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assisting in the re-evaluation of this position." That rang more alarm bells in our heads. As for Natural Resources: Matt Osterhoudt was named the acting director, and Harmer made it clear the department itself will be undergoing major changes. Its regulatory functions will become part of Planning and Development Services — home to the county's building and permitting staff — and its man- agement of Environmentally Sensitive Lands will be handled by the Parks and Recreation Department. Our first thought after reading about those changes was obvious: What did Uebelacker and Meese do to lose their jobs? Harmer did not return The Sarasota News Leader's requests for even a brief telephone interview on the subject. Were Uebelacker and Meese paying for actions that irritated county commissioners? As Associate Editor Cooper Levey-Baker reported last year, Uebelacker had a nasty series of exchanges with Commissioner Joe Barbetta. An unnamed county employee had alleged that Barbetta had behaved unethi- cally in two situations. No ethical impropriety ever was proven — a point Levey-Baker made clear. Yet, what also became v e r y c l e a r i n t h a t story was Barbetta's d i s d a i n f o r h o w Uebelacker handled the investigation. The very fact that Uebelacker was hired by Terry Lewis is a critical show of faith in the man's abilities as far as we are concerned. We have the utmost respect for Lewis and have yet to encounter anyone who does not. Before Uebelacker accepted Lewis' job offer, he served as a special agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement; prior to that, he was with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and a detective with the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office. Those are not the types of jobs that would lead us to believe him unqualified to deal with delicate situations. Indications that could be linked to Meese's dis- missal are far murkier. Back in 2012, she was highly visible in County Commission meet- ings regarding use of revenue from transfers of development rights (TDRs) under the aegis of the Sarasota 2050 plan. Then other staff in her department — including Osterhoudt — began appearing on the "2050 front." Then last summer, Meese seemed to rouse anger among commissioners when she addressed them during a budget workshop, explaining the need for another position in her department. She pointed to the increased workload of her staff as a result of meetings regarding the RESTORE funds, which com- munities eventually will receive from BP in c o m p e n s a t i o n f o r the 2010 Deepwater H o r i z o n d i s a s t e r, and the need to refo- cus attention on the county's Post Disaster Response Plan. Did Steve Uebelacker and Amy Meese pay for actions that irritated county commissioners? OPINION Sarasota News Leader April 18, 2014 Page 102