03/17/06

Venice split over referendum

Venice Taxpayers League officials weren't surprised by Tuesday's referendum results -- voters approved the 1-mill school tax for four more years. And they weren't surprised how close the vote was in Venice.

VTL president Herb Levine called it months ago when he said the city of Venice was split over the issue. He pointed to a divided city council vote when it endorsed the measure, and comments by other elected officials and from his membership and neighbors preceding the vote.

VTL was the closest thing in Sarasota County to organized opposition against the referendum. VTL came out against the referendum in September, but didn't have the money or desire to put up an organized fight against the Citizens for Better Schools (which raised a war chest of $312,000) or even the school district's 5,368 employee base.

Still, the measure passed by less than one half of 1 percent in Venice, with 2,456 voting for and 2,439 against.

The successful county referendum continues a 1-mill education tax for another four years, raising up to $250 million to supplement the Sarasota County School District operating budget.

Still to be counted are provisional ballots. The Supervisor of Election Kathy Dent is expected to release those ballot results today (Friday).

Provisional ballots are typically cast when a voter shows up at a polling place without proper identification. A canvassing board meets to verify identification and other information and make a final determination on whether the ballot will be counted. In most cases they are, say elections officials.

Bay Indies swings

Venice was the only community in Sarasota County where the vote was nip and tuck.

Residents within city boundaries voted down the referendum in six of 10 precincts, but in the end passed the measure with 50.17 percent in favor and 49.83 percent against, casting a total of 4,895 votes.

Strongholds within city limits canceled out each other's votes. In Precinct 62 (east of Capri Isles Boulevard) opponents outvoted supporters by 74 votes, 462 against and 388 in favor. The reverse was true in Precinct 64 (Pinebrook, west of Capri Isles Boulevard), where supporters outvoted opponents by 74 votes, 438 in favor and 364 against.

Interestingly, both precincts are at the Church of the Nazarene on East Venice Avenue.

Other precincts traded votes in favor and against the referendum, ranging between four and 36 votes. But it was Bay Indies Mobile Home Park (Precinct 88) that carried the Venice vote in favor of the referendum, with its supporters outvoting opponents by 64 votes, 177 to 113. In the end, the referendum passed in the city of Venice by 17 votes.

South County votes

Other voters in South County cities and areas were closer than the county's overall 61 percent margin of victory, with the exception of North Port's standout 71 percent victory.

In North Port, with its median age of 42, all 11 precincts passed the measure. It cast a total of 4,334 votes, 3,076 in favor and 1,258 against.

Only one of seven precincts voted down the measure in Englewood, where it passed with 1,258 votes for and 1,033 votes against. Osprey passed the measure 1,385 to 1,117, while Laurel-Nokomis passed it 1,017 to 857.

Not sour grapes, poor planning

In a city where the average age is 68, Levine said county voters were "snowed under by apples (on pro-referendum signs) and slick marketing."

"Voters will pay for it for the next four years and apparently for longer than that," Levine said, alluding to pro-referendum supporters who say they intend to come back to renew the measure in 2010.

Levine said he thinks the message Venice voters sent with their split vote was "show me results."

"We're not against spending the money on the kids, we're against the spending of money on everything but the kids," Levine said. "We want to see results."

Overall, Sarasota County voters passed the referendum with 61 percent (36,769) voting in favor and 39 against (23,528). The margin of victory was 13,241 votes.

Levine believes the referendum was much closer than that if you take out the 5,368 school employees and their spouses and family members who stood to gain directly through substantial pay raises for employees embedded in the referendum, or the businesses that directly benefit from school contracts.

He's not committing yet, but Levine says there just may be organized opposition four years from now if the school board comes back for another referendum and schools are unable to show promised improvements, especially in test scores.

He considered joining up with other area organizations late last year, like Control Growth Now, but didn't.

"I woke up too late," Levine said.

By Greg Giles

Staff Writer

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