He oversaw stormwater work until new department was created in latter part of 2025
On Oct. 1, Sarasota County Administrator Jonathan Lewis notified all of the commissioners via email that Spencer Anderson, director of the county’s Transportation Department, had submitted his resignation effective as of Nov. 6.
Lewis noted that he had spoken with or left messages for all of the board members before sending the note.
Anderson’s “responsibilities as Transportation Director and County Engineer will be reassigned,” Lewis added.
“Spencer will leave the county just short of his 26th anniversary,” Lewis further noted. “His dedicated service has ranged from Engineer Trainee, Senior Engineer, Senior Technical Specialist, Technical Manager, Operational Manager, Senior Manager, [to] Director. He currently represents Sarasota County by serving as Vice President for the Florida Association of County Engineers and Road Superintendents.”
On Sept. 29, The Sarasota News Leader learned through a public records request, Anderson submitted his resignation letter to Deputy County Administrator and Chief Financial Officer Steve Botehlo.
Anderson wrote, “For the past 26 years, I have had the privilege of serving Sarasota County and its residents, most recently in the roles of Transportation Director and County Engineer. Few professional opportunities carry the meaning and responsibility of serving a community for more than two decades, and I am deeply grateful for the trust placed in me throughout my tenure.”
Then Anderson explained that he had “made the decision to accept an opportunity to serve as the Public Works Division Director for Monroe County. This decision represents both an exciting professional opportunity and the pursuit of a long-standing personal goal. The Florida Keys have been a desired long-term destination for my wife and me for many years, and this opportunity allows us to begin that next chapter while enabling me to continue my career in public service.”
He added, “Leaving Sarasota County is not a decision I have made lightly. Over the course of 26 years, I have had the opportunity to work with exceptional colleagues, lead through significant challenges and growth, and contribute to project and initiatives that have made a lasting impact on our community.”
Among Anderson’s most prominent initiatives over the past decade was his work with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to achieve a “road swap” that enabled the state agency to add the portion of River Road in South County from U.S. 41 to Interstate 75 to its state inventory. In exchange, the county accepted control of the roads on Siesta Key, except for the bridges.
The swap followed years of discussions between past commissioners and FDOT leaders about the inability of the state to make decades-long needed improvements to River Road as long as it remained a county road. In May 2018, Anderson told the commissioners that he expected the transaction to be finalized before the start of the 2019 fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2018.
During the May 22, 2018 County Commission meeting, then-Commissioner Charles Hines made the motion to send a formal letter to FDOT, accepting its terms for the road swap, and then-Commissioner Mike Moran seconded it.
Hines referred to River Road as “a major road that’s been a problem for 20 years for this county.”
Commissioners and Lewis publicly praised Anderson for his efforts to complete the exchange.
In his Sept. 29 letter to Botelho, Anderson further pointed out, “I am committed to ensuring a constructive transition during my remaining time with the County. I will work closely with you and the leadership team to transfer responsibilities, address outstanding priorities, and provide whatever assistance is appropriate to position the organization for continued success.”
Lewis noted in his Oct. 1 email to the county commissioners that many of their priorities are focused on transportation issues, adding that “we will work to make sure none of those lose momentum.”
On May 25, 2018, Lewis introduced Anderson as the public works director during a County Commission budget workshop, as the News Leader reported at that time.
Anderson’s predecessor, Isaac Brownman, had left county employment on July 28, 2017 to become the public works director for the Town of Longboat Key.
In response to News Leader questions in May 2018, Drew Winchester, then a county public information officer, said that Anderson began his employment with Sarasota County in November 2000 as an engineer trainee. Anderson was a senior manager prior to Brownman’s departure. One of Anderson’s responsibilities had been oversight of the county’s mowing program.
The stormwater problems
As Public Works director, Anderson also was responsible for the county’s Stormwater Division. In January 2025 — in the aftermath of the 2024 hurricane season — residents who live on Phillippi Creek began appearing routinely began appearing at County Commission meetings to complain that county staff had been negligent in its maintenance of the waterway.
They showed the board members photos of the buildup of sediment in the creek, which — they attested — had resulted in some homes suffering repetitive flooding as a result of Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Residents pleaded with the commissioners to direct staff to pursue the necessary work to prevent future flooding in the creek.
Members of communities in South County also stressed flooding in their areas, as then-newly elected Commissioner Tom Knight of Venice reported during a number of discussions with his colleagues.
Moreover, stormwater engineer Steve Suau of Sarasota, who had served in the past as a county employee, had learned that a breach in a dike in the Cow Pen Slough basin had resulted in the flooding of the Laurel Meadows community in the eastern part of the county as a result of Tropical Storm Debby’s inundation in early August 2024.
This spring, Laurel Meadows residents and business owners formally filed suit against the county, alleging that the county’s negligence resulted in the damage they had suffered.
As stormwater issues continued to remain a high commission priority last year, the board members ultimately voted not once but twice to direct County Administrator Lewis to establish a separate stormwater department and hire a director to oversee it. During the discussion that resulted in the first vote — in June 2025 — then-Chair Joe Neunder Commission joined Commissioners Tom Knight and Mark Smith in stressing the urgency of having a county department dedicated solely to stormwater initiatives, including appropriate levels of maintenance.
“We need to act today,” Neunder said. “We need people that are doing stormwater only 24/7/365.”
During an earlier meeting — conducted on May 20, 2025 — commissioners queried Anderson about stormwater funding issues. Neunder, especially, demanded details about revenue brought in through the annual stormwater assessments that county residents pay.
Then, slightly more than a month later — on June 30, 2025 — as part of a news media briefing, Anderson appeared to put the blame on county residents who live along waterways for lack of maintenance in those waterways, including Phillippi Creek.
He referred to a program that he had explained to the commissioners during their third stormwater workshop, held on May 21. Dating to 2001, he explained, that program required a certain percentage of the affected residents to sign petitions calling for specific undertakings, with all of the residents in the area of the dredging to be taxed for it.
Yet, that program was designed for making sure waterways remained navigable, as he reported to the commissioners in late May. It was not focused on the removal of sediment from waterways.
Additionally, as the News Leader reported, Anderson also emphasized that residents who live in floodplains should purchase federal flood insurance.
Ultimately, as a result of the commissioners’ call for the new Stormwater Department, Ben Quartermaine — a former county stormwater employee who had been working in the private sector — joined county staff in August 2025 as the leader of that department.