Venice on the web
A semi-regular column

Would you give $10 million to this man?
City Manager George Hunt wants you to trust him without asking a lot of questions -- just sign on the dotted line, please
-- John Patten, 10/05/03
-- jpatten@veniceflorida.com

Got a comment? Make it here.

Related:
Too slick for its own good: Venice takes wrong approach to build support for bond issue
-- editorial, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 05/21/03
Public relations should begin at city hall
-- editorial, Venice Gondolier Sun, 06/11/03
Just say 'No'
-- Venice Gondolier Sun, 08/16/03
An entertaining evening, an ugly sales pitch
-- Venice Florida! dot com, 09/20/03
City's $10 million bond publicity brochure
-- City of Venice official government web site (Adobe PDF file)

Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies and everyone go
The last regularly scheduled $10 million bond referendum sales pitch did not go well, so the city is out to make an official beg one more time. Officially, anyway. That event will be in council chambers on Monday October 13 at 7:00 p.m., where council is expecting the public to come to them to hear the pitch.

Unofficially, council members are quietly scheduling public appearances to make the case for voters to pass the referendum.

The Venice Area Chamber of Commerce has publicly endorsed the bond issue. While noble, many of the board members and many of the business owners that belong to the chamber do not actually live in the city, so the chamber is endorsing something that many of its own members will not have to pay for.

The schedule for the $10 million dollar traveling road show is as follows:

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 11:30 a.m. at Jacaranda West Country Club, Newcomers of Venice Alumni, Mayor Dean Calamaras or Councilman Jim Myers

Thursday, Oct. 16, noon at the Landmark Restaurant, Sertoma Club - Hunt

Thursday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m., Waterford, Waterford Homeowners Association - Myers

Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 6:45 p.m., Bay Indies Mobile Home Park, Calamaras and Hunt