Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/100825
Sarasota News Leader December 28, 2012 Page 48 JULY 19 Tom Harmer became deputy Sarasota County administrator in mid-July. Contributed photo Sarasota County Government has gained a new deputy administrator and seen the removal of ���interim��� from the titles of three department leaders. Staff also has been preparing for the departure of a long-time employee with expertise in a number of areas. County Administrator Randall Reid announces that Thomas Harmer has been named deputy Sarasota County administrator. The three county officials whom Reid formally appointed as department chiefs are Joanie Whitley, Human Resources director; Mike Tobias, Emergency Services director; and Steve Botelho, chief financial planning officer. John McCarthy, who has been with the county for 31 years, will be retiring July 20. Trevor Harvey, the president of the Sarasota County branch of the NAACP, tells the organization at its monthly general membership meeting that the national NAACP is taking the lead in the fight against precinct consolidation, at the local level here in Sarasota and around the country. During the national NAACP convention held in Houston July 7-12, Harvey met with the group���s general counsel and the senior vice president of the D.C. branch to update them about Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent���s plan to reduce the number of precincts from 156 to 98. The Sarasota NAACP had been considering requesting that the Department of Justice intervene because of concern that the consolidation will suppress the minority vote by increasing the distance voters will have to travel and increasing the possibility of long, discouraging lines. According to Harvey, the national NAACP has been hearing many similar stories and complaints ��� the ���same issues all across the country,��� he says. Given that, the Sarasota branch ���pretty much turned everything over to the national level,��� hoping that the larger organization could bring stronger legal resources to bear on the problem. ���We need their influence to get us to the next level,��� Harvey tells the News Leader after the meeting. JULY 24 Because the Florida Legislature approved an extra $100, or about 3 percent, in base funding per pupil statewide for the 2012-13 school year, the Sarasota County School Board has no choice but to raise its required local millage rate for the 2013 fiscal year, Deputy Chief Financial Officer Al Weidner tells the board.