With Phillippi Creek residents venting anger about lack of county staff leadership on dredging, County Commission agrees to advertise higher level of stormwater assessments for 2026 fiscal year

Staff reminds board that Truth in Millage notices include not-to-exceed figures, so board can lower stormwater fees before approving new budget

Figuratively armed with recent articles detailing an investigation into Sarasota County stormwater problems, plus remarks that Spencer Anderson, director of the county’s Public Works Department, made during a June 30 media briefing (see the related article in this issue), residents of Phillippi Creek returned this week to the Sarasota County Administration Center in downtown Sarasota.

Most of them made it plain that they believe in the necessity of the county’s stormwater work being handled by a new department and that they want new stormwater leadership. While a number of them mentioned Anderson, some also criticized County Administrator Jonathan Lewis.

On July 1, the commissioners took a second vote to affirm their June 3 decision to establish a Stormwater Department separate from the Public Works Department. (See that related story in this issue.) They also called for county administrative staff to advertise for a director of that department…

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