your input made the conversation valuable and insightful and we couldn’t have done it without you!

We certainly look forward to building off of the momentum created here and hope to have an even bigger and better event next year. Please be sure to join us for our next social at Cafe Baci for drinks and deals.

And now for a quick review of the summit.

Dan Macleroy Jr. had very good points about the Hometown Democracy scam which I had posted about before. You could tell many of the audience were hearing about Hometown Democracy for the first time. For a good overview, see this site: http://www.flsmartergrowth.org/home.php

Here’s the press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:

Dave Beachy / Sarasota Young Realtors (941) 232-8812
Anthony Homer /Sarasota Young Realtors (941) 321-7323

Thursday, September 13^th, 2007

Sarasota Young Realtors First Annual State of the Market: Economic Summit Stirs Discussion

Sarasota Young Realtors hosted a distinguished panel of local businessmen and government leaders to discuss the economic outlook for the area. A mixed crowd of Realtors and other professionals from Sarasota County met at the Board of Realtors last Friday to hear the opinions of the panel.

Panelists included Art Paterson of Landmark Development, Dan MacLeroy Jr., current member of the Charter Review Board, Mark Chait from Benderson Development, Joe Hembree, President of Sarasota Association of Realtors, Tom Danahy of Lakewood Ranch Communities, Jon Thaxton from the Sarasota County Commission and Kelly Kirschner from the Sarasota City Council.

Much of the discussion revolved around Hometown Democracy, legislation which most of the group felt would put development at a standstill and severely hamper economic recovery. The change would affect all aspects of development at a local and statewide level. Dan MacLeroy Jr. referred to it as a “moratorium” on development. Joe Hembree encouraged all professionals “to be reading about the impact these changes would make”, “not only on developers but on residents” as well. While there were differing opinions on the impact the proposed legislation would have, the consensus was it would certainly be negative.

Taxation, real estate investment and development were also hot topics during the discussion with few expecting a solution anytime soon. Jon Thaxton placed the blame on State legislators acting out of political expediency, without their constituents best interests at heart. The discussion on sustainable growth elicited an impassioned response from Kelly Kirschner, claiming development had outstripped sustainability and marginalized the city of Sarasota’s service industry.

The overall mood was one of cautious optimism, with the realization that decisions made today would be impacting the county’s future for many years to come. Many felt the majority of the issues would only be resolved with involvement from all members of the business community. This sentiment was echoed by both the government and private sector.

The Sarasota Young Realtors will be hosting a Networking Social at Café Baci on September 26^th at 5:30 pm. All professionals are invited to come for drinks and networking. For more information please contact Teri Hartley at the Sarasota Board of Realtors (941) 328-1155.

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