The former police sergeant is challenging incumbent Joe Neunder.
By Ramon Lopez
Original Air Date:
Host: We are continuing our series of candidate profiles. Today, we offer a close look at the Republican candidate for Sarasota County Commission challenging Republican incumbent Joe Neunder. Ramon Lopez has the details.
Ramon Lopez: DeNiro—not Robert. We’re talking here about Jim DeNiro. His signs along the highway hail a conservative former Sarasota Police Department lawman turned realtor who is running for the Sarasota County Commission.
The lifelong Republican aims to unseat first-term conservative Republican Commissioner Joe Neunder in the August 18 Republican primary and then face dark horse Democratic hopeful Julie London—not the 1950s sultry singer, but local “Dear Bubbie” blogger Julie London Ferguson—in the November 3 general election.
Jim DeNiro is a tough-talking retired police sergeant. Campaign literature shows he’s originally from Bridgeport, Connecticut but has spent 30 years in the Sarasota-Venice area.
A cop for three decades, he moved around the Sarasota Police Department—traffic, marine, narcotics, detective in Persons and Property Crimes and team leader of the Underwater Search and Recovery unit. In various leadership roles, he managed budgets and procurement, experience he believes are essential as county spending continues to rise. But his CV is missing one thing: elected public office.
He says that as the District 4 county commissioner, he would impose fiscal discipline while ensuring responsible growth. He criticizes the sitting county commission for approving a record $2.5 billion budget, drawing roughly $23 million from reserves.
DeNiro says that he’s never been tight with the county Republican regulars.
Jim DeNiro
Jim DeNiro: I stayed out of it for quite a bit. Do I pay attention to politics? 100%. I’ve been a lifelong Republican in Sarasota County. I do follow politics, whether it’s on the national level or local level.
RL: So why is he running for the county commission?
JDN: I’ve been thinking about running for county commission for a long time, but the timing for me wasn’t, at the time, right. This opportunity for me I saw as an opportunity to provide the kind of leadership that I think Sarasota needs at this point, because I think that we are seriously lacking in leadership, and I think I bring a certain style from what I did and what I developed through my career in law enforcement, that I can bring to the county commission for a better change for Sarasota.
RL: He said county growth must be managed responsibly, with public safety and environmental protection keeping pace, not falling behind.
His campaign has gained endorsements from law enforcement. DeNiro’s fundraising haul includes thousands of dollars in donations to his campaign account and to a Political Action Committee, Friends of DeNiro.
The Sarasota Enquirer is a Facebook page created four years ago, and it has 620 followers. A recent post said that DeNiro’s brother-in-law is Frank LaCivita, president and CEO of Willis Smith Construction. The company is one of the county’s largest contractors.
The post said the company donated $25,000 to a PAC run by LaCivita, which then donated $8,000 to the DeNiro PAC. Meanwhile, the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Office shows that LaCivita and his wife each contributed $1,000 – the allowed maximum – to DeNiro’s war chest. DeNiro sees no campaign fund irregularities.
JDN: For the record, this is nothing more than a tabloid digital rag that is creating this kind of smear campaign against me. He gave me $8,000. That’s what he gave me. The Right Choice Committee—this is his PAC that he has. That is money in his account. That is not my money. That is not in my account. That’s a deposit that that company has put into their own PAC. This is the donation to my account of $8,000. That is it. This is misleading information.
RL: We also discussed Midnight Pass, the county’s stormwater problem, the county’s $18.1 million Stickney Point real estate deal, and the controversial Live Local Act, in that order.
JDN: And I am a proponent to keeping Midnight Pass open, even though it, it may create other challenges, okay? We need to make that investment to keep it open, and make sure we build it so it does stay open. And I think right now, we are playing catch up on a lot of big issues, and the dredging that you can actually see going on at Phillippi Creek has been much overdue. Going forward, I want to know what the comprehensive plan is, to make sure that every canal, every creek, every area that’s supposed to be carrying water to these areas where there’s runoff, takes it to the bays, and takes it out of here, and takes it away from properties, is all properly maintained.
We just bought two acres for $18 million, so I think it’s critically important that we make good deals. That was not a good deal for the county. We still don’t even know what the true cost is going to be for that project, to tear that building down, or those buildings down. But we’ve displaced business owners. As a result of it, we’ve lost tax revenue, and we overpaid. So, we overpaid big time for that property. I think that’s a high price for that property, absolutely, when somebody paid $8 million, or $8.9 million for it two years ago. This comes down to paying the right price for it, that the county doesn’t overpay for these projects that they get themselves involved in.
And I’m a home rule guy. I think, as a county commissioner, you have the responsibility to make decisions that go on in our county, right? Why? Because we have our own set of rules. We have our own plans, our own comprehensive plans that are all based around the compatibility of what we’re going to build. What I don’t like is, is that Florida, as a state, 67 counties are all diverse in their own different way. Whether it’s Southwest Florida, West Coast of Florida, East Coast Florida, Southeast, Panhandle — in a way, we’re all different in how we do things. Center of the state, for example. So, to come in and say, ‘Do it this way, because we’re trying to create affordability’. That, I believe, was the original intent. But that is not a one-size-fits-all. So, if we’re going to create laws to do it, local government should have a say in what comes into their county.
RL: DeNiro knocks Joe Neunder’s record as regards real estate development.
JDN: Well, he has been voting for development his entire time in public office, and even on the planning commission. They’re trying to say I’m the developer’s darling. It’s quite the opposite. The best thing I can say is that it’s interesting that we’re in political season, and how the tune has changed. I also think that as a result of him politicizing a lot of his decisions is another reason why he’s continued to make bad decisions for Sarasota County, thinking he’s doing the right thing. Because I think, if he really was true to who he is, he’d make better decisions for Sarasota County versus doing cheap political points like he’s doing right now.
RL: DeNiro believes he’s a serious candidate.
JDN: I’d like to think I’m a serious candidate. I’m out-raising him right now in a grassroots effort. I think people recognize my ability in leadership and what I have done and have a respect for my past career. That’s the only reason why you should vote for me. I think you should vote for me because, number one, I am not a politician. I am a person that has served in service for a lifetime and still believe in that. I have done nothing but evolve over my time and educate myself and learn how to be a better person overall, and I think I want to take my experiences personally in life and my feelings towards this county that I raised a family in, that I still believe in and want to live in, to be the best possible place we all can live in and the best quality of life for the people in the county of Sarasota.
RL: On the campaign trial, this is Ramon Lopez for WSLR News.
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