Mayor Suzanne Atwell

By Karen Christie

I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Sarasota’s Mayor, Suzanne Atwell.   This interview will, I think, provide WSRQ’s listeners with a sense of who our mayor is, and will help them appreciate the energetic and enthusiastic way in which Mayor Atwell fulfills her duties while serving in this significant role in our community. City of Sarasota Mayor Atwell

Her educational background:

Mayor Atwell discussed the fact that she is the product of a “non-traditional” higher education.  She attended several colleges before graduating from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.  There, she majored in the field of Human Development.  After graduating ,  she went on to study Clinical Psychology, because she wanted to be a psychotherapist.  She earned her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Marymount College in Arlington, Virginia.

 How she decided to run for politics: 

She went on to explain that her first time running for office was when she lived in Foxboro, Massachusetts.  She wanted to be a library trustee, but in order to be a trustee, you had to run for office.  She thought that would be the only time she would try to pursue politics.  As a psychotherapist, however, she got to meet people from a wide variety of fields.  Through her experiences as a member of the Board of Directors and the Family of Law Connection Board, for instance, she was able to meet people in the social services field, the legal field, and the political arena.  These connections enabled her to support some of the candidates.  It was then and there that she thought, “I’m arming myself with some of the best and the brightest people that work, live, and play in this community.”  She knew she wanted to try and run for office where she could use some of her knowledge from her experiences as a psychotherapist.

 She pointed out the fact that when it comes to politics, her psychology skills really helped.  You learn how to deal with people, how to make decisions, and how to live life just like, which are some of the same things a psychotherapist deals with on a daily basis.  As she puts it, “To me, deciding to run for office is like a culmination of everything I’ve done here as a citizen, as a professional, and as a volunteer, and now I can put it into making policy.”

Living in Sarasota:

 Mayor Atwell has been a resident of Sarasota since 1994.  She first worked as a psychotherapist at Coastal Recovery, then Jewish Family and Children’s Service, and after that, she decided to go into private practice.  After leaving the field of private practice in 2004, Mayor Atwell ran for City Commissioner.  Prior to that, she got to know former mayor Kelly Kirschner, and she worked to help him  get elected.  Mayor Atwell did go on to state that even though the duties as a City Commissioner are a full-time job, she does keep up her license in psychology.

 Being Mayor:

Mayor Atwell described the many tasks and responsibilities associated with the role of mayor.  She replied that she  is someone who loves to go “out and about.”  She said that when you serve as Mayor, you get numerous invitations to events as varied  as giving keys to the city, or reading  proclamations. Mayor Atwell enjoys her role as an ambassador to Sarasota, which means that she will “speak to the community…  And to me, what that does is it bridges sometimes the often-perceived gap between the citizenry and City Hall.”

 As a representative of Sarasota, Mayor Atwell looks into  how  to meet the needs of the city.  For instance, she could be asked to go to a gala or banquet and read a proclamation, or she could give a speech to a neighborhood group.  In order to serve as Mayor, it’s also important to have relationships with supporting venues.  Here, for instance, the Van Wezel  is “…ours.”  She goes on to say that they are “…very proud of what’s going on there right now, so if I’m asked to do something, I do it very willingly and I enjoy it.”  She has even taken golf lessons at Bobby Jones, another venue  Sarasota is proud to own.  Mayor Atwell  later stated that she loves to “stick with things in the city to show that I highly respect our staff, and all the city entities that we have.”

Areas in Sarasota where you see room for improvement:

 She noted in particular that she would like to try to bridge the gaps between the neighborhoods and downtown; in other words, how we would work as one city.  She notes that we in Sarasota have a “fabulous urban core.”  She gives the examples of Laurel Park and Gillespie Park as some of Sarasota’s unique edged neighborhoods in the community. The Robert Taylor Rec Center in Newtown, for instance, is a great place for kids not only because it’s a gym, but because it could also provide them with spiritual or educational opportunities.  Though the rec center is here in the city of Sarasota, Mayor Atwell hopes that it will attract youth from all over the area, not just from our city.

What are some of the city of Sarasota’s strengths, in other words, the “best that Sarasota has to offer:

 The Mayor pointed out our city’s “fabulous urban core” as well as its variety of edged neighborhoods.  She stressed the fact that the city of Sarasota gives people a choice of where they can live.  Perhaps a young family is moving to the area and would like to enroll their children in school.  Maybe someone who has retired is looking into moving to Sarasota.  In Sarasota, they have a choice whether they would like to move to a neighborhood where people can raise their kids, or if someone wants to live in a condo, the opportunity is right at their fingertips, since Sarasota has a diverse group of places to choose from.  Where ever anyone decides to live in Sarasota, they’re only a number of minutes from theaters and the beach.  She also emphasized Sarasota as a place that offers something for everyone.  Whether you are a child or adult, places like Jungle Gardens or Gee Whiz! are great for kids to go to with their parents or grandparents.

 In keeping with current events, my next question was concerned with the 3 to 2 City Commission vote to eliminate  the parking meters downtown, a vote where Mayor Atwell was in the minority: 

I mentioned that it seemed that many of the merchants in the downtown area felt that they were not having quite as many customers because people were finding it difficult to operate the meters, thus resulting in not nearly as many people shopping downtown.  In response to my question, Mayor Atwell explained that she didn’t think it would be a good idea to have the meters removed, simply because the parking meters are a “component of a system,” as she says.  She wanted to talk to the manufacturer of the machines and figure out ways to change it, but not remove the system altogether.  The meters cost about $500,000 to install , and now it’s costing quite a lot to take them out.  She was hoping to keep the meters for longer as a way to analyze which businesses seemed to be most affected by the meter situation.

 One last thought:

Mayor Atwell remarked that she loves her job, and loves being Mayor.  She notes that since she became Mayor, she has had the chance to meet hundreds of people she otherwise would never have met.  She said, for instance, that when you go out and read a proclamation to an organization that appreciates it, “…that’s worth its weight in gold to have a kind of job that I can bring that kind of recognition to the community…”  To her, it “bridges the gap that we care about you as citizens here in the city.”  Each day as Mayor, she learns more, gets to know more people, and for her, it’s extraordinary to be a part of Sarasota’s community.

April 21st, 2012 is a big day for WSRQ listeners.  Shred Quick is pulling into the parking lot of our radio station and providing a great opportunity for our listeners to shred their documents for free!

And along with Shred Quick, WSRQ Hosts – Susan Nilon of The Nilon Report, Gerri Detweiler of Talk Credit Radio, Gail Shane of Gail Shane and Friends will be on hand to offer great advice to the public  on how to avoid identity theft, personal credit, and investing in real estate.

In addition, Sponsors of WSRQ Radio – Nicki Conway, from Remax Alliance Group, and Howie Angeloni, from Professional Advisory Group, Inc. will be on hand to offer you great advice on real estate and personal investing.

So come on down to 2127 Ringling Blvd on Saturday, April 21st, 2012 and bring your documents to shred and leave with an amazing amount of knowledge on topics that are important to your every day life.

ShredQuick helps businesses and consumers prevent identity  theft and comply with privacy laws by shredding confidential documents at their  premise.  Using their service saves time compared to feeding a shredding machine and it also reduces the risk of a document accident by providing
locking containers to store papers for shredding.

There were 12,000,000 victims of identity theft last year
and it takes an average of 350 hours over a two-year period to fix your  identity according to the FTC.

ShredQuick is a locally owned family business based in  Bradenton and was established in 2002.  In addition to shredding on-site  they insure high security by being AAA Certified by the National Association for Information Destruction.

ShredQuick is a member of the BBB and takes pride in providing on-time service.  They provide hard-drive data protection as  well by shredding, degaussing, and wiping hard-drives.

Our event is free and open to the public!   For more information, give us a call at 941-952-1220 or email Susan at Susan@SarasotaTalkRadio.com

For more information about Shred Quick, visit their website here!

The Sarasota Open Serves a winning experience for WSRQ Radio  Listeners!

WSRQ Radio has partnered with the Sarasota Open to bring our listeners a great Tennis experience. Not only are we going to be broadcasting live from the Men’s and Women’s finals on April 21 & 22nd, but we are also going to be holding a contest to offer our lucky listeners a chance to enjoy the Sarasota Open in person.

For three consecutive weeks, starting March 26th, we will be asking our listeners to write down the answers to the questions that we are asking during the live broadcast of The Nilon Report – WSRQ’s Live and Local new talk program that airs weekdays at 5pm. Then at the end of the given week, we will announce on air the winner of Box Seats (4 tickets, valued at $1000.00) to the Sarasota Open.

Contest Rules:

Starting on Monday, March 26th, on the Nilon Repot at 5pm, we will be asking questions about the Sarasota Open. One question per day.

To qualify to be a winner, the answers must be collected from each day of broadcast that week and submitted to Susan@SarasotaTalkRadio.com with the subject line: Sarasota Open Contest by 4pm- the day of the winning announcement. Those dates are : Friday, March 30^th, Thursday, April 5^th, and Thursday April 12^th .  On those dates, the winner of that week will be announced, live on air during the 5p.m. broadcast.

For more information, tune into The Nilon Report each weekday at 5 p.m.  106.9 FM & 1220 AM and online at SarasotaTalkRadio.com

Week 1 Questions

Q: Kei Nishikori, the singles winner from 2010, recently earned acclaim in the tennis world for doing what?

Q: The Sarasota Open attracts some of the best players from around the world. Singles winners from the last three Sarasota Open Tournaments were from which three countries?

Q: The Sarasota Open has drawn players from all around the world; but what player will be closer to home after taking a wild card to compete at Longboat Key this year?

Q: The Sarasota Open is known for attracting some of the top talent in the Tennis World—what are the highest career ranks of the last two tournament champions?

Support the Humane Society at Lakewood Ranch through a raffle ticket donation for the 2012 Ultimate, HighEnd Raffle!

Grand Prizes include: 1) One week in beautiful Mont Tremblant, Quebec Canada. Your choice of Winter Skiing or Summer Golf, for up to four people with a total value of $7,500. 2) One week in Mexico your choice of nine Vida locations with a total value of $6,000. Drawing is March 31st at the Hounds and Gowns event at the Lake Club in LWR.

The Sarasota Baseball Classic has been recognized by Baseball America as one of the premier prep tourneys in the country. This year’s Classic will be held March 12-15, 2012.

The event is hosted by Troy Larkin and the color commentator is Dean Burnside, owner of Macy’s Pest Control. and long time Sarasota High baseball supporter.  the two of them will keep entertained and informed as area high schools show off their talents.  Below is a list of particpants and schedule:

Your Host – Troy has a background in television where he was a news and sports anchor and reporter in central Pennsylvania. He also appeared locally on Let’s Talk Sports. Troy is a graduate of Manatee High School and Millersville University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech Communication and Theatre with an Emphasis in Broadcasting. He was an NCAA Division I athlete and is involved in local youth sports, serving as Raiders commissioner for six years in the Manatee County Police Athletic League, as well as a coach for football, basketball, baseball, and soccer in various youth leagues in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Troy also covered Manatee High School’s 2011 playoff run for WSRQ. He serves on
several local non-profit committees and has emceed events for the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and Susan G. Komen Lunch for the Cure.  Troy lives in Lakewood Ranch with his wife, Kristin and their two sons, Brooks and Bryce.
He’s also a grandfather to Tyson, courtesy of his daughter Brittany.

Gingrich was flanked by former Attorney General Bill McCollum, Republican Party of Sarasota County chairman Joe Gruters and local campaign co-chair Harry Walia. GOP Senate candidate Connie Mack was also on hand, but he spent his time in the back of the crowd, and did not take the stage.

The former House Speaker didn’t mention GOP rival Mitt Romney by name, instead spending most of his short speech criticizing Obama, whom he says “doesn’t seem to operate on the same planet as we do.” Gingrich hammered the White House’s decision to veto the application for the Keystone XL pipeline, saying the president made the decision in order to please “San Francisco extremists,” and called for Congress to repeal the Dodd-Frank financial regulation package.

(WSRQ is mentioned in this article)  To read the entire article: Click here