New city manager to begin work on May 29
Patrick Robinson, the deputy city manager and public safety director of the City of Sarasota, has informed city leaders that he plans to retire as of May 26.
That date is three days before the new city manager, Karie Friling of the Chicago area, is planning to begin work, as The Sarasota News Leader has reported.
It is not uncommon for the new manager of a local government to want to choose her or his deputy, the News Leader has observed over the decades.
Robinson has been serving as deputy city manager since December 2020. He was deputy chief of the Sarasota Police Department when former Sarasota City Manager Marlon Brown appointed him to be interim deputy city manager after Brown was named interim city manager. Robinson had been deputy chief of police since June 2015, he notes in his LinkedIn account.
Brown’s change in role came after members of the City Commission agreed that they no longer wanted Tom Barwin to hold the position of city manager, as the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported at the time.
As deputy city manager, the city website explains, Robinson has overseen the Police Department; the Office of Emergency Management; the Public Works, Parks and Recreation, Public Utilities, and Information Technology departments; the Office of Homelessness Response; and the Office of Independent Policy Advisory Panel and Complaint Committee.
In his April 20 letter to interim City Manager Jennifer Jorgensen, City Attorney Joe Polzak and City Auditor and Clerk Shayla Griggs, Robinson wrote, “Having the opportunity to serve our community members, neighborhoods, and businesses alongside the men and women of the Sarasota Police Department and City of Sarasota staff for the last quarter century has been an incomparable honor. I consider myself immensely fortunate to have been granted the unique opportunity to interact with, learn from, and lead some of the finest public servants in our community, state and country. They are truly a special group of individuals, and I will miss working with all of them.”
He continued, “Growing up here in Sarasota I have seen our area transform from a ‘sleepy fishing village’ to a complex small urban environment with all the amenities and challenges of municipalities much larger than ours.”
Robinson added, “City staff across every one of our departments have evolved in their responses to meet the challenges of that evolution and the subsequent changes in the needs of our citizens and visitors. Service orientated governance is not a science, it is an art. The process,” Robinson pointed out, “can be messy and painful and sometimes we haven’t always got things perfect, but the efforts I have seen from our personnel on every front, from every department, during my time here is what has made the City of Sarasota such a special place.”
Robinson’s biography on the City of Sarasota website points out that his “exceptional contributions within the Sarasota Police Department [SPD] were recognized with numerous accolades, including two Officer of the Year awards, Sworn Supervisor of the Year recognition, three SPD Distinguished Service Medals, two SPD Meritorious Service Medals, an SPD Life Saving Medal, three SPD Unit Citations, six SPD Unit Commendations, the American Red Cross ‘Celebrating Our Heroes’ award, two VFW ‘Loyalty Day’ Awards, and the Sons of the American Revolution Law Enforcement Medal.”
It further notes, “Robinson remains deeply engaged in various professional associations, including the Police Executive Research Forum, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Florida Association of City and County Managers, and the International City/County Management Association.”
In his April 20 letter, Robinson added, “I am very excited about continuing to serve my community in a new capacity and the opportunity to watch Sarasota grow and be a shining example of what a city in the great state of Florida can be.” He did not include any hint about what that new capacity would be.
Since July 2023, Robinson has been married to Emily Walsh, president of the Observer Media Group and publisher of its Sarasota-based publications since 2016, as the company website notes.
Robinson’s LinkedIn account says he became a Sarasota police officer in November 2000. In April 2005, it notes, he began work as a detective in the Criminal Investigations Division. Not quite six years later, in February 2011, he was promoted to sergeant; then, in May 2013, he was elevated to captain.
Robinson did not mention his pending retirement when Mayor Debbie Trice asked whether he had any remarks to offer, along with the commissioners and other senior staff, following the conclusion of the business items on the board’s agenda for its regular meeting on April 20.