Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/235968
Sarasota News Leader January 3, 2014 Associations President Lourdes Ramirez. According to a four-page document given to The Sarasota News Leader by Ramirez, the Elections Commission has reached a "consent final order" agreement with Waechter in the case of the Alpert donation and fined him for his role. The $35 Alpert donation was made online in Ramirez's name on Oct. 2, 2012 with a prepaid VISA credit card. According to the Elections Commission, the card loaded with $500 was purchased that same day at a Sarasota Sweetbay by "an individual resembling" Waechter. Elections Commission staff and Waechter reached an agreement in May to settle the issue, with Waechter accepting the $750 fine. The commission itself ratified the order just last month. For the sixth consecutive year, "economy/ jobs" wins the top ranking as the most important issue facing Sarasota County, according to the 2013 Citizens Survey, but only 18 percent of the 801 respondents put that in first place, compared to 36 percent in 2012. Regarding the county's current economic condition, the survey shows 69 percent of respondents think the county "is on the road to recovery," up from 56 percent in 2012. However, the survey's executive summary points out, "many still believe the economy is subject to some very real threats," a pattern that has been observed nationally. Overall, 48 percent of the respondents rated the quality of life in the county as "excellent," compared to 55 percent in 2012. The proportion ranking it "good," though, increased from 36 percent last year to 43 percent in 2013, according to the survey conducted under the aegis of Susan A. MacManus at the Florida Institute Page 94 of Government, located at the University of South Florida in Tampa. This is the county's 22nd survey of citizens' views on a variety of topics. Former Republican Party of Sarasota County head honcho Bob Waechter has been hit with another fine, this one from the Federal Election Commission (FEC), for his alleged role in a series of fake campaign donations made to 2012 Democratic candidates. On Sept. 17, the FEC notifies the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office that it has reached a $5,000 settlement with Waechter in the matter, which was referred to the FEC by the Sheriff's Office on behalf of Sarasota County Council of Neighborhood Associations President Lourdes Ramirez. Waechter attorney Cleta Mitchell — who has represented a number of high-rolling Republican federal officials, including Sens. James Inhofe and Jim DeMint, and the NRA — asked the FEC to drop its investigation in March. She claimed the $200 Fitzgerald donation was too little "to warrant the use of Commission resources." But the FEC pressed on, transferring the case to its Alternative Dispute Resolution Office in June. Mitchell and Waechter eventually agreed to the settlement process. The agreement was signed by Mitchell on July 1, but it was not approved by Krista Roche, the assistant director of the FEC's Alternative Dispute Resolution Office, until Sept. 10. On Sept. 18, the tally of 58 ballots in the re-vote on whether to extend the life of the St. Armands Business Improvement District (BID) for another decade shows 68 percent