Stormwater Discussion Panel at South Gate Oct. 4

1. Event: Stormwater Discussion Panel

              

2. Date: Saturday, 4 October 2025

3. Time: 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

4. Location: South Gate Community Center, 3145 South Gate Circle, Sarasota, FL 34239 (Capacity: 140)  

5. Stormwater Decision Makers Panel: 

     a. Sarasota County (SC) District 2, Commissioner Mark Smith,

          (1) South Gate is in Commissioner Smith's District 2.

          (2) Our SC District 4 Commissioner is Chair Joe Neunder.

     b. Director of Stormwater Department, Mr. Ben Quartermaine, and

     c. Watershed Management Consultant to Sarasota County, Mr. Stephen Suau.

6. Format:

     a. Each panelist will have 15 minutes to address their role, vision and/or plans for this critical topic.

     b. Following the 3 presentations, the audience will have the opportunity to submit questions via index cards which will be collected and shared with the panelists.

     c. Media will have time following the presentations to independently interview the panelists.

7. Hosted by: The Phillippi Creek Coalition (PCC), representing hundreds of homes and thousands of residents along Philippi Creek, comprised of:

     a. Forest Lakes HOA (with liaison to Pinecraft),

     b. South Gate Community Association, and

     c. Supporters of Action Now on Dredging (SAND - River Forest, Admiral Place, Phillippi Cove and Phillippi Gardens/Terra Bea/Monticello).

8. Invitees: We trust you can attend. Seating is limited. Come early!

     a. Residents of all PCC neighborhoods and

     b. Sarasota Citizens for Action Network (SCAN)

     c. Media

 

Phillippi Creek STORMWATER PANELISTS   Commissioner Mark Smith-District 2   Mark Smith was elected to the Sarasota County Commission in November 2022. Smith is a long-time Sarasota resident. Born in Detroit, he moved to Sarasota in 1963 and graduated from Riverview High School in 1973. Smith earned bachelor and master degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology before returning to Sarasota with his family in 1990. In 1994, he started his own architectural firm, Smith Architects, P.A.   Commissioner Smith has been a leader regarding stormwater issues at the Commission table and has played a major role in the establishment of the new Stormwater Department as well as the hiring of both Mr. Suau as Consultant and Mr. Quartermaine, as the new Director.     Director Stormwater Department-Mr. Ben Quartermaine, P.E.   A Sarasota native and lifelong Floridian who grew up on Phillippi Creek, Quartermaine credits the Creek as the place he learned to swim, fish, boat, waterski and scuba.    A professional engineer and former Sarasota County employee, he has worked for the past eight years as a stormwater project manager with the Stantec consulting firm in Sarasota.   Quartermaine brings nearly 30 years of experience in stormwater infrastructure and civil design across Florida to his role with the County. Including his position as lead engineer in the design of the Celery Field Regional Stormwater Facility, (CFRSF), Phase III.   His extensive technical knowledge and experience, as well his passion for water resource conservation and previous experience with the county, make him the clear candidate for resetting the Stormwater Department on a solid path.   Mr. Quartermaine assumed his position as Director of the County Stormwater Department, August 11, 2025.     Watershed Management Planning Consultant to the County-Mr. Stephen Suau, P.E.   Hydrologist, Soil Biologist at Carbon Life and professional engineer, Mr. Suau’s experience in watershed restoration, stormwater quality and floodplain management, spans decades.    He has been involved in all facets of civil engineering design permitting and implementation with both the private and public sectors. This includes having previously served as Executive Director of Sarasota County’s Planning and Development Services Business Center and Stormwater Program Director.   Following the design and installation of the Master Stormwater System for the Palmer Ranch, Mr. Suau oversaw Sarasota County’s initial floodplain modeling and mapping program between 1998 and 2001, as well as the implementation of the Celery Fields and Dona Bay projects.   Mr. Suau volunteered his expertise to investigate the 2024 flooding from Tropical Storm Debby and provided recommendations to Sarasota County. In the summer of 2025, Sarasota County hired Mr. Suau as an independent Consultant to advise the County with its creation of the newly established Stormwater Department, as well as assist with the transition from its previous location as a division under Public Works.

Questions about the event? Contact Dave Ochs: ochsdavidc@comcast.net

The White House melts down and attacks music legend Jack White after he insults Donald Trump's "disgusting" and "vulgar" redecoration of the White House

White House:

“Jack White is a washed-up, has-been loser posting drivel on social media because he clearly has ample time on his hands due to his stalled career,” claimed White House spokesman Steven Cheung.

“It’s apparent [White]’s been masquerading as a real artist, because he fails to appreciate, and quite frankly disrespects, the splendor and significance of the Oval Office inside of ‘The People’s House,'” Cheung added.

Jack’s response…

"Listen, I’m an artist and not a politician so I’m in no need to give my answer or opinion on anything if I’m not inspired or compelled, but how funny that it wasn’t me calling out trump’s blatant fascist manipulation of government, his gestapo ICE tactics, his racist remarks about Latinos, Native Americans, etc. his ridiculous 'wall' construction, his attacks on the disabled, his attempted coup and mob insurrection and destruction of the sacred halls of congress, his disparaging sexist and pedophilic remarks about women, his obvious attempts at distraction about being a close personal friend of Jeffrey Epstein and his inclusion in the Epstein files, his ignorance of the dying children in Sudan, Gaza, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, his lack of empathy for military veterans and those struggling with poverty, his attempts to dismantle healthcare, his obvious wimpy and pathetic kowtowing to the dictators Putin and Kim Jong Un, his nazi like rallies, his attempts to sell merchandise and products like Goya beans through the office of the President, his fake 'gunshot to the ear' that he showed no medical records or photographs of, his constant, constant, constant lying to the American people, etc. etc. etc."

"No, it wasn’t me calling out any of that, it was the f*cking DECOR OF THE OVAL OFFICE remarks I made that got them to respond with insults," he continued. "How petty and pathetic and thin skinned could this administration get? 'Masquerading as a real artist'? Thank you for giving me my tombstone engraving! Well here’s my opinion, trump is masquerading as a human being."

"He’s masquerading as a christian, as a leader, as a person with actual empathy," he wrote. "He’s been masquerading as a businessman for decades as nothing he’s involved in has prospered except by using other people’s money to find loophole

after loophole and grift after grift."

"His staff of professional liar toadies like Steven Cheung and Karoline Leavitt have been covering up and masking his fascism as patriotism and fomenting hatred and division in this country on a daily basis," White went on. "And I have 'ample time on (my) hands'? That orange grifter has spent more tax payer money cheating at golf than helping ANYONE in the country. Improve. Anything. There is no progress with him, only smoke and mirrors and tax breaks for the ultra wealthy."

"So maga folk, enjoy your concrete paving over of the rose garden, your 200 million dollar ballroom in the White House, and your gaudy ass gold spray painted trinkets from Home Depot, cause he ain’t spending any money on helping YOU unless you fit into his white supremacist country club rich idiot agenda,"

"Wow, he hates who you hate....good for you, be proud of yourselves, how christian of you all,"

"The only way you can support this conman is because you are a victim of the 2 party system and you 'defend your guy no matter what he does.'" he wrote. "No intelligent person can defend this low life fascist. This bankruptor of casinos. This failed seller of trump steaks, trump vodka, trump water, etc."

"This man and his goon squad have failed upwards for decades and have fleeced the American people over and over," wrote White. "This professional golf cheat, this grifter who has hundreds of thousands of deaths from his inaction of the pandemic on his hands, this man that the majority of the country somehow were fooled into supporting and voting into office (through the flawed electoral college) and their love of reality

television stars."

"Being insulted by the actual White House that this particular conman leads is a badge of honor to me, because anyone who trump supports and likes is a villain who gives nothing to their fellow man, only takes what can benefit themselves,"

"And no I’m not a Democrat either, I’m a human being raised in Detroit, I’m an artist who’s owned his own businesses like his own upholstery shop and recording label since he was 21 years old who has enough street sense to know when a 3 card monte dealer is a cheap grifter and a thief,"

"I was raised to believe that we defeated fascism in World War II and that we would never allow it again in the world. I don't always state publicly my political opinions, and like anyone I don't always know all of the facts, but when it comes to this man and this administration I'm not going to be like one of the silent minority of 1930's Germany. This man is a danger to not just America but the entire world and that's not an exaggeration, he's dismantling democracy and endangering the planet on a daily basis, and we. all. know. it. -JW

'To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.' - Theodore Roosevelt"

Unprepared: We need a change of administrative culture in Sarasota

Sarasota County officials downplayed flood risk. Tropical Storm Debby exposed their failures Florida Trident

Laurel Meadows after Debbie 2024

Blame game begins after feds deny Sarasota County emergency dredging of Phillippi Creek Herald Tribune

Homeowner in Laurel Meadows 

Confusion arises after Phillippi Creek residents learn county administrator said Army Corps of Engineers denied emergency permit for dredging Sarasota News Leader

PHILLIPPI Creek

No emergency permit: Dredging of Phillippi Creek to wait another hurricane season  Florida Trident

Berm at Cow Pen Slough

Stop Kicking the Can Down the Road on Flooding

This piece was submitted anonymously:

Sarasota County has a flooding problem. We’ve all seen it—streets underwater, homes threatened, and storm after storm making it clear that our drainage systems aren’t keeping up. County leaders know it too, which is why they brought in a stormwater expert, Stephen M. Suau, to take an independent look at the issue. His advice? Stop approving rezonings that increase housing density in 100-year floodplains unless there’s solid proof the development won’t make flooding worse.

Sounds like common sense, right? But here’s the problem: The county keeps allowing developers to put off proving that their projects won’t create flood issues until after the zoning has already been approved. This backward approach has led to developments that don’t take flood risks seriously until it’s too late.

And now, we have another test of whether the county will finally listen to reason. On February 12, commissioners will vote on a request to rezone 50 acres on Raymond Road, right next to the Celery Fields Regional Stormwater Facility. Under its current zoning, only five homes can be built there. If the rezoning is approved, that number jumps to 170 homes—in an area where 64% of the land sits in a 100-year floodplain.

Let that sink in. More than half the property is in a known flood zone, and yet, instead of requiring the developer to prove—before approval—that this won’t cause flooding problems, the county is poised to say yes now and worry later.

This is exactly what needs to change. If a developer wants to build in a flood-prone area, they should have to prove up front that their project won’t make things worse for surrounding properties. That’s not some radical new policy—it’s already in the county’s land development regulations. But time and again, the commission has allowed developers to defer that key flood analysis until after the increased density has been granted.

We don’t need to look far to see why this is a bad idea. Just last year, major flooding hit Sarasota, and media reports confirmed what flood maps have long shown—this area is vulnerable. The county’s own Planning Commission already voted against this rezoning, with Commissioner Donna Carter stating bluntly, “I don’t think that is a buildable property.” She even suggested the county buy the land and add it to the Celery Fields instead.

So here’s the bottom line: If Sarasota County is serious about stopping development-driven flooding, they must deny this rezoning. If the developer truly believes they can build without creating new flooding problems, then they should prove it first—not after getting approval.

Enough with kicking the can down the road. It’s time for Sarasota’s leaders to enforce their own rules and put flood safety before developer profits. On February 12, we’ll find out if they’re willing to do that.