Tim Sukits

Tag: sarasota city commission

  • TWISler’s Super Tuesday Special Election Breakdown

    TWISler’s Super Tuesday Special Election Breakdown

    Published Jan. 11, 2011 TWISler’s Super Tuesday Special Election Breakdown It’s that time of year again, when we all start getting not-so-overly excited about the people vying to run our city. March 8 will be the City Commission District Elections, which means three of the five City Commission seats are up for grabs. The qualifying period to run ended last Friday, leaving us with nine sultry politicos that will undoubtedly be attempting to charm our pants off over the next two months. Not all too familiar with how Sarasota’s city government works? Basically, the story goes like this: (more…)
  • TWISler Update: The TWISler endorses three lucky candidates

    TWISler Update: The TWISler endorses three lucky candidates

    Published Jan. 31, 2011 TWISler Update: The TWISler endorses three lucky candidates The TWIS-meister has been keepin’ it pretty real lately and all of us here in TWIS land thought that instead of dropping a 1,500-word A-bomb of information on readers each week, it might be wiser to slow things down and make sure everyone is still on the same page. We’d hate for half the class to get behind and then come finals week and nobody shows up for the test — especially since we’ve got some potentially life altering exams down the pipe and only five weeks to prepare. But don’t fret! The TWISler has decided to reserve the sumo-sized horse pills of justice he’s been shoving down your gullet for special occasions, and substitute them for more palatable, jockey-sized mouse pills that can be easily and comfortably ingested throughout the week in frequent doses. You might call them tutoring sessions between lectures, but we’ll be calling them “TWISler Updates.” These Earth-shattering truth-quakes may not rate as high on the realness keepin’ Richter scale as the “TWISler Breakdowns,” but sit through enough of them and you’ll feel just as sick to your stomach. (more…)
  • TWISler Update: Vote Early and Often

    TWISler Update: Vote Early and Often

    Published Feb. 22, 2011 TWISler Update: Vote Early and Often The responses from TWISler’s little rant on the governor says we’ll be sticking to local happenings from here on out. And it’s for the better. The complex and craterous black hole that is Florida politics is a bit too deep and dark of a pool to wade in safely. Obviously, the TWIS ain’t a fan — but hey, whatever floats your boat. If we do touch on broader issues, it will be through the perspective of how our local representatives are handling, or not handling, the problem at hand. Speaking of, let’s move along to our own hometown politicians — the real public servants that actually make real things happen for all us real citizens really concerned about really real problems, because they can actually be real with us — without having to hold a really unreal press conference. Yes, my dear Sarasotans, let’s talk of the cream of our crop, our local heroes for which we root and cheer with colorful street signs in the hopes of subconsciously storing a cheesy campaign slogan in our neighbors’ memory banks as they pass by on their way to work everyday. The most accomplished and elite of Suncoasters, still so sweet and innocent, and mostly untainted by the bright lights of ballot name recognition. (more…)
  • TWISler Breakdown: Vote Now! The End is Near!!!

    TWISler Breakdown: Vote Now! The End is Near!!!

    Published March 7, 2011 TWISler Breakdown: Vote Now! The End is Near!!! OK, valiant brave soldiers of Sarasota. Tomorrow is our day of reckoning, the day when we take up the sword of democracy and go to battle for our leaders, ultimately choosing three of the five voices that will speak on our behalf in matters concerning our fair city and how we will spend our municipal slush fund. Frighteningly, many Sarasotans don’t realize the full extent of the outcome if tomorrow’s City Commission race results in the wrong people taking power. Indeed, our actions tomorrow could culminate in catastrophic consequences of biblical proportions that will echo through the ages for all eternity. How do we know this? Well, your trusty TWISler just happened to get a sneak peak into the future. It’s such a random story, too. Late last week this hulking leather-clad bad-ass lookin’ guy walks into TWIS headquarters and claims to be some sorta post-apocalyptic cyborg assassin sent back in time by Sarasotans of the future to warn us about voting. At first we thought he was just some bat shit crazy biker asshole that had the wrong dates for Thunder by the Bay, but when he said his name was The Terminator, we knew he had to be the real deal. Anyway, all the guy kept saying is that we have to make sure every registered Sarasotan votes tomorrow, and that electing the right people is the only way to save Sarasota’s humanity. (more…)
  • TWISler Recap: City Commission Election Results

    TWISler Recap: City Commission Election Results

    Published March 10, 2011 TWISler Recap: City Commission Election Results The TWISler is a little bummed out today. We’re all just kinda feelin’ like poop. Mostly because we tried so hard to “rock” the vote in Tuesday’s City Commission elections, but apparently the polling stations were “a hard place” to find for the vast majority of city voters. After a month-long shock and awe-style email and Facebook GOTV bombardment, it appears the fruit of our labors didn’t even manage to eclipse our last city commission election’s piss-poor 20.79% voter turnout. With only 5,676 of our 32,019 registered voters casting a ballot for a whopping 17.73% attendance rate, it’s a telling and troubling revelation into how much we really care about the direction of our city. Speaking of direction, the number of registered city voters actually decreased by almost 1,000 since the 2009 race. That’s not the right direction, is it? (more…)
  • TWISler Breakdown: Is there anybody out there?

    TWISler Breakdown: Is there anybody out there?

    Published May 31, 2011 TWISler Breakdown: Is there anybody out there? We’ve been trying pretty hard over here in TWISville to get the attention of our elected leaders in the hopes of having the views of the creative class represented in the city’s actions. But for as much as we complain about not being heard, every now and again we’re ecstatic to see the folks in charge talking about, and more importantly, doing things that we’ve been calling for. It just makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. We laid down quite a few of our humble opinions in last week’s TWISler Breakdown, and we’ll be damned if we haven’t witnessed some favorable movement toward our beloved creative class agenda, which basically revolves around using innovative methods and embracing our artistic culture as a means to achieving greater economic prosperity. They may have missed the point on a few aspects, but any step in the right direction is a giant leap for Sarasota-kind. (more…)