month to fire Ethics and Compliance Officer
Steve Uebelacker as particularly worrisome.
U e b e l a c k e r c l a s h e d w i t h C o u n t y
Commissioner Joe Barbetta last year over alle-
gations made to Uebelacker that Barbetta had
been seen fraternizing with representatives
from companies with which the county does
business. According to information provided
to the News Leader by county spokesperson
Jamie Carson last year, Uebelacker never
considered the allegations warranted an
investigation, but he did meet with Barbetta to
give the commissioner "an informal heads-up,
as a courtesy."
That launched a war of words between
Barbetta and Uebelacker, with Barbetta
charging that the employee who made the
allegations should have been identified and
fired. But Uebelacker declined to do that,
telling the News Leader in a statement, "It's
imperative to me that employees know they
can come to me in confidence."
After Uebelacker was fired last month, for-
mer County Administrator Randy Reid told
the Sarasota Herald-Tribune Barbetta had
pressured him to terminate Uebelacker's
employment. In an email sent in February,
Harmer, who took over as county administra-
tor after Reid was fired last fall, wrote that
"the Ethics and Compliance Office is not the
appropriate vehicle to accept or investigate
ethical allegations or complaints against the
public or elected officials."
Krassner said Monday night that county com-
missioners "should not be off-limits" when it
comes to internal investigations. "If you're
going to have an ethics officer or an inspector
general, that should be for the entire govern-
ment body," he added.
More than one of the attendees Monday said
they were troubled by the Uebelacker firing.
"I think there ought to be an investigation
of the firing of the ethics officer," Friends of
Warm Mineral Springs activist Juliette Jones
said. Others asked how an ethics officer could
really be expected to properly investigate his
or her own employers.
Cathy Antunes, vice president of the Sarasota County Coalition of Neighborhood Associations,
addressed the County Commission last fall on the day it fired County Administrator Randall Reid.
Photo by Norman Schimmel
Sarasota News Leader May 16, 2014 Page 24
