HOW TO PROCEED
Commissioner grapples with Waechter���s role on county boards ��� Cooper Levey-Baker
What to do about Bob Waechter? That is one question some county commissioners are grappling with in the wake of the former
Republican Party of Sarasota County chairman���s arrest.
Waechter, charged with impersonating Republican activist
Lourdes Ramirez and donating in her name to the congressional campaign of Democrat Keith Fitzgerald, withdrew from his post on the Sarasota Manatee Airport
Authority board shortly after his arrest. But he also serves on two county advisory
boards, the Board of Zoning Appeals, which he chairs, and the Tourist Development
Council.
Newly elected County Commissioner Charles Hines tells The Sarasota News Leader he has heard from constituents who want to know how the county plans to deal
with Waechter���s presence on those bodies. (Full story here)
FALLING FURTHER BEHIND
County impact fee tabulation mistake leads to staff member���s resignation, concerns
about Florida Statute violation ��� Cooper Levey-Baker
A spreadsheet error cost one Sarasota County employee his job
shortly before Christmas, and, according to at least one commissioner, it leaves the county even further behind in complying with
state law.
The County Commission was all set to consider new road impact fees ��� the charges
billed to developers for projects that increase demand on county infrastructure ��� at
its Jan. 16 meeting, but a late December announcement from County Administrator
Randy Reid put the kibosh on that. Reid���s message revealed that Transportation
Director Clarke Davis had discovered an error in the spreadsheet tables used to
calculate the new impact fees and that the numbers could not be corrected in time
for that Jan. 16 session.
Commissioner Joe Barbetta wrote to Reid, ���It seems that excuses keep being made
when in fact this should have all been resolved correctly quite some time ago, not
only because of the Florida Statutory requirements, but also Board direction ���.���
Those state rules Barbetta���s fretting about? They can be found in Florida Statute
163.31801. (Full story here)
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