Sarasota News Leader

12/20/2013

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Sarasota News Leader December 20, 2013 Page 24 other counties' leaders travel en masse to Tallahassee to press legislators, Robinson noted, a strategy she suggested Sarasota should ape. Rob Lewis, the county's director of community and intergovernmental relations, said a "Sarasota Day" might be effective, if it remains tied to just two or three genuinely important positions the county needs to emphasize. pointed out. "Three really good ordinances, and then Tallahassee decides 'We don't like them,' and they just preempted us. So that just leaves a bad taste in my mouth." Barbetta said even the county's local delegation didn't "come to bat for us." The county has made no secret of the fact that its top priority for the 2014 legislative session, which begins March 4, is to be left alone. County leaders specifically want to make sure the state Legislature does not override the county's ordinances on pain clinics, fertilizer use, scrap metal sales and smoking on county properties, such as the beaches. The board took no particular action to adjust its lobbying efforts during its retreat; Lewis told the commissioners he would come back to them with any specific requests for personal visits during the 2014 session. He tells The Sarasota News Leader the message he heard is that the county's efforts should be "very targeted and very strategic" going forward. Commissioner Joe Barbetta sharply criticized the Tallahassee legislative process, saying all the decisions are made by a small coterie of committee chairs and lobbyists. Any visits to the capitol by Sarasota board members would be just a "show," he said. "We all know how business is done up there." "I've actually made it a point not to go to Tallahassee because of the way they operate," he added. "We're not changing our efforts; we're not changing our priorities," he says. "It was really a discussion about how to best use the time of the commissioners." Barbetta said the one way to get legislators' attention is obvious: Just hire another lobbyist. "We need to have strong lobbyists," The county "got beat up" by the Legislature for he told his colleagues. "It's unfortunate, but its pill mill, scrap metal and smoking rules, he that's how it works." % The County Commission sits in session in May. File photo

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