Why is local lobbying group The Argus Foundation interested in the soon to be empty Sarasota School Board Superintendent position?

Herald Tribune - SRQ County to hire over 100 teachers, 3/17/15

"The Argus Foundation, a local business-oriented advocacy group, wrote a letter to the board on March 12 asking that the portion of Tuesday’s meeting discussing the search for White’s replacement be held in the main board room and televised."

Why is Sarasota's local business lobbying group, the Argus Foundation, so interested in who is going to new Sarasota School Superintendent?

Well, let's connect the dots. Commissioner Christine Robinson, is Argus' new Executive Director. Her husband, Eric Robinson, is SRQ's Karl Rove'ian "PAC-Man" and helped insert Bridget Ziegler into the school board by shoving out of state "Dark Money" into her campaign kitty. This conservative duo, the Robinsons, are effective in manipulating outcomes to suit their uber-greediness under the guise of "conservative values" which is utter b.s. It's just business folks! They want money, it's extra tasty to them.

These two, the Robinsons, will most likely profit somehow by helping the Ziegler crew (Christian Ziegler, the man who wants to stone all Republicans who don't toe his p.o.v.) by continuing to chip away at the foundation of the school system so they can privatize the school system and probably introduce some kind of Texas curriculum and support companies that produce shoddy school books that support Gov. Scott's environmental decree that climate change does not exist and that our planet really is flat, blah, blah, blah, and Dino the Dinosaur is only 5,000 years old and caveman kept them as pets.

So again, what in the hell does a private lobbying firm such as Argus have to do with the search for a new SRQ School superintendent?  Commissioner Robinson, Executive Director of Argus - Christine Robinson, care to enlighten the wee people?

- opinion posted by Adrien Lucas

A County Commissioner Cannot Serve Two Masters - The Detail, written by Cathy Antunes

A County Commissioner Cannot Serve Two Masters - The Detail, written by Cathy Antunes, 3/16/15


Last month it became official: Sarasota County Commissioner Christine Robinson is now Executive Director of the Argus Foundation. This relationship between a sitting County Commissioner and Sarasota County’s leading business lobbying organization demonstrates a new low for ethics in Sarasota County government.

Sarasota residents can sign a petition against this gross violation of the public trust:

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION

and attend an April 1rst Rally for Integrity in Sarasota County government. The Argus Foundation was established in 1985 as a “liason between City County State and Federal governments to involve itself with vital matters that have an impact on the quality of life in Southwest Florida”.

Members include “presidents and CEOs of some of Sarasota’s largest and most well-established corporations”. The Argus Foundation “actively monitors the activities of the various governmental bodies and comments on relevant proposals”. The Argus website archives describe “170 active members made up of a broad cross section of the business and professional community representing more than 50 different industries. In addition to ensuring that our elected officials perform their duties efficiently, and because it does not endorse political candidates, the Argus Foundation is also in an impartial position to advise and assist public officials in decisions that affect the lifestyle, environment, and economic well-being of our area.”

Argus has lobbied the County and City Commissions on many local issues. One example is SRQ airport governance. Argus successfully lobbied for SRQ airport board members to be appointed rather than elected. Among the reasons Argus offered for the superiority of appointed rather than elected airport board members were “unqualified and misguided people can find their way on boards more easily on an elected basis”. and “appointed boards are better screened.” In addition, Argus proferred “It is generally the case that appointees tend to be among the very best people in a community, with substantial experience and credentials, and whose talents, disposition and orientation is known. A final point, is that most appointee systems provide for removing appointees who don’t work out.”

Argus 2002 re Airport Governance

In 2012 appointed SRQ airport board member and former GOP chair Bob Waechter was arrested for identity theft. Store video showed Waechter stealing the identity of Lourdes Ramirez, a Republican candidate he did not support. Waechter purchased a debit card in her name and later used it to donate to Democrats, setting Ramirez up for changes of being a RINO (Republican In Name Only). After his arrest, no process was triggered to remove Mr. Waechter from the airport board. He resigned only after community advocates questioned the County Commission about the propriety of Waechter’s continued service while awaiting prosecution.

The current appointed SRQ Airport Authority Board includes Medallion Homes developer Carlos Beruff. During his tenure as Chair of the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFMD), Beruff advocated for fast-tracking developer permits to destroy wetlands. Beruff also wanted SWFMD to take over federal wetlands permitting as well, citing the need for SWFMD to act as a “service industry” . Beruff is currently suing Manatee County for denying policy changes he needed to develop Long Bart Point, at Cortez fishing village.

Developer Henry Rodriguez is a former SRQ Airport Authority Board appointee. A jury just found Mr. Rodriguez and Randy Benderson “used backroom political deals with elected officials and conspired in secret meetings to doublecross their one-time partner (Hugh Culverhouse) on a major land deal.” (Herald Tribune, March 18, 2015) The jury awarded Culverhouse $20 million in damages.
Do these SRQ Airport Authority appointees represent “the very best people in a community, with substantial experience and credentials” as the Argus Foundation argued? Or has the SRQ Airport Authority Board become a club for political cronies?

The 170 members and 50 companies represented by Argus certainly have a right to lobby government. But their interests don’t necessarily align with the public interest. Argus members obviously should not be able to hire a public official as their Executive Director, Commissioner Robinson, a County Commissioner who votes on the issues they seek to influence. Robinson’s dual role is an efficient way for Argus members to advance their interests, and a gross betrayal of the public trust. Sarasota’s current status as an ethical backwater is unacceptable.

Time to demand integrity in County government:
When: April 1st, 2015 12:45pm
Where: 1660 Ringling Blvd. north side of the County Administration Building (across from the Downtown Post Office)
What: Integrity 2016 —— Rally for Integrity in County Government

Join members of various civic groups and your neighbors who are coming together to stand for integrity in local government!

Robinson's Challenge -

Robinson's Challenge, Nov. 23, 2014, Herald Tribune

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20141123/OPINION/311239996/2416

For 21 years, Kerry Kirschner was the executive director -- and the face and voice -- of the Argus Foundation, a private, pro-business organization whose members seek to influence public affairs.

In that role, he visited elected public officials and private-sector leaders, advocating the Argus stance on a wide range of issues and public policies -- ranging from land-use planning to consolidation of city and county government services.

Argus casts a broad net with its agenda and goal of providing "business leadership for effective community building in governance, education, economic development, environment and land planning, health and human services, and transportation."

Kirschner regularly addressed public boards on these and other topics during their meetings. He frequently wrote guest columns and letters that were published by the Herald-Tribune and other media outlets. Throughout Kirschner's tenure, there was no doubt that he would vocally and strongly advance the views of the organization and its 170 members, who pay to belong in the nonprofit group.

Kirschner joined Argus in 1994, after serving on the Sarasota City Commission from 1985 to 1991. When Kirschner was hired, Argus leaders said he understood the community and provided "expertise in local government, public affairs and public policy."

Argus recently announced that Kirschner is retiring. His replacement, Christine Robinson, also knows the community and has expertise in local government, public affairs and public policy.

Yet there is a key difference between the two hires: Kirschner was a former commissioner; Robinson intends to fulfill the two years remaining on her second term as a Sarasota County commissioner. (That term ends in 2016; because of term limits, Robinson cannot seek re-election.)

Robinson may not perform the job the same way as Kirschner did. But this history provides a frame of reference and may help explain some of the negative public reaction that has focused on whether Commissioner Robinson's job as executive director of Argus constitutes a conflict of interest.

Law and perception

Before taking the new job, Robinson sought an opinion from Stephen DeMarsh, Sarasota County's chief attorney. She asked whether holding a "part-time" post with Argus, a nonprofit corporation, would constitute a conflict of interest as defined by Florida law and interpreted by the state Commission on Ethics. In her request, Robinson stated that Argus is not doing business with the county and would not do so, but that a member of the organization's board owns a company that has a contractual relationship with the county government.

In a word, DeMarsh said "no," that Robinson is not disqualified by the law from working for Argus while serving as a county commissioner. We contacted several experts on Florida's ethics laws, and they agreed with Marsh's conclusion.

So, is there a conflict of interest that falls short of violating state statutes? Like many things in life, it's a matter of perception.

Robinson and Bill Merrill, a prominent land-use attorney and chairman of Argus, contend there is no conflict, real or perceived. They made the following points:

• Argus does not, and will not, take positions or advocate on behalf of individual members' interests.

• The County Commission job takes priority over the Argus position. Robinson will be paid $45,000 annually -- a substantial sum but less than the $135,000 Kirschner got when the job was considered full time.

• The executive director does not set policy and Robinson will not be expected to advocate in behalf of Argus policies with which she disagrees.

The latter point makes for an unusual employment arrangement between a member-driven group and its executive leader; usually, the director is expected to support the board's position publicly, or find a new job.

Room for disagreement?

In light of Robinson's general views and voting record, it's unlikely that she will have a lot of disagreements with her new employer. That said, it will be helpful if she demonstrates and articulates her independence on policy matters. How those steps could be taken is problematic, but taking them is Robinson's challenge.

Perhaps the most obvious result of Robinson's hiring is that, due to state open-government laws, the chief executive of Argus won't be able to meet with other county commissioners. Obviously, Argus didn't view that handicap as a deal breaker.

Robinson will, however, be able to meet with elected officials from other governments, as well as with groups and individuals from the private sector. In those meetings, it will be important for her to clearly indicate whether she is representing Argus or acting as a county commissioner.

Whether or not fellow elected officials and members of the public will believe that Robinson is truly separating her Argus job from her duty as a commissioner -- elected to serve a wide variety of constituencies -- is uncertain. Clearly, though, reasonable and engaged members of the community who respect Robinson's work ethic and intellect have concerns about the real and perceived impacts of this arrangement on decision-making and debate; we do too.

Some of the criticism will come from familiar, strident voices who use any opportunity to bash elected officials who support the positions of business organizations.

But, based on off-the-record discussions with a sampling of community leaders, and the views expressed on our pages, we expect Robinson to face serious challenges over her dual roles. Questions will intensify if specific Argus members are likely to benefit, directly or indirectly, from a County Commission decision -- even though Robinson casts only one of five votes.

Presented civilly, these questions are fair. We trust that Robinson and Argus will work diligently to answer them fully and openly -- while taking care to recognize the potential for conflicts, whatever their nature, and the effects of this unique relationship.

Lyons: Argus duty a conflict of interest for commissioner? - Tom Lyons, Nov. 7 2014

Lyons: Argus duty a conflict of interest for commissioner? - Tom Lyons, Nov. 7 2014

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20141117/COLUMNIST/141119699/2416

The flagrant conflict of interest some see in Christine Robinson getting the executive director job at Argus while serving as a Sarasota County commissioner might be just imaginary.

Sure, Argus is a pro-business group of wealthy and influential wheeler dealers who formed the organization to collectively focus their political clout in the guise of a nonprofit, neutral, good-government watchdog organization.

Yes, many of the alleged government watchdog members are the kind mostly on alert for steaks they want tossed their way. Neutral they are not, I concede.

Soon after my arrival in Sarasota during the early 1990S, for instance, Argus started clamoring to dump the county administrator. Argus usually worked behind the scenes to push the views and interests of its big-shot members, who had each paid $5,000 just to join. But in 1993, Argus publicly spearheaded an effort to fire County Administrator John Wesley White.

White, it seems, had not always done exactly what developers wanted, though Argus didn't admit that was the problem. Instead, the Argus director wrote a letter that absurdly linked White to a list of evils that included “rising crime, disease, drugs and delinquency.”

In recent years, Argus championed and financed efforts to promote a strong-mayor system for Sarasota, which voters have repeatedly rejected. It has backed developer-demanded changes to the 2050 land use plan. And Argus has been involved in much more, often behind the scenes.

By the way, that 1993 effort to fire the county administrator failed. White remained in the job another four years.

But what if the executive director of Argus had been on the county commission then?

Save the Date, March 24, 2015, 1:30 PM, downtown SRQ - 1660 Ringling Boulevard, Sarasota, FL

On Tuesday, March 24th, 2015, at 1:30 p.m. in downtown Sarasota, 1660 Ringling Boulevard, Sarasota, FL, a diverse and non-partisan group of Sarasota taxpayers will shine a bright spotlight on the conflicts of interest and lack of integrity plaguing Sarasota County government.

This community-powered "bright light" will focus first on a Sarasota County Commissioner who is now simultaneously employed as the paid executive director of an influential local lobbying organization.

As one Sarasota County Commissioner and another former County Commissioner recently noted, the job of commissioner is far more than a full-time job, one saying it demands 60-80 hours/week.

We believe it is untenable and unseemly for a commissioner to be serving “two masters” in this brazen arrangement, and we also ask, which of the two masters is getting short shrift?

If you share our incredulity at this and other local examples of the misbehavior and blatant conflicts of interest that seem to be increasingly on display in our county government, then on March 24th, we will need an hour or two of your valuable time, in order that you can add your voice to our clarion call, when we will demand INTEGRITY in our county government!

Please plan to join us on March 24th, at 1:30 p.m., at a place to be announced, when we will debut our challenge to the developer-coddling politicians and the cynicism and disillusionment they foster in our community!

On this day, we will demand genuine "integrity" from our elected officials as well as the other public servants and county staff who work on our behalf. Please stay tuned for further information, which will be shared in the weeks ahead!

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Kind regards,
Your energized and motivated neighbors and friends.

 Please RSVP to our Facebook Event Page address or Sarasota Integrity 2016 and thank you in advance for your civic participation!

Call to Action - Petition calling for Robinson's Conflict of Interest

CLICK HERE TO CALL FOR
ROBINSON'S RESIGNATION

The obligation of a Sarasota County Commissioner to serve the public interest must not be compromised by competing responsibilities to a special interest group. We the signatories call upon Christine Robinson to step down as Argus Foundation Executive Director, or resign the Sarasota County Commission. It is an unacceptable conflict of interest to do both jobs at the same time. 

Mrs. Robinson cannot faithfully execute her duties to the public free from undue influence while she is also Executive Director of Argus. We call on Christine Robinson to do the right thing. Embrace sound ethical standards. Resolve this conflict of interest. Step down as Argus Foundation Executive Director, or resign the Sarasota County Commission. It is an unacceptable conflict of interest to do both.