HOW TO PROCEED
Bob Waechter (left) watches the newly elected Sarasota County commissioners sworn in on Nov. 20.
Photo by Norman Schimmel
COMMISSIONER GRAPPLES WITH WAECHTER���S ROLE ON COUNTY
BOARDS
By Cooper Levey-Baker
Associate Editor
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.
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.
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.
���Does the [Board of County Commissioners]
intend to act (or has it acted) on his continuing service as a TDC member pending resolution of the criminal matter?��� wrote county
resident Richard Alpher on Dec. 18. ���I think
at least some temporary action ��� such as a
suspension from serving on the committee,
would seem in the public interest as well as
the BCC interest.���
