Commissioner Cutsinger emphasizes quality of leadership of Lewis, Moye
While reaffirming their plans to modify the forms they use, Sarasota County commissioners last week praised the work of County Administrator Jonathan Lewis and County Attorney Joshua Moye and voted unanimously to give each man a 3% raise.
Chair Ron Cutsinger did remind his colleagues that Lewis and Moye just received lump-sum increases after the 2025 evaluations. The amount was $3,500.
In response to a Sarasota News Leader inquiry following the votes, county staff wrote in an Oct. 6 email that Lewis’ adjusted salary would be $292,780.80, with Moye receiving $270,836.80.
Although Cutsinger suggested a 3.4% increase for Lewis, based on the board members’ evaluations of him this year, the other commissioners came down on the side of a 3% raise during discussions that were part of their regular meeting on Oct. 6, in Venice.
On a motion made by Commissioner Teresa Mast, seconded by Commissioner Mark Smith, the 3% uptick for Lewis won unanimous support.
Commissioner Joe Neunder made the motion for the 3% raise for Moye, and Smith seconded it, as well.
Lewis and Moye are the only two employees of the County Commission, board members made clear again on Oct. 6. All other county workers officially report to Lewis.
In opening the discussion, Cutsinger noted that he has worked with Lewis over the past six years. (Cutsinger won his initial election to the board in November 2020.) “We’ve gone through a lot of significant events and transformation in the county in those six years,” Cutsinger added.
Then he addressed the “corporate culture” that Lewis has created in Sarasota County Government, likening it to the “procedures and principles” that are evident in the Publix company. “Whenever you walk into a Publix,” Cutsinger said, “you’re gonna have quality.”
In Sarasota County Government, he continued, the culture is “best in class.”
Cutsinger also noted that he has been with Lewis on a number of occasions over the years when he was able to observe the respect Lewis receives from state and municipal leaders, as well as Lewis’ county peers.
Moreover, he pointed out, “I believe a lot of the department directors we have now have either been drawn here because Jonathan’s our administrator or because they have such respect for him. They want to be in Sarasota County.”
Additionally, Cutsinger referenced results of the 2026 Citizen Opinion Survey, which the board members had received in advance of a formal, public presentation on Oct. 7. He stressed that 96% of the 1,250 respondents to the survey this year said the quality of life in the county is excellent or good, while county staff members received plaudits for their interactions with residents. (As The Sarasota News Leader has reported, 100% of the survey takers who had contacted the county said they had been treated with respect; 97% added that they had received the correct information, and 97% reported that they had been helped in a timely fashion.)
Further, Cutsinger noted the high, positive responses when the survey takers were asked whether they would recommend the county to friends and family members for a variety of reasons.
“These numbers are significant,” he stressed. “And they just … tell the story of, I think, the culture in a county that is to be respected and honored, and I believe that comes from the top.”
Cutsinger also talked about Lewis’ leadership in seeing new facilities replace those that long had suffered from deferred maintenance and other issues. For an example, he told his colleagues he recalled how he felt after taking a tour of the county History Center after he first joined the board. “When I walked out of that old historical resources facility,” he said, “I had to stand there for about five minutes to compose myself, because it was in such desperate need of repair. Pretty soon,” he added, “we’ll have a ribbon cutting [for] our new historical facility …”
At the conclusion of his remarks, Cutsinger proposed the 3.4% increase in salary for Lewis, as that represented the change in the Consumer Price Index from 2025 to this year. Nonetheless, he said he would take into consideration the thoughts of his colleagues.
Commissioner Smith was the first to offer his views on Lewis, saying that he shared Cutsinger’s observations. Smith also noted his experience in attending meetings of the Florida Association of Counties (FAC), during which he had seen the respect other county administrators have for Lewis.
However, in regard to the pay raise, Smith pointed out that no county employee received a merit increase that was higher than 3%. “So I don’t think we can go higher than [that].”
Next, Commissioner Tom Knight referred to his past employment with the Florida Highway Patrol, when he had more than 300 employees answering to him at one point. Then, as county sheriff for 12 years, he continued, he was responsible for 1,000 members of the Sheriff’s Office. “So I understand culture,” he added.
Knight, too, concurred with Cutsinger on the results of the Citizen Opinion Survey. “I feel like we’re in good hands,” he said, referring to Lewis.
He did reiterate the view that he had aired during recent, prior discussions about the evaluations — that he wishes they could be done in private. He also pointed out that it is “hard to talk about salaries” in public. However, Knight explained, the state’s Sunshine Laws prevent such action in private.
He did note — as he and his board colleagues have done during past meetings — that each commissioner meets regularly, one-on-one, with both Lewis and County Attorney Moye, and they can take opportunities during those sessions to bring up any concerns they have about actions of each of the men.
Knight also agreed with Smith about the raise for Lewis being no higher than 3%. “I do believe percentage increases compound,” he emphasized.
Commissioner Teresa Mast reminded her colleagues that she had worked on county staff in years past. That experience, she said, included getting to know five different county administrators.
Further, she talked of meetings she has with constituents, during which she always asks a series of questions, including whether the persons present have had any interactions with county employees, including Lewis.
“I think you should listen twice as much as you speak,” Mast pointed out. “That’s why I think God gave us two ears and one mouth.”
“The more you get to know our county administrator,” she continued, “the more you will realize that — I believe — we’re very fortunate to have who we have at the helm. … I don’t think we would keep the level of [department] directors and employees that we have” without Lewis’ leadership.
She, too, said she was in favor of the 3% raise.
Commissioner Neunder told Cutsinger he appreciated Cutsinger’s comparison of the county culture to that of Publix.
Neunder also agreed with the 3% increase, noting Knight’s reference to the fact that the county provides payments into the Florida Retirement System for its employees, as well as health insurance benefits, characterizing those as factors in the “fully loaded cost,” which — he said — the public needs to know.
‘We’re keeping him pretty busy these days’
In turning to the evaluations of County Attorney Moye, Cutsinger noted, “We’re keeping him pretty busy these days, and, frankly, the work product has been excellent.”
Cutsinger pointed out that the motions to dismiss cases against the county, especially, were “really well done.”
Moreover, he continued, “Some of the negotiated settlements have been really in our favor … and have saved us potentially a lot of money.”
“We have an excellent County Attorney’s Office,” Cutsinger added.
“Josh has been busy the last few months,” Commissioner Knight concurred. “We’ve made some decisions to do some things to try to protect certain things in this county for the betterment of this county that we believe in,” Knight said. “And Josh and his staff have worked hard over the last three or four months to support our decisions.”
A number of the complaints filed against the county in recent months have focused on the commissioners’ unanimous vote on April 7 to implement a policy that no parcels zoned for residential, open or rural use should be allowed as the sites of Live Local Act developments, in accord with their reading of the state’s affordable housing law that first won legislative approval in 2023.
Further, Knight noted, “We have a county administrator and a county attorney that are working harmoniously together for the betterment of this community.”
He also said that he would support a 3% raise for Moye.
Commissioner Mast agreed with Knight’s point about how busy the Office of the County Attorney has been.
Then, addressing Moye, she said, “I really appreciate our conversations and the legal guidance that I think you provide and that your staff provides.”
She did encourage him to interject comments more often into board discussions at the dais. “I know that you are very respectful,” she told Moye, “and I have great faith in you.”
Mast then alluded to the commissioners’ disagreements with state decisions with which they must abide. Again addressing Moye, she said, “I appreciate your ability to help us push back and see … where that lands.”
“I think you’re doing a great job,” Mast added, “I think your staff is doing a great job. And, hopefully, we won’t keep them quite as busy as we have. But tell them to keep eating their Wheaties and keep bringing their A game.”
Mast, too, supported the 3% raise proposal for Moye.
Commissioner Smith did point to what he characterized as the “burr in my saddle” in regard to the handling of the county’s federal lawsuit settlement with Siesta Beach Lots LLC, whose principal is Siesta property and business owner Michael Holderness. (Smith has made it clear that he objected to the transfer to the county of three beach parcels Holderness owns near Access 3 on Siesta Key, in exchange for the county’s property located at 162 Beach Road — which the county bought with $1.4 million from its Neighborhood Parkland Program — plus $400,000. Smith has stressed that the private appraisals Holderness had done on his three parcels found them to be worth about $18 million altogether — far more than the $30,000 apiece that county appraisals had shown.)
In the future, Smith told Moye that, if similar situations arise, he would prefer that Moye first discuss such exchanges one-on-one with each commissioner, to “get our thoughts on it,” instead of having the board members discuss the negotiations in public at the outset.
Nonetheless, Smith continued, “Overall, you and your team have done a super job on keeping us out of jail, and that’s all I ask for from any attorney: Keep me out of jail.”
Knight agreed with Smith on seeing such a proposal “before it shows up on an agenda.” He told Moye, “Never worry about overburdening me with information.”