CRB examines whether SSO sheriff should be appointed

CRB = charter review board

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Originally Posted by Stan Zimmerman, Pelican Press

Sarasota County, Florida -- Over the decades, the question was raised, "Why should we elect the sheriff?" – or the property appraiser, or the tax collector, or the supervisor of elections. Once in Sarasota County's past, the county voters actually changed the charter to require an appointed sheriff – dubbed a "director of public safety." That lasted less than a year before voters changed the office back to an elected position.

While the idea of appointing other county constitutional officers has not been presented formally to voters as a charter change, many of these jobs are so tightly bound by state law that little latitude exists for the way they handle their duties. The tax collector and supervisor of elections, for example, are strictly regulated by state statutes and state authorities in Tallahassee.

The same can be said for the county clerk and auditor, and the property appraiser. While they answer to the voters every four years, the scope of their duties is highly restricted by law. Some say it’s like voting to decide who changes the light bulbs – there’s only one way to do it.

However, if you ask any of the elected constitutional officers if appointed officials should replace them, they are unanimously in their opposition. Soon they may be asked to make their positions publicly clear.

The Charter Review Board’s rules require a convoluted path be taken before it can propose any amendment to the county’s charter. This prevents a "rush to judgment" involving the county’s fundamental governing document. Working within those rules, Trice last week gave formal notice she will ask the board "to review Section 2.4 of the Charter regarding the election of Constitutional Officers – Sheriff, Tax Collector, Property Appraiser, Supervisor of Elections and Clerk of the Circuit Court."

Instead of reviewing the offices piecemeal, she said, "I will be proposing that this board engage in one study for the purpose of determining the best method of filling each office at this stage of Sarasota County’s development."

Trice will make her case at the next CRB meeting, on Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. in the Sarasota County Administration Center on Ringling Boulevard. If the board agrees by majority vote to take up the subject, a "special committee" will be established, composed of any board members wishing to serve.

The "special committee" would report back to the full board, and by majority vote the CRB would "discharge" the proposal for discussion among the full board. At the following CRB meeting, the board could, by two-thirds majority, call for an advertised public hearing on the proposed amendment. After the public hearing, another vote would be held by the CRB to put the proposed charter change on the ballot. This vote also would require a two-thirds majority.

All of this would happen in the sunshine at advertised public meetings, and voters would get the final say by simple majority on the ballot.

But by giving formal notice at the Nov. 17 meeting, Trice launched what may prove to be a strong lobbying effort by county constitutional officers to prevent the CRB from forming its "special committee."

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Sure, turn all the constitutional officers into appointments under county government. Just another way to give Jim Ley more power. Does he have the CRB in his pocket also?

After reading about the crazy actions of constitutional officer Jim Todora (he has a really bad tit for tat against the guy who beat him in the election) and after seeing the SSO have a political meltdown every 4 years when the elections roll around, the CRB should look closely at the issue of appointing the Sarasota sheriff. Should politics (elections) have anything to do with the top cop? :roll:

If we appoint the sheriff, then the county commissioners can:
- set hiring standards for applicants for this position
- remove him/her from office if they're incompetent (like Balkwill or whoever)

It would also mean that the Sarasota deputies union can negotiate directly with the county commissioners (they hold the purse strings anyways), which is exactly how the Sarasota firefighters do it. Currently, the deputies have to negotiate through a middleman (an elected sheriff) for pay raises. An elected sheriff doesn't hold the purse strings (an elected sheriff has to ask the county commissioners for money for his budget).

The CRB can also choose to keep the title of sheriff intact, even as an appointed position, but it has to be written into the charter. Citizens would be more likely to vote for an appointed sheriff instead of an appointed director because it's all about semantics and psychology. Then we could still keep our sheriff and have him appointed too. ;)

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Originally Posted by Guest

Sure, turn all the constitutional officers into appointments under county government. Just another way to give Jim Ley more power. Does he have the CRB in his pocket also?

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In the last election, we voted for who the CRB members will be. Jim Ley has no power in determining who the voters will select as their CRB board members.

If you're got a good elected sheriff, then life is good, but if you're got an incompetent sheriff, then the sheriff's office becomes a circus, which is what happened under clown master extraordinaire Bill Balkwill.

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Originally Posted by clown master extraordinaire

If you're got a good elected sheriff, then life is good, but if you're got an incompetent sheriff, then the sheriff's office becomes a circus, which is what happened under clown master extraordinaire Bill Balkwill.

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Everything always seems to circulate around Bill Balkwill, sort of like a turd in a toilet at an old gas station bathroom where it just won't flush down, no matter how many times you flush it, but it keeps circulating round-n-round. Graffitti is all over the bathroom walls and there's a metal mirror instead of a glass one and it stinks to high heaven in there. However, if you have a good sheriff, then would you still want him to be appointed? Or if you vote to have an appointed sheriff, then is it to safeguard against getting an incompetent sheriff in the future, sort of like with Balkwill?