Ending a crusade begun by his predecessor, the Sarasota County Commission chair makes peace with non-profits.
By Johannes Werner
Original Air Date: May 30, 2025
Mike Moran
Host: During his last two years as Sarasota County commissioner, then-Chair Mike Moran undertook a one-man crusade to remake the county’s funding process for childcare, mental health, homeless, and other social services. Moran called the existing system “Sarasota Socialism”, accused volunteers of serving on boards for financial gain, publicly cross-examined non-profit leaders who talked back, said the United Way was too wealthy and too close to Planned Parenthood to deserve public funding and threatened major cuts to others. He redesigned and then micro-managed the fund application process. Voting along with Moran throughout his crusade was then-rookie County Commissioner Joe Neunder. Now, a few months after Neunder took over the gavel from Moran, it took the new chair just one meeting last week to exorcise the spirit of his predecessor.
Chris Johnson
Chris Johnson: What he rightfully discerned was that there had been quite a bit of consternation, back-and-forth, frustration on the parts of volunteers on the BHAC and HSAC, agencies within the community—a lot of ambiguity in some of the areas of application or questions that people had regarding the financials. And—I don’t want to speak for him, but from what he said publicly—he wanted to settle all of that and just have it be able to run on autopilot at some point. The idea was, “Let’s get everybody in the same room together, have these discussions, figure out what it needs to look like moving forward that’s the best for everybody—for the community, for the agencies, for the county, and then let’s just roll with that.” What really precipitated that meeting was his ability to see that we needed to get everybody together and have an honest, open conversation so that everybody could be on the same page.
I think the receptivity of the commission and their willingness to take time out to have this kind of conversation for a couple of hours is extremely positive. I can say that, in leaving that meeting and talking to some of the nonprofits in the room and talking to the folks that were there, all of them felt very much the same way. They felt like it was a breath of fresh air to have this conversation, to have them listen, to have them integrate those ideas into the process moving forward and be okay with that and say, “Hey, you all are the experts. You know what we need to do.. We want to listen.” I think that was a huge change.
Johannes Werner: That praise for Neunder and the workshop he organized and presided over a week ago in Venice comes from Chris Johnson, chief operating officer of the United Way of South Sarasota County.
Janet Kahn
Janet Kahn is the CEO of the Early Learning Coalition of Sarasota, one of Moran’s funding cut targets. In an email to WSLR News, she described the meeting as a “proactive approach to establish a fresh start and new process for non-profit funding, and move on from previously conflictual process.”
Moran’s name, mind you, was not mentioned even once during the entire two hours of presentations and discussions by commissioners, county staff, or social service providers. Even so, the event turned into a reset from the Moran makeover.
The workshop began with an airing of frustrations by social service providers and funders. John Annis, a senior advisor of the Barancik Foundation, talked about the Sarasota County Commission making last-minute changes, cutting funding, and leaving stakeholders confused.
John Annis: What’s really distressing that happened last year—and I want to stay positive—it is harder for us in philanthropy to do our work when we don’t know what you’re going to do. When we know what you’re going to do, then we can step in and do what we do well. We can spend philanthropic dollars to help fill gaps. But when we have a plan and your plan changes at the last minute at a commission meeting and suddenly someone’s not getting funded that we know is critical to get funded, we have to shift our funding and shift our priorities. It makes it harder on all of us.
Speaker during the two-hour workshop Friday last week at the ballroom of the Venice Community Center. Photo courtesy Sarasota County
JW: Jennifer Feigenbaum, with Family Promise of South Sarasota County:
Jennifer Feigenbaum: This has been a really difficult issue for the last couple of years. The nonprofits are struggling with this process. Year over year, we don’t know what we’re walking into. It takes a lot of time and effort to do the applications, and not knowing what you’re walking into and what it’s going to look like until the process is unfolding is very difficult for many nonprofits. Some consistency would really be appreciated.
JW: That was followed by a presentation by Chuck Henry, who heads the county’s human services department. Henry laid out the history and current state of the county funding process, which is structured around two volunteer committees that filter applications. At the end of the Moran makeover, both committees had open seats, but both are up and running again now.
The five commissioners all seemed aligned to overcome the frustrations of providers. Three of the commissioners underlined the importance of social services, and one of them—Mark Smith—seemed to push back against some of Moran’s accusations.
Mike Moran was elected as Sarasota County Tax Collector in November. WSLR News left a message on his office voicemail asking for comment, but did not hear back from him before deadline.
Neunder (right) and Bill Sadlo, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota. Photo courtesy Sarasota County
So, beyond a different tone, were there any specific changes coming out of the workshop?
Johnson highlights a simplification of the application process, for one. But the biggest change has to do with financial predictability. Neunder committed to making sure the county surtax for social services will move into a separate pot of money rather than the county’s general fund.
CJ: When it was brought up that, “Let’s make sure that money doesn’t get swept back into general revenue,” I think that conversation—that Chair Neunder brought that back up as a point to make sure that the commission discussed and they agreed on—saying, “We want to make sure this money doesn’t get swept back into general revenue. This stays within the human services realm for the people in our community who need it most.” I think that was a huge move, because historically that hasn’t happened.
JW: Reporting for WSLR News, Johannes Werner.
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