Ian Money should not go to house builders

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Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons: North Harbor after Hurricane Ian.

It’s amazing how even when the government operates in the sunshine, certain things can stay under the radar, like what happened to federal funds after Hurricane Ian.

If you remember September 2022, when Hurricane Ian hit our beautiful community, it was a South County event. North Port was hit by terrible flooding. As with all disasters, federal, state and local governments worked together to bring resources to the area to limit damage and assist in recovery. Sarasota County received $201.5 million and divided the money into different areas.

An interesting addition from Commissioner Mike Moran was the allocation of $15 million for workforce development and training. It left you scratching your head because two years after the storm, one would have expected those displaced to be back at their previous jobs or in a new job.

Fast forward and suddenly we understand Commissioner Moran’s motivation. The same Commissioner Moran who runs the PACE program and spends a lot of money on benefits for himself and his friends, including Jon Mast, executive director of the Suncoast Builders Association. The Herald-Tribune reported on these exploits. Mast is a member of the PACE program board and Moran’s PACE office is located in the Suncoast Builders Association offices. This cozy relationship most likely sparked the idea of ​​including money for workforce training in hurricane recovery.

For a time, Suncoast Builders wanted Sarasota County and the school board to donate the Florida House to them as office space. When that plan was thwarted, Suncoast Builders formed a nonprofit arm so they qualified for those county funds.

When proposals for using $15 million in manpower were presented to county commissioners, there were three submissions. The entry in first place was hardly discussed and had no chance. Request No. 2 came from the Sarasota County School Board for $7.5 million to support ongoing education at the technical college. The No. 3 of 3 proposal came from the Building Industry Institute, also known as the Suncoast Builders Association, for $13.1 million. Commissioners Moran and Neil Rainford wanted to grant the developers their full request from the start. Fortunately, the school board was awarded the requested $7.5 million and the Home Builders received the remaining $7.5 million (on a 3-2 vote, with Commissioners Joe Neunder and Ron Cutsinger doing the right thing by voting NO ). Now hurricane relief funds will go toward building new Home Builders offices in Sarasota and provide the CEO with a salary of $200,000. Somewhere in there they propose training for members’ businesses at taxpayer expense.

The school district submitted only $7.5 million after being told the funds would have to be shared with other entities. The project to expand North Port Technical College to support workforce training is about $21 million, so the district can certainly put the entire $15 million to good use quickly.

Sarasota County commissioners will meet Oct. 22 and 23, when Suncoast Builders will ask the county to “hold” the $7.5 million until February 2026 to give them the opportunity to raise additional funds . Granting this money was outrageous enough, but it is outrageous to be allowed to withhold this money from the community for another year and a half.

This decision needs to be reconsidered. The $7.5 million originally donated to the Home Builders must be given to the school district to support efforts at North Port Technical College, where the storm struck and most of the damage occurred. Let’s be honest about these means and not continue to support nepotism that deprives affected citizens of funds.

Jane Goodwin is a Venice resident and retired member of the Sarasota County School Board.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons: North Harbor after Hurricane Ian.