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Sarasota County subsidizes developer program with millions in Ian recovery funds

Written by on Saturday, October 26, 2024

Commissioners ignore calls to instead fund a public trade school in North Port.


By Johannes Werner

Original Air Date: October 25, 2024

Host: The Sarasota County commission wants to steer millions of federal disaster relief dollars to a developer-led training program. That has stirred up pushback by people who want the funding to go to public schools instead.

Johannes Werner: When they cut government funding for social services, the Sarasota County Commission led by Mike Moran has described itself as good stewards of taxpayer money. Now, Moran and Neil Rainford — neither of whom will be on the board anymore come January — led the charge to give a developer-led trade association millions of federal disaster relief dollars for their startup building trades training program.

That, in turn, riled up supporters of public schools. Ahead of a county commission meeting this week that discussed the terms of the funding, former school board member Jane Goodwin said the $7.5 million should go instead to the expansion of the Suncoast Technical College’s North Port campus. In an op-ed, Goodwin suggested that federal subsidies for the developer-led Building Industry Institute would go not only towards the training program, but they would pay for the offices of the Suncoast Builders Association and pay part of the executive director’s $200,000 salary.

Goodwin took that appeal to the county commissioners at their meeting Wednesday. So did Tom Edwards, a sitting school board member, and Robin Williams, a candidate for the Sarasota County Charter Review Board.

Here’s how Williams put it.

Robin Williams: The school district was told not to apply for the full amount of the $21 million needed to expand the North Port Technical College to help with workforce training. Not one FEMA taxpayer cent should go to pay for new building industry offices and pay its executive director a $200,000 salary. Nor should it be used for training for personnel for members businesses. The money should also not be held for the Business Industry Institute until February of 2026 to give them a chance to get more funding from elsewhere. It’s time to cut our ties to this institute and use our public money where Hurricane Ian caused significant damage in North Port and for the North Port Technical College.

JW: The $7.5 million for the Building Industry Institute are part of a $200 million-plus HUD block grant for Sarasota County that is supposed to go to projects that provide relief for damages sustained during Hurricane Ian two years ago. That storm wrecked the southern part of county, particularly North Port and Englewood. The grants must benefit low-to-moderate-income people in the affected area.

The Suncoast Builders’ Association wants the grant to go towards its charitable arm, for the purchase of an existing building elsewhere in the county, for renovations, and the first year of operation of the training program.

During the meeting, Commissioners Mark Smith and Joe Neunder questioned the two-year timeline the builders’ association proposes, highlighting that federal relief funds should be disbursed as quickly as possible.

Mark Smith made the difference.

Neunder and his colleague Ron Cutsinger — usually reliable yes votes when it comes to issues backed by developers — made it clear they would not approve the terms of the grant. So it looked like no federal dollars would be going to the developers’ project.

But when it came to the final vote, Mark Smith — who represents a district that includes storm-devastated barrier islands — did approve. Here is how the Siesta Key-based architect justified his vote.

Mark Smith: I’m all in favor of the trades. Obviously, being an architect, we rely on the trades, the craftsmen, that we so sorely need in this area. And, I have a lot of respect for the vocational school and what we have, the technical college that we have in Sarasota County. They’re doing tremendous work. But I also see a value in the industry itself, training their employees.

JW: And with that, the Suncoast Builders Association got their federal subsidies.

Reporting for WSLR News, this is Johannes Werner.

 

 

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