Questions for Teresa

Sarasota voters deserve answers

District 1 County Commission candidate Teresa Mast may be the first candidate running for the Sarasota County Commission who has never appeared at a candidate forum.

Neil Rainford, like Mast, has the financial backing of developers Randy Benderson, Rex Jensen, Carlos Beruff and Pat Neal. Unlike Mast, Rainford has appeared at ONE candidate debate forum: South County Tiger Bay.

But Mast has refused to appear at ANY candidate forum. Is Mast afraid to debate her opponent, Alexandra Coe? Does Mast think her huge campaign balance and developer PAC support mean she doesn’t have to appear at candidate forums? Or, perhaps Mast doesn’t want to answer questions from constituents or the press?

There are important questions Mast would face if she subjected herself to questions at a candidate forum or in an interview. No doubt there would be questions about:

• Mast’s record as a Planning Commissioner

• How Mast’s race with Coe became a closed primary

• Mast and husband Jon’s roles with Suncoast Builders Association

• Jon Mast’s service on the board of Florida Pace Funding Agency

• The whistleblower complaint alleging Sunshine violations and improper influence aimed to get Jon Mast hired as Manatee County Deputy County Administrator

So much to talk about!

Hmm. Let’s start with the whistleblower complaint.

A whistleblower complaint was filed last year, on June 15th, by the Interim Manatee County Administrator, Lee Washington. In his complaint. Washington describes being summoned to a lunch meeting with Manatee County Commissioners Vanessa Baugh and Mike Rahn.

Washington alleged that at the March 1, 2023 meeting, Commissioners Baugh and Rahn advocated for Washington to hire Jon Mast as a Deputy County Administrator. Jon Mast was also present at the meeting.

County Commissioners, like City Commissioners, have no authority to individually direct staff management or hiring decisions. County Commissioners are also not supposed to discuss County business outside of noticed meetings, as per Florida’s Government in the Sunshine (transparency) laws.

Subsequent to the March 1, 2023 meeting, Mr. Washington posted the opening for a Deputy County Administrator. He initially declined Commissioner Vanessa Baugh’s and Commissioner Mike Rahn’s demands that applications for the job opening be sent to them. However, Washington described in his complaint that he “saw the writing on the wall” and eventually sent the applications to these Commissioners. Baugh and Rahn were applying significant pressure on Washington and he understood his job might be at risk. Indeed, according to Washington’s complaint, Baugh informed him on April 11th, before a Manatee County Commission meeting, that "someone" would be making a motion for him to be relieved of duty and asked him to resign so a public vote of the Commission about his employment could be avoided. Washington declined, saying the Commission would have to vote to remove him. There was no motion to remove him that day, but at the April 18, 2023 Commission meeting, Commissioner Mike Rahn moved for the County to negotiate to hire Jon Mast to replace Lee Washington as interim County Administrator (and have him return to his former position as Director of Community and Veterans Services).

Jon Mast was later offered the interim Manatee County Administrator position ($195,000 salary) and declined.

Vanessa Baugh announced her resignation from her position as Manatee County Commissioner in mid June 2023, effective on July 31, 2023. She had 1.5 years left in her term. She said she was resigning due to family concerns. Lee Washington chose to retire and withdrew his whistleblower complaint on August 3, 2023. The Manatee County Attorney offered that County Commissioner malfeasance was not subject to whistleblower complaints. In September 2023 the Sarasota Herald Tribune reported that Lee Washington’s whistleblower complaint went uninvestigated.

Why were Vanessa Baugh and Mike Rahn in such a hot hurry to hire Jon Mast?

Lee Washington wrote in his whistleblower complaint "I was advised that the county could benefit from my 'finding a way to bring him [Jon Mast] onboard' to help the county move forward with the land development code, comprehensive plan, and other duties that the county is trying to get accomplished"

Why would Jon Mast be helpful in moving Manatee County "forward” with their land use regulations?

In March 2023, The Bradenton Times investigative reporting found that recommendations for substantial changes to Manatee County development and land use regulations originated with a white paper from the Manatee-Sarasota Building Industry Association (BIA) now known as the Suncoast Builders Association (SBA). SBA/formerly BIA is a development/builder lobbying group. The SBA/BIA recommendations culminated in Manatee County’s wetland buffer protections standards being cut by the Manatee County Commission in October 2023 in 5-1 vote, despite public outcry against weakening wetlands protections. Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse was the sole dissenting Commissioner.

How connected are SBA/BIA officers with the Manatee County Commission?

• Manatee County Commissioner Mike Rahn is Life Director of SBA/formerly BIA

• Manatee County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh’s husband, Don Baugh, serves on the Board of SBA/formerly BIA

• Sarasota County Commission Candidate Teresa Mast also serves on the Board of Directors of SBA/formerly BIA

• Jon Mast is the CEO of the SBA/formerly BIA
  
  Other connections between the Suncoast Builders Association and the Manatee County Commission exist. David Ballard, a staff member of the local BIA/SBA served as the organization’s Government Affairs and Membership Director. It’s unclear if Mr. Ballard still works for SBA, but he did in 2022 when his wife, Amanda Ballard, was elected to the District 2 Manatee County Commission Seat in 2022.
  
  When you are a development lobbyist, it must be pretty convenient to have your spouse sit on the County Commission.
  

The Manatee-Sarasota Building Industry Association (BIA) changed it’s name to the Suncoast Builders Association (SBA) in January 2024. The articles reporting on the whistleblower complaint all refer to the Manatee-Sarasota Building Industry Association (BIA), but let’s be clear that the SBA and BIA are the same entity. Could it be that all that negative press spurred BIA to rebrand themselves as SBA? Could be.

So what does all this have to do with Teresa Mast?

Sarasota voters may want to question Teresa Mast about her husband’s role in rolling back wetlands protections in Manatee County, as he is the CEO of SBA/BIA, the group that provided Manatee County with their white paper template of how to weaken wetland buffers. Sarasotans might also be interested in hearing from Mast herself about her views on whether she or her husband Jon could really serve the public interest when they are both board members of a development lobbying organization. Wouldn’t that connection (whether she resigns from SBA or not) present an important conflict of interest which could impact her ability to be objective about development approvals? Would she ever be able to say no to a development application? Or would Teresa Mast work with her husband and friends at SBA/BIA to weaken Sarasota County’s land use regulations (like wetlands protections), just like her husband Jon Mast did with Manatee County?

Sarasotans are reeling from the flooding we are experiencing from Tropical Storm Debby. Many residents are concerned that overdevelopment is reducing the ability of Sarasota lands to handle heavy rains. Those pesky wetland protections protect peoples’ lives and property. Such protections ensure that wetlands are able to perform a critical function: flood prevention.

If Teresa Mast were to show up at candidate forums, she could expect questions about that whistleblower complaint involving her husband. She could expect questions about SBA/BIA’s ultimately successful effort to cut Manatee County wetlands protections. Perhaps she’d rather not deal with those questions. Perhaps her political strategist, Anthony Pedicini, is advising her to sit tight. Whatever her reason, Teresa Mast’s refusal to participate in public forums certainly does provide her the opportunity to dodge these questions. The fact remains Sarasota voters have reason to question Mast’s intentions. Who will she represent?

Coming: More Questions for Teresa - Mega Hotels on Siesta Key