Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/297477
I've done giant projects and I'm pretty sure there's no county employee that will say to you, "Al was impossible to deal with. He was rude. He's a barbarian." Plus I'm kind of jaded: My wife retired from the school district. My son is a deputy. I think this current administration, under [Administrator] Tom Harmer, they're now approaching it not as regulators. They're approaching it as, "OK, tell me what you want to do." When people want to do some- thing that doesn't fit in the tight little box, the county employees are not saying, "Nope, not doing it." They say, "All right, I see what you want to do. Not a bad idea. It's not going to work if you do it that way, but let's think about this." That's all you ask. You don't ask for an automatic yes. SNL: How do you think Harmer's been doing since taking over? AM: I think he gets an "A." He's a good guy with a heck of a background — three quarters of it in the public sphere and a quarter of it in private practice. He's got the right personality at the right time in the right place. SNL: Was it right to let [former Administrator] Randy Reid go? AM: I have no comment on that. I like the out- come. Harmer's wonderful. SNL: One thing commission critics harp on is a lack of transparency. Do you think the commission does enough to involve the public? AM: I've never been an elected official, so I'm not sure, but I do know that it's awfully trans- parent. If you send me an email and I respond to it, the whole world gets it. SNL: Should the county charge for access to public records? AM: I think when it's a nominal question, no. But when you sit people down and give them a big, big project to do, where boxes of files are brought in, I think they should be charged. I'm told the charges are modest. I'm sure I've sent checks in with my businesses where I wanted to know certain things. When you tie up county employees for a big period of time on a major project, it needs to be charged. The charge also can't be overwhelming so the charge precludes people from asking. SNL: Would you support a human rights ordi- nance that would protect gays and lesbians from discrimination? AM: In private life, I've hired hundreds of people and never even think about their gen- der, sexual orientation, their religious beliefs, their ethnic backgrounds. I just don't think about it. I'm as ethnic as they come and a couple of my cousins are gay, so it would be preposterous to think of somebody not letting them live or work where they want. Sarasota News Leader April 18, 2014 Page 38