Commissioner Cutsinger opens March 11 meeting with motion
Deviating from their March 11 agenda, the Sarasota County commissioners spent approximately 30 minutes expressing their confidence in County Administrator Jonathan Lewis before taking a formal vote on it.
Commissioner Ron Cutsinger, who made the motion, characterized the support of the board as “unqualified.”
Cutsinger launched the remarks as the board met at the R.L. Anderson Administration Center in Venice. Commissioner Teresa Mast seconded the motion.
Speaking last, as per protocol since he is the chair, Commissioner Joe Neunder turned to Lewis and summed up the statements that morning: “Jonathan, you have the confidence, it appears, of this board, in doing your job.”
Commissioners stressed the high quality of the team that Lewis has put together since he became county administrator in January 2018, as evidenced by the number of national honors and recognition accorded to a wide array of county departments in the intervening years. (See the related article in this issue.)
Cutsinger explained that his motion — and the ensuing comments — were “prompted by recent articles and social media [posts], some of which contained some inaccuracies … I just don’t want there to be any question or lack of clarity,” Cutsinger added, about the board’s support for Lewis.
Looking out at the audience, in which a number of county staff members were seated, Cutsinger continued, “I am frankly blown away by the quality and the excellence in which they do their jobs, and that is in large … due to Jonathan’s leadership.”
He added, “It seems like … every meeting, we’re bringing up one of our teams to receive some award of excellence or achievement or recognition for what they’ve done.”
Moreover, he continued, “The respect that Jonathan commands in this community is unparalleled.”
Commissioner Mark Smith pointed out that that degree of respect goes beyond Sarasota County. He has seen it at the state and national levels, Smith noted, as Smith represents the County Commission in serving with the Florida Association of Counties and the National Association of Counties. Lewis, Smith said, “is a true asset to Sarasota County and to this board. I want to thank him personally.”
Cutsinger also talked about the fact that the late Commissioner Nancy Detert “was judicious with her praise” — a remark that prompted Commissioner Mast to laugh in accord with the characterization. “If you’ve been praised by Nancy Detert,” Cutsinger added, “you’ve been praised.”
“You’ve earned it,” Mast added.
When the commissioners conducted their annual evaluations of Lewis and the county attorney while Detert was on the board, Cutsinger continued, Detert said that, “in all her years in public service,” having worked with many other local government managers, “Jonathan Lewis was the finest county administrator she had ever worked with.” His voice quavering, Cutsinger added, “For me, there’s nothing more to say.”
During her remarks, Mast emphasized the word “culture.”
“We live in a county that is ranked in the top — and I mean the top of the top [in terms of] level of services provided, the timeliness of those services provided, and the effectiveness of those services provided.”
She added, “There are threads within the fabric of what I call our culture.” When those threads are seamless, Mast said, “That means we’re doing a pretty damn good job.”
The mission of Sarasota County Government, Mast continued, “is to serve the people of Sarasota County with a level of excellence that cannot be surpassed,” though she acknowledged that that did not mean the board members and staff are perfect.
Further, Mast pointed out that when “a lot of false accusations” are circulating in a community, that “becomes very disruptive.”
During his terms as sheriff before he was elected to the board in November 2024, Commissioner Tom Knight noted that he had worked with Lewis. He also said that he was probably the only member of the board who had been in public service for 34 years.
“We live in a community that’s a demanding community,” Knight said, “and scrutiny comes along with that.”
In regard to the recent criticism of Lewis, Knight added that he believes that is based on the commissioners’ actions. While Lewis can give board members guidance, Knight continued, the commissioners are the ones who set policy.
“Good leaders come through adversity,” Knight added. “[Lewis] is a good leader. … To lose him would be devastating to this community.”
Defense against a series of controversies and allegations
The March 11 vote came exactly a month after a Feb. 11 discussion that Chair Joe Neunder initiated, which also was not on the agenda for that day’s regular board meeting. It resulted in a hold on the commission’s Jan. 28 approval of an agreement with the master developer of Hi Hat Ranch to allow the extension of a road through county-owned land east of the Bee Ridge Road-Lorraine Road intersection to the area where new communities are planned on Hi Hat Ranch property.
The action that day followed release of an investigative report by Michael Barfield of the Florida Center for Government Accountability, regarding the behind-the-scenes actions of former county Commissioner Alan Maio, who was acting on behalf of the Hi Hat Ranch master developer, to help craft the deal the commissioners approved on Jan. 28 on a 4-1 vote. Commissioner Tom Knight was in the minority.
Since Maio stepped down from the commission in November 2022, because of term limits, he has returned to the Kimley-Horn consulting firm in Sarasota, with which he had a long association as a principal before he retired to prepare for his first campaign for County Commission, in 2014.
Barfield had used materials gleaned from a public records request to provide details about hours of discussions that County Administrator Lewis had conducted with Maio via phone during a period preceding the Jan. 28 vote. Barfield did include in his article comments from Lewis that Lewis could not recall any effort that Maio had undertaken to lobby him on behalf of the Turner family of Sarasota, the owners of Hi Hat Ranch, to try to get the road access deal approved.
“Florida law bars former commissioners from lobbying county commissioners, the county administrator, and his or her direct reports for compensation for two years after leaving office to prevent conflicts of interest and protect public trust,” Barfield pointed out in the article.
Barfield further noted that Maio’s son, Adam, who is vice chair of the county’s Planning Commission — long known as the county’s most influential advisory board — had “performed significant construction and remodeling of the Lewis residence.”
The article added the following: “Lewis said the construction was needed after damage from Hurricane Ian. A permit indicates the work included a new roof and interior remodel valued at $100,000, according to public records.”
On Jan. 30, as shown in a folder on the county website, Lewis sent the commissioners an email that included a message that Barfield had sent very early the same day to the county Communications staff:
More recently, on Feb. 26, Lewis wrote the commissioners a much longer email. He began, “There have been several accusations as well as inuendo, levied against me over the past month. These current accusations make false ethical suggestions and at the same time claim that county administration did not do everything it should in providing the Board information.”
First, Lewis readdressed the Adam Maio remodeling issue. Then he moved on to the Hi Hat Ranch deal regarding the access across county land and discussed his phone conversations with former Commissioner Maio.
Lewis also provided details to rebuff a recent allegation of inappropriate action of the Turner family of Hi Hat Ranch in regard to the Riverview High School Kilties Marching Band. Lewis’ wife’s is the director of bands at Riverview.
Finally, he wrote about an issue that arose during the commission’s Feb. 25 meeting, in regard to another potential site that could be considered in the context of planning for a new jail in downtown Sarasota and the relocation of the Criminal Justice Center.
Lewis concluded his Feb. 26 email by writing, “In 26 years of professional public management, these are the first claims I have ever faced that imply an ethical issue. I would request that if any of you have any questions schedule a meeting with me so we can talk.”