Roger Effron honored by City of Venice

Mayor Pachota presents award to Roger Effron

Venetian resident and community leader Roger Effron was presented with the Mayor’s Pillar of the Community Award on Tuesday, Oct 27. The award was presented by Mayor Nick Pachota at a City Council meeting at 9:00 AM at City Hall.

This award is presented to recognize individuals who have made exceptional, ongoing contributions to their community’s well-being, governance, and civic life. It is designed to publicly acknowledge citizens whose dedication, leadership, and service have strengthened their community. It highlights people who are active in:

Local decision-making
Volunteering and community service
Advocacy for public initiatives, and
Long-term commitment to the community’s welfare,

Since moving to Venice in 2006, Roger has served as Vice President of the Venice Hospital Board of Trustees, Chair of both the City of Venice Parks and Recreation Commission and the City of Venice Citizen Advisory Board, Chair of the Venice Symphony Board of Trustees, and has participated in Habitat for Humanity. In 2015, Effron was selected by the City of Venice’s Fire Department as its “Citizen of the Year.” Roger is a 2008 founding member of the Venetian Golf and River Club Community Association (VGRCCA) and served as its president in 2024. Since 2010, Effron has been producing the Community Association’s monthly newsletter, Parcels from Paradise. Roger is also one of the founders of the Hurricane Response Team (HRT) in 2014.

One of the Community Association’s goals is to be tuned in to happenings “outside the gates” and to maintain a positive working relationship with local government officials. Roger and other VGRCCA board members will continue working to maintain these valuable external contacts to the benefit of all Venetian residents.

To see a schedule of upcoming VGRCCA seminars and many other useful features please explore this website, including our Seminars page.

Another Successful Resident Orientation

The Community Association hosted its 4^th Resident Orientation on October 20 for “new” residents and “not new” residents who wanted a refresher on “who does what” at the Venetian. The orientation was well attended by approximately 45 residents in addition to the speakers.

This event helped attendees understand the roles and responsibilities of the various organizations at the Venetian. We call it learning about “Alphabet Soup”. Speakers included representatives from the CDD, POA, HOA, VGRCCA (Community Association), Heritage Golf and several Advisory Committees. The General Managers of the CDD and POA also provided overviews of their organizations. If the above initials are not clear to you, sign up for the next resident orientation!

A major message was encouraging residents to volunteer and get involved in our community, as we have many opportunities where residents can share their talents and contribute to our wonderful Paradise here at the Venetian!

Special thanks to the Community Association’s Membership Director, Sharon George, for organizing this very helpful meeting; and thank you to board member, John Manoush, who recorded and edited this event for the first time. You can watch this 75-minute event on YouTube by clicking on the diagram below. Hint: If you find the video fuzzy or “grainy”, click on the little gear icon (settings) at lower right while playing it and select a “quality” of 1080 (highest) or 720.

Water Restrictions Continue into 2027

We have seen various alerts about this topic since at least April, and restrictions have not yet ended. Homeowners should be aware of this not only to avoid being fined but also because it is the right thing to do. Be aware of the distinction between irrigation water and potable (city) water, because the restrictions and penalties are different for each. Irrigation at VGRC (using reclaimed water) is managed by our CDD, who specifies when irrigation can be done depending on your address. Click HERE to open the current CDD schedule. Currently, irrigation is limited to one period per week, usually in the early a.m. hours. Irrigating outside of allowed times can subject you to a warning or fine from our POA, who monitors for compliance. Residents should not attempt to adjust their irrigation timers without full knowledge of the CDD requirements or consultation with their landscaping service, if applicable.

The City of Venice and the SW Florida Water Management District issued a bulletin on April 3 restricting the use of potable water for landscape watering and car washing. Although the bulletin carried an end date of July 1, the restrictions have now been extended to March 31, 2017. Watering with sprinklers is restricted to Tuesdays and Thursdays depending on your address, while hand watering or use of soaker hoses may be done any day but only between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. It is a rather complicated formula best seen by clicking HERE to view the City of Venice webpage, or HERE to see the SW Florida Water Management District announcement. Violation of these government restrictions may result in a citation or fine of $75.

Please do your part to understand and comply with these important requirements. [posted July 6, 2026; updated Oct. 20,2026]

City Council Candidate Forum

The five candidates for two open seats on the Venice City Council participated in a lively forum at our River Club on October 6, 2026.

Click HERE (or in title above) to see a video of the entire event (approx. 1 1/4 hrs).

The candidates (from left to right) are:

Seat 5: David Gress and Rick Howard (incumbent)

Seat 2: Sue Perry, Jenny Heussner and Christopher Derbak

Chinese Restaurant Question Answered!

The answer to the “insignificant” October Parcels question about the number of items on a Chinese Restaurant menu is 175
(source…China Taste on Jacaranda)”

Development Projects in Venice, August, 2026

This article contains a link to a 7-page presentation on active development projects in Venice as the end of August, 2026.

Click to open a city publication that contains maps of the proposed areas as well as a description of the 30 projects currently being considered.

Bob Harrigan Speaks!

On Monday, August 31, 2026, Bob Harrigan, ABC7 Chief Meteorologist, spoke to the VGRC community about weather and hurricanes. Over 100 people attended the event and seemed to listen with rapt attention. For over forty years, Bob has been forecasting weather, advising people in the Bradenton, Sarasota and Venice area about the threats of storms including tropical storms and hurricanes.

Bob is unusual in that his goal is to alert the communities and not scare them. He suggested that there are many “weather experts” on social media who are into scare tactics to get the viewers to “click on their” postings pages which generates significant income for them. Bob is opposed to these tactics and cautioned the audience to be selective in whom they turn to for weather/storm forecasts.

Bob is very gracious with his time, and though he is a busy Broadcast Meteorologist, he also is generous with his time, speaking to organizations and communities in our areas. His passion for the topics and his ability to share information with the general population in a manner that is understandable is a testament to his skill, talents and dedication.

After the presentation, some of the leaders of the Community Association, the CDD and the POA posed for the picture below with Bob. Other photos of the event are also shown. Dick Foster, a member of the HRT, created and edited a video of the presentation. It can be viewed by clicking HERE

Northeast Venice Park opened

As long planned, the Northeast Venice Park on the south side of Laurel Road near Knights Trail opened to the public on June 15. The Venetian was represented at the opening by Community Association (CA) board members Mark Faford, Tom Jones, Steve Hefler and Roger Effron. As reported earlier, the CA has been appointed “sponsor” of this park, meaning we will participate in quarterly inspections to assess the safety and cleanliness of the park. The park’s many features are listed in the email below, sent to demonstrate our commitment to maintaining friendly and constructive relations with our local government. We hope you and your family will avail yourselves of this new attraction. Lastly – if you would like to participate in the Park’s sponsorship group, please drop a line to [email protected]

June 17 email from Community Association Co-Presidents

To: Mayor Pachota and members of the Venice City Council:

On behalf of the Venetian Golf and River Club’s Community Association, we would like to congratulate all City employees-past and present-involved with the planning, financing, engineering, construction and maintenance of the new Northeast Venice Park located on Laurel Road. This new park is beautiful and has exceeded all expectations! Venice residents will be thrilled with the 8 outdoor pickleball courts, fitness trail and equipment, children’s playgrounds, dog parks, restrooms and paved parking area. We think it will be a significant enhancement to the Northeast Venice neighborhood and will show current and prospective residents why living in our city is a great value.

We had the pleasure to personally meet and thank A.J. Ribas of A2 Group Construction, Kelsie Shy of Kimley Horn Engineers, Ricky Simpson, Venice Public Works Director, Tricia Matero, Public Works Administrative Coordinator and, of course, James Clinch, our City Manager. Clearly, this project, started in 2020, required extensive coordination and you all hit a “home run”!

Our Community Association is honored to be chosen to “Adopt” the Northeast Venice Park and we look forward to assisting the city in maintenance of this beautiful park.

Please extend our congratulations to all involved with this amazing new park! A sincere “thanks” to all of you!

Kind regards, Mark Faford and Tom Jones, co-presidents

Venetian Golf & River Club Community Association

Same day reply from Rachel Frank of the Venice City Council

Thank you for your kind words and for taking the time to share your feedback. We are grateful for the Community Association’s ongoing support of the park.

2026 Annual Hurricane Preparation Meeting well-attended

June 1^st was not only the first day of the hurricane season, but also the day that Sandra Tapfumaneyi, Chief of Emergency Management for Sarasota County, James Clinch, Venice City Manager and Frank Giddens, Fire Department Chief educated and motivated our community about the need for hurricane preparedness. They presented information on how to prepare for storm emergencies and explained the roles and responsibilities shared by their three organizations in preparing for and responding to storms.

Sandra, James and Frank were each presented with a plaque indicating our appreciation for speaking at our event and for what they do for our community. The members of the HRT had their pictures taken with each speaker.

The River Club room was largely filled with members of the community, some of whom attend this event annually and others who are new to the community. The audience warmly applauded the HRT members who were recognized for their commitment and service. Several photos of this event are shown above.

We encourage residents who are interested in learning about hurricane preparedness and about volunteer opportunities with our HRT to explore the information on the Hurricane Corner page of this website.