Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/101651
THE FIRST 100 DAYS Sarasota City Manager Tom Barwin reflects on his first months on the job ��� Stan Zimmerman Last month as Sarasota���s new city manager, Tom Barwin, neared the 100-day mark on the job, he sat down with Sarasota News Leader City Editor Stan Zimmerman for a wide-ranging interview. The transcription is long, but it provides two sets of broad insights. First, Barwin views the city with a pair of new but professional eyes. He has been in public service for more than three decades, starting as a Detroit cop and concluding as the city manager of Ferndale, MI, (a Detroit suburb) then Oak Park, IL, (a Chicago suburb). The second group of insights concerns Barwin���s goals and management style. While the past two city managers were short-timers, their predecessors served long tours and had wide-ranging powers. Thus, Barwin could serve a long career in the top administrative position at City Hall. His goals and styles could be with us for many years. (Full story here) WHAT KIND OF PRECEDENT? Protests are mounting as the County Commission prepares to vote next week on whether to allow construction on Siesta Key beyond the Gulf Beach Setback Line ��� Rachel Brown Hackney With more than 20 email protests having shown up in the Sarasota County commissioners��� inbox before noon on Jan. 3, opposition is mounting to requests for county variances to allow two homes to be constructed on Siesta Key about 200 feet beyond the county���s Gulf Beach Setback Line. As those protests mount, Siesta Key Association President Catherine Luckner says the County Commission will be facing a potentially precedent-making decision during its regular meeting in Sarasota on Jan. 9: If the commissioners approve the variances for 162 Beach Road and 168 Beach Road, will they essentially be nullifying their own construction setback ordinance? ���They are sitting right now in a very, very precarious place,��� she added during a Jan. 3 interview with The Sarasota News Leader. (Full story here) Click Any Headline To Go Directly To That Article AT A GLANCE TOP STORIES