Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/114013
Sarasota News Leader March 8, 2013 Page 60 SCHIMMEL APPOINTED TO TOURIST DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL During the March 5 regular meeting in Venice, the Sarasota County Commission appointed Norman Schimmel of Sarasota to the seat on the Tourist Development Council (TDC) that had been vacated by Bob Waechter of Siesta Key. Waechter resigned on Jan. 6 from both the Sarasota County Board of Zoning Appeals and the TDC. He was charged Dec. 14 with a third-degree felony after he allegedly used personal identity information to purchase a prepaid VISA card in the name of Lourdes Ramirez, president of the Sarasota County Council of Neighborhood Associations, to make campaign contributions to Democratic candidates Keith Fitzgerald and Liz Alpert in the 2012 campaign. Norman Schimmel/Contributed photo Brill was a write-in candidate for the office of Sarasota County supervisor of elections during the 2012 campaign, making it impossible for anyone but a registered Republican to vote in the primary. Incumbent Kathy Dent won the race. Former County Commissioner In 2011, he was named "The Voice of Saraso- Jon Thaxton, who could not seek re-election ta" by the county's tourism office — now Visit because of term limits, challenged Dent for Sarasota County — for his work promoting the seat. tourism in the area. Cautero was vice president for finance and Schimmel is also a member of the county's corporate planning and strategy for the Altria Citizen Tax Oversight Committee. He previ- Group Inc. (formerly Philip Morris Cos.) from ously served on the Public Facilities Financ- 1999 to 2006, his application says. ing Advisory Board and the Keep Sarasota Commissioner Joe Barbetta nominated SchimCounty Beautiful Advisory Board. mel to serve on the TDC. No other nominaTwo other people had applied for the seat: Vic- tions were offered. The vote on Schimmel's toria Brill of Longboat Key, a legislative aide appointment was unanimous. to state Sen. Bill Galvano of Manatee County; Chairwoman Carolyn Mason was unable to and Richard Cautero of Venice, managing diattend the meeting because of illness. rector and president of Executive Advisory Services, a business consulting firm. Rachel Brown Hackney Schimmel was president of Normande Lighting from 2004 to 2008, a company he created that supplies lamps to eight of the top 10 retailers in the United States, according to his resume.