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It seems like yesterday when the New Year started with a bang. The real estate market got off to its fastest start than we had seen over the past couple of years. People were giddy watching the stock market on its meteoric rise reaching an all-time high on February 14th of 29,398.
 Restaurants were packed; sports bars were getting ready for college basketball’s March Madness and people were shopping and enjoying life “as usual.” Then came news out of China of a Coronavirus and since then the world has been in turmoil, or so it seems.As I look back over my life I think of all the upswings and downturns in life I’ve personally experienced and Billy Joel’s 1989 hit song, “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” comes to mind. In just over 3 minutes, he takes us through a recap of history, highlighting man’s greatest achievements and the devastating events that impacted us all from wars, and worldwide epidemics, to political and social unrest. Nothing summarizes this better than his choral lyrics:
We didn’t start the Fire
It’s been always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it.
 So what have we learned from our experiences? Apparently, not much! Instead of looking back to how we overcame Polio, SARS, Ebola, H1N1 (Swine Flu), Aids and Influenza, we have driven ourselves into a panic that is being heightened by the media and the emotional roller coaster inherent in the stock market.Now before you think I’m making light of this pandemic and oversimplifying the cautionary steps that need to be taken,
this newsletter is being written by someone who during the seventh grade missed over a month of school due to Whooping Cough. Back then it wasn’t common for someone to be out of school for over a month where homework, class notes and assignments had to be brought home with the expectation that I had to keep up as if I were attending class daily.
Throughout the years, I’ve not only experienced the same worldwide epidemics as most of you, but I’ve gone through economic downturns in the Texas economy in the late ’70s with the devaluation of the Peso and plummeting oil prices. While the rest of the country was experiencing great economic growth, Texas was in a recession. I remember gas lines, as do most of you, the stock market crash in 1987, subsequent recessions, Y2K, the crash in the housing market, and who can’t remember the devastation caused by Hurricane Charley with almost no advanced warning and how our area came back better and more improved than ever? Wow, with that recap I’m starting to sound like Billy Joel myself!
 Writer and philosopher George Santayana wrote in his book, Reason in Common Sense, The Life of Reason, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” You would think our past experiences would have enhanced our coping mechanisms, but the example we are setting for this next generation is that of panic and hoarding, instead of seeing the opportunities afforded in challenging times and taking advantage of them.One of my clients who does financial consulting, restructuring and sales growth for businesses recalls the 1987 stock market crash. He was working on Wall Street at the time and ready to go into a corporate meeting when it was delayed by 45 minutes due to brokers actively working the phones. Conventional wisdom would have you think there was a frenzy with everyone looking to sell, but they were swamped with investor calls from those looking to capitalize during the markdown downturn. He said it was during those times the “men were separated from the boys.”
 If you were to speak with the likes of Rich Dad, Poor Dad writer, and Entrepreneur Robert Kiyosaki and Warren Buffet, they will both tell you the times we are presently going through are the times that savvy investors wait for and then jump back into the market.We saw the same thing in the housing market when Hurricane Charley scored a direct hit on Punta Gorda in particular. Most won’t recall that home prices within a week increased by $50-100,000 due to the demand and limited inventory. Then when the housing bubble burst, again some took advantage of great opportunistic buys in a market that had been over-inflated. Those who had bought their homes years before the unprecedented upswing in the market, found themselves still ahead of the game when the market corrected itself.
I feel when the economy is robust and we are seeing meteoric rises in the stock and real estate markets, for example, we get caught up in the excitement, much the same way we do when the team we are rooting for seems to be scoring at will. What we lose sight of during our euphoria is that adjustments or events are going to occur that are going to temper those gains, and those that anticipate those adjustments insulate themselves to a degree from the drastic downturns we are currently experiencing.
 In speaking with Faiza Kedir, Director, Business Development Financial Advisor of the nationally recognized Private Wealth Asset Management company of Lansberg Bennet, she stressed how they are a non-commission based fiduciary, whose sole focus is protecting their client’s investments.In a letter written to their clients a few weeks ago by Principal Financial Advisor and the company’s Chief Investment Officer, Michael Lansberg CIMA, CFP, it read in part:
Your performance is different than what you see on TV.
Does CNBC have you scared to look at your portfolio? You should sign onto the Landsberg Bennett client portal or the fidelity.com webpage and look at your balances instead of listening to all the gloom and doom on TV. Although you will be down from where we were January 1, we think you will be pleasantly surprised by your portfolio’s performance.
In every balanced account (where we own any amount of bonds), we trimmed our stock positions in January to protect some of the gains from a superb 2019. This has given us some more downside protection in this recent sell-off as well as giving us some “dry powder” for when we see some attractive opportunities in the market.
We have been watching market metrics over the last week or so hoping for an opportunity where we would see an abundance of fear creep into the market.
This morning, a number of our metrics gave us a clear sign that a great deal of fear and anxiety had entered the market and provided us an opportunity to start slowly buying at these lower levels.
Baron Rothschild, an 18th-century British nobleman and member of the Rothschild banking family, is credited with saying that “the time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets.” It appears to us as this may be starting to happen, figuratively not literally.
We are not suggesting that the market
cannot go lower from here, but we believe this is a good entry point to start adding to existing positions. For long term investors, volatility is a good thing that allows entry points into the market for those that have prepared ahead and have liquidity. We did and you do.
Michael W. Landsberg, CFP®, CIMA®
Principal, Chief Investment Officer Not being one to make light of the current situation, just as there is a big difference between calm and complacency there is between panic and preparedness as you see from Michael Landsberg’s letter above.
 As consumers, we are always in the market looking for good buys and now we are seeing sellers reacting to the market and making price reductions in their list prices.Don’t think for one second the real estate market is only open a few months of the year. Some of our strongest selling months have been during the summer and fall, as buyers are not going to let the time of year dictate when they will pounce on an aggressively priced home. With affordably priced airfares we’ve seen more and more clients fly down in a matter of days so as not to miss a great buying opportunity. Just remember, this current situation will pass, but inclement weather and high taxes in many northern cities and states will remain and that is what has led to a very active real estate market these first few months.
The silver lining in all this is our real estate market is not characterized by over-inflated pricing, excess inventory and over-leveraged banking industry.
Our industry is very healthy and to coin a phrase from Denny Grimes, a Realtor who I have great respect, “We are selling water, warmth and a way of life,” and that is what will enable our state to thrive better during this time than those from other parts of the country.
-Gary Cardillo
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Charlotte County Schools…A Safe, Cutting Edge Academic Environment
Recently the Punta Gorda Metropolitan Statistical Area (which includes all of Charlotte County) was recognized from the “Business Insider” as the number three location of the top 20 national MSA’s where people are relocating. The article was expanded on by Charlotte County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, Julie Mathis, who said, “We know that people are moving here to enjoy an affordable waterfront community, educational opportunities for all ages, downtown Punta Gorda, boating, golf, biking and so much more.“ As a Realtor, oftentimes we are the first point of contact by those considering a move to our area. Aside from the obvious questions regarding the local activities and points of interest previously mentioned, the question on everyone’s mind is “What are the area schools and medical services like in the area?” Having a son, family members and watching their fellow classmates graduate from our school system with honors, we’ve seen them go on to pursue careers in medicine, finance and as mechanical engineers with top national corporations. We knew how good our school system was in preparing our children for higher forms of education and beyond. However, I wanted to get a better insight as to what it takes to become an “A” level school and the programs being created to address the careers of the future, and who better to provide that insight than Steve Dionisio, Superintendent of the Charlotte County Public School system.
Growing up in the area and going through the school system himself, Steve returned after college with a passion for teaching and preparing children for their future endeavors. Now in his 28th year with the Charlotte County School system, he looks fondly at the over 12 years he served as principal of Port Charlotte High School, and for the past 5 as Superintendent overseeing 15,500 students and 2,400 employees that include up to 100 new teachers per year. While this would be a hard task to manage for any Fortune 500 CEO, one look at the artwork adorning the walls of Steve’s office and you can tell it is all about the children.
Steve makes a point of visiting every classroom of the 22 schools in the district and speaking to each of the 1,300-1,400 teachers throughout the school year. “I watch and see how kids grow and learn quickly through their mistakes. I see how teachers also grow and adapt to the daily challenges in running a successful classroom.”
 Steve added, “I don’t go in with a speech, I speak from the heart and hear what they have to say.” It is that kind of concern and passion the district was looking for that resulted in awarding Steve the Supervisor’s position without the required interview. He has set a very high bar in that he not only wants the Charlotte County Public School system to attain and maintain an “A” level status in every one of the schools within the district, he wants CCPS to become the number one school system in the state. Currently, the graduation rate of 88% is the highest it has ever been in Charlotte County Public School history , and would be higher if counting those children who attend the Academy or who have a delayed graduation were included in those graduation figures.Recently, I responded to a letter sent to the Editor of our local newspaper written by an individual who was critical of the school system and its teachers.
 With no facts to back up his assertions, I replied by citing the academic and athletic achievements our students have attained and the careers they had already pursued. However, one key point I made in the letter was how different the educational environment is today than it was when I was growing up. While we had our share of schoolyard fights and differences with our classmates, but today school security has become just as important as the academic curriculum. “Safety,” as Steve points out, “Is the biggest challenge we face today. When the state mandated increased security for schools establishing minimums for staffing of “School Resource Officers,” (SRO’s) after the Parkland school shootings, Charlotte County Public Schools already had those minimums in place and increased the security staffing and presence even further.” He continued by saying, “Safety of the child and staff is my first concern. We conduct active assailant drills and teach the children where the safest area is in the classroom and how to barricade a door.” Steve adds, “It is heartbreaking that a kindergarten child has to learn how to survive.” With updated phone systems in place, and the ability to lock down the campus instantly, every parent and student can be updated during a crisis in a matter of minutes. Since many of the previous school and mass shootings have been traced back to a shooter who had a history of mental health issues, or has come from a background of heightened emotional distress, Steve said, “This community talks to each other. The school system, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Department, Police Chief and Charlotte County Mental Health department all move in the same direction with a game plan in place.” Together, they work in concert to provide a model for a safe learning environment. W hen I was attending school, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, the course curriculum was based around the three basic components, reading, writing and arithmetic.  Our exposure to the national and international events didn’t seem to be as polarizing as they are today. Today we are hearing where many of the educators, particularly those in the higher learning levels (college), are integrating their personal opinions into the course curriculum. Steve’s replied by saying, “We want our students to have a voice, as long as they aren’t breaking any of the school system’s rules. Kids today are watching and learning how those in position react to scenarios presented to them and respond accordingly.” He went on to say, “We didn’t have social media when we grew up, (Steve still doesn’t have facebook and social media accounts), and unfortunately, much of what is being posted on these sites is not based on fact. Unlike having a direct dialogue, with social media you can post without having to defend your position.” For years I’ve often felt our county didn’t offer many career opportunities outside of medical, law, real estate and the building trades. I have thought for years we were training our young bright minds to benefit someone else’s city or state. Steve perhaps put it much more succinctly when he said, “We are exporting our kids,” and to address this need our technical school, together with new programs being created will give our kids an instant opportunity for employment in cutting edge industries. Working in concert with Charlotte County and the Charlotte County Economic Development team, (that also has representation on the school board), new career opportunities are being created in airframe and airline mechanics, solar energy, HVAC, small engine repair, technology, dental and nursing . These programs have all been created, at great cost, so graduating students can immediately feed the growth of specific industries. In fact, just in the nursing program alone 98% of those graduating find almost immediate employment. With the new Sunseeker Resort due to be completed in late 2020, new programs with be designed with the goal of feeding a diversity of job opportunities that will be created by this 450+ million dollar resort development.In closing, Steve shared with me that we have many talented individuals that sit on the school board who bring a wealth of experience, energy and tireless support with the goal of making the Charlotte County School System a model educational environment however, it takes even more support from our community.
 Steve noted very soon the entire school system will gain its “A” rating, but that it takes mentors and positive role models and mentoring programs to augment what the school provides. Steve stressed the importance of going to school events, “even if you don’t have children in school.” “Support their sports, school plays and other events, and be supportive of the school system even when there are things we could do better, as that is what makes our school system better.”This year the Charlotte School System will once again graduate approximately 2,000 young bright minds and from the personal insight I gained from my conversation with this very caring and gifted Superintendent, I get the impression there are few things in life that bring him more joy than watching the sense of accomplishment on the faces of these students as they walk across their graduation stage knowing they are well prepared for the next chapter in their lives and equipped with the ability to make an impact in their career path of their choice.
-Gary Cardillo
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The Perfect Mom
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The Perfect Mom
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 I have often thought about the qualities that would make a mother perfect in the eyes of their children, husband or friends, and I realized not only did I have the perfect mom, but I had married one as well. To me the perfect mom is someone who is an encourager, a listener, your best friend as you go through life’s ups and downs, a confidant, your best advocate and fierce protector! She typically runs the household, handles the finances, not to mention all the less the glamorous jobs around the home.
She has that special ability to make you feel loved when you had to be corrected for those miscues, and has an uncanny insight knowing when you need that extra hug or encouraging note for no apparent reason.
 Unlike most corporate executives who relish their title and are paid handsomely for their accomplishments, the perfect mom receives no monetary compensation, or title, and is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The only compensation they seek is the appreciation and love from their family.  How do I know all this? When my mom passed away I felt like I lost my best friend and to this day I still feel her loss. All the attributes I mentioned above described my mother. I consider myself very blessed that not only did I have a mother who was nurturing, but enabled me to soar to heights I never imagined. However, I consider myself very fortunate to be married to a woman who has embodied every quality I feel that makes the perfect mother, partner and friend,and I thank God every day for these two special women he has brought into my life. I hope you will join me in thanking all those “Perfect Moms” for giving so much of themselves to make our lives and those of our children so very special  .-Gary Cardillo
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She is the social director, your biggest cheerleader and oftentimes the team mom. She has a special way of making the home warm and inviting to family and friends, and no one knows how to make the holidays more special than a mom whose decorative touch and holiday dinners are what memories are made by.St. Patrick’s Day & Our Irish Roots
As you know, each month we like to highlight the accomplishments of someone who has given much of himself or herself for the betterment of their community. This month we would like to recognize Maewyn Succat. Who’s Maewyn Succat you ask? He isn’t anyone I heard of and most likely isn’t a name you’ve ever heard of either, yet somehow he has impacted our lives in ways you never thought possible. 
According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, Maewyn Succat was born in Britain and around age 16 (around 400 A.D.) he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave where he worked as a shepherd. After six years he escaped and returned home and received “a calling” to preach the gospel and spent the next 15 years in a monastery preparing himself for mission work. Once he became a priest his name was changed to Patricius and eventually to Patrick. St. Patrick, as he is known today, was considered a patron saint and national apostle of Ireland and is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland. It is said he used the three leaf shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity, however, many years later the fourth leaf was added by the ancient Celts as a charm to ward off evil spirits. 
While the Almanac says there is no direct record St. Patrick actually used the shamrock as a “teaching tool,” in the early 1900’s O.H. Benson, who was an Iowa school superintendent, came up with the idea of using the shamrock as an “emblem for the newly founded agricultural club.” In 1911, the “four-leaf clover” was chosen as the emblem for this national club program, later known as 4-H.
Many centuries later, St. Patrick’s Day marks the day of his passing, but it is far from the somber religious holiday you would think. It is perhaps the only day of the year that regardless of one’s religious, political or ethnic background we all become Irish for a day. The saying that sums this up best for me is, “Irish today, Jewish tomorrow.” This is in reference to the year round Jewish deli staple of corned beef becoming part of the traditional St. Patrick’s Day dinner of corned beef and cabbage. And just like New Year’s, there is a camaraderie and revelry on this day second to none. Irish pubs around the world celebrate this day and none do it better than Punta Gorda’s Celtic Ray Public House.
Opened in 1997 by Proprietor Kevin Doyle, “The Celtic Ray,” as it is known by the locals, has continued to evolve and expand from being one of the only places around offering “the quality of imported beers and the atmosphere of a traditional Irish Pub,” to an eating and entertainment destination. As Kevin Doyle, “Publican” so aptly states on his website, “Bars are filled with lonely people. A pub is a very social scene. “You may come alone, but you won’t be for long,” and if you are around this St. Patrick’s Day, you’ll be in good company with hundreds of Irish men and women just like yourself!
Rich in tradition and personality, the bartenders and wait staff at the Celtic Ray take on Kevin’s engaging wit. In fact years ago there used to be a bartender by the name of “Tess.” Tess was a real spitfire. Rail thin, heavy smoker, raspy voice and known for razzing all those who stepped up to the bar. Years ago, a friend of mine decided to stop for beer. Tess greeted him in her usual manner and in her heavy Irish brogue asked, “What’a ya have luv?” My friend replied, “What kind of beers do you have Tess?,” to which she rattled off several imports. My friend said, “How about a Miller Lite,” to which Tess replied, “What di ya say? ya go on a get the hell outta here.” It was her reply that kept customers entertained and coming back for more. A couple of years ago I went there with our son and saw Kevin and asked if he still kept in touch with Tess, as I heard she returned to her home land. Kevin replied, “She went back to Scotland.” “Scotland?” I questioned, “How’s that working out.” Without missing a beat Kevin replied, “She’s a librarian, and this guy came in one day and asked for a book on suicide. She told him, “Go on and get the hell outta here, you’re not going to return it.” I asked Kevin if he was kidding and he said, “It sounded good didn’t it!”
I don’t think you’ll confuse Kevin or his Celtic Ray with St. Patrick and his mission work, but somehow the atmosphere Kevin has created is a place where strangers come from all walks of life leave as friends.
If you are looking to make this St. Patrick’s Day one to remember, or just looking to getting in touch with your “Irish” heritage, even if it is for just a day, be sure you make a visit to the Celtic Ray as part of this special day. “You may come alone, but you won’t be for long.”
-Gary Cardillo
Safely Returning Our Children Back to School
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It seems like yesterday when I was in elementary school and how I look back to those years with a special fondness. The class projects we worked on together, the field trips we took to places like the Wonder Bread factory where we saw how bread was made and to the Coney Island Aquarium with its vast display of marine life that featured an impressive electric eel demonstration. I think of the excitement we had acting in our school plays and who can forget those countless games of dodge ball during recess! Those were indeed great times. It was a time when riding your bike to school gave you a sense of new found freedom and when your teachers felt a bit more like extended members of the family. It was also a time when moms and dads were able to participate more in your school activities, and who can’t say how excited you were when you looked from the stage during your school play to see the loving support from your parents in the audience cheering you on? Did we have our occasional schoolyard fight or little clicks, sure we did, but overall there was a comradery that carried us through our high school years, creating some very special memories and friendships that are with me to this day.
 With the fast paced world in which we live, and so many families relying on two incomes to support their households, it seems like the tenderness of those years I experienced have been compromised. The world of social media, video gaming and the vast offerings we can download from our cell phones, which by the way I’ve been told are more sophisticated than the first space craft that landed on the moon, have changed the way we interact with each other. Rather than calling, today’s generation prefers to skype, text, facetime, Instagram and tweet. Combine this with a family dynamic that is seeing more “quality of time” being compromised, any teacher you speak with today will tell you they are experiencing an educational setting far different than the one in which we grew up.
As a young child, it was pretty cool to say you knew a fireman or a policeman, and with this newsletter being focused around a back to school theme, I wanted to reach out to two good friends of mine, Officer Joe Angelini and Officer Terry Chow, who proudly serve our community as Officers with the Punta Gorda Police Department, to gain their insight on some of the challenges they face today in protecting our children.
Officer Angelini serves as School Resource Officer for Sallie Jones Elementary School and in addition to protecting the children of this fine elementary school, also teaches a course in “Bullying Awareness.”As early as kindergarten, Joe makes this one session class mandatory for all grades from kindergarten through 5th. He has the children sign a contract entitled “Grit Pledge,”where they promise to be good role models, be forgivingand compassionate of others and to “speak up instead of being a bystander. “ For the very young children, Joe reads “The Juice Box Bully,” a very interactive book that teaches the children how to stand up for others. For the older children, Joe has developed a very effective power point presentation that includes the effects of “Cyber bullying,” something as children my generation would never have understood. Joe said, “While bullying can manifest itself in many ways, simply stated a bully is someone who continues to act after being told to stop.” He continued by saying,
“in a bullying scenario, you have the victim, the bully and the bystander, and you don’t want to be a bystander and do nothing.”
Perhaps one of the most effective analogies Joe uses in showing compassion towards others is his use of two apples. During his presentation Joe takes one of the apples and drops it several times on the desk, the other is untouched. Visually they appear the same, but once the skin of the apple that has been dropped is peeled back you the bruising that came as a result of the abuse. Joe’s message to the students is, “You don’t know what someone has gone through in their lives they are keeping inside, so try to be more understanding if their ways are different than yours.”
 Terry Chow, Resource Officer at Charlotte High School and now Punta Gorda Middle School, has seen how change in the family dynamic and social media have resulted in some children not only becoming more aggressive with their classmates, but challenging their teachers and school administrators as well. Terry said it starts with the home and if kids are being allowed to challenge their parents, give in to their children’s demands, combined with various social media sites that are more tolerant of confrontational behaviors, that is going to be carried into the school setting.A question everyone has on their minds is school shootings. When I was growing up we had our school yard fights, but no one ever thought about bringing a gun to school and shooting up his classmates and teachers. Both Joe and Terry responded by saying, when you look into each case, there has been some psychological history or perhaps a copycat behavior that has been either ignored or not acted upon. Terry said a parent should look at changes in eating habits, sleeping patterns, the activities their children are participating in, the friends they keep and what they are watching, as the media hype today has been very polarizing.Both Officers said they are seeing more children today being raised by single parents or grandparents, which in many of these cases results in the absence of a “father figure.” Joe said, he fostered the “Watch D.O.G.S.” program which stands for “Dads Of Great Students, and is an innovative father involvement educational initiative of the National Center For Fathering.”
 Joe said they look for “dads” to come to the school to spend some time with children with no father figure, who will become role models for these children. He continued by saying,“Moms were always involved, but now we are trying to get Dad’s more involved in the children’s school activities.”
Both Officer’s Angelini and Chow have told me for years how the Punta Gorda Police Department prides itself in being able to answer any call in under 5 minutes. They said while the schools have taken great steps in securing the entry into the buildings, they have created a security presence they feel will deter an “active shooter” situation. While these officers have been trained to go aggressively “right to the threat,” they also stress the importance in training the student body and staff in how to respond in an “active shooter” scenario and on August 9th, Officer Chow conducted an “Active Shooter” presentation held at C.P.A.C located on the Charlotte High Campus.
In closing, the back story that always seems to be missing is the passion and love for the children these Police School Resource Officers have that never seems to be reported. Both of these officers not only protect and defend the residents and children in our county, but they have coached some of our children and have given tirelessly of themselves to many non-profit organizations apart from their police duties. Their story is not just about making our children safer, it is about their love for community and a desire to give these children every unobstructed chance to pursue their dreams to the fullest; and they will never end a conversation with you without saying, “Please let me know if I can ever do anything for you or your family,” something we don’t hear enough of these days.
–Gary Cardillo
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While most people would like to talk about themselves, Gary and Gail have always put their clients first, and their diverse backgrounds have provided their clients an unparalleled level of service and knowledge throughout the past years.