Weekly Newsletter

Friday, May 23, 2025

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We’re here to keep you informed on the local issues that matter most. Each week, we share our latest in-depth reporting, along with the most important stories from around the region, so you stay connected and up to date with what’s happening in your community.

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NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

Power and Profit: How special district bonds divided a Sarasota-area neighborhood

A Sarasota-area community’s effort to save its golf course by forming a special-purpose government district and issuing $24 million in public bonds has devolved into a bitter, years-long feud over cost, governance and transparency.

While some University Park residents saw the recreation district as a way to preserve their neighborhood and gain independence from the developer, others now claim they were misled into overpaying and burdened with soaring fees — sparking lawsuits, a second $21 million bond and a pending appeal before the Florida Supreme Court.

What began as a grassroots effort to take control of local amenities has raised broader questions about how these little-known districts operate. Critics argue that the governing board ignored key financial safeguards, violated bond agreements and kept residents in the dark while pushing through expensive renovations and long-term debt.

The story also reveals deeper concerns about the use — and potential misuse — of special-purpose government districts, which have spread rapidly across the Suncoast as tools for developers and homeowners alike.



This is the latest installment in Suncoast Searchlight’s ongoing investigation into special districts, which have issued nearly $3 billion in bonds across Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties in just the past five years. We’re examining how these obscure public entities shape communities — and who’s left footing the bill.

NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

State attorney upgrades two charges against Fred Piccolo Jr. to felonies

Fred Piccolo Jr., the former communications director at New College of Florida and longtime political operative, now faces two additional felony charges of indecent exposure — this time in Sarasota County — after State Attorney Ed Brodsky upgraded the charges from misdemeanors.

The new felony counts stem from two incidents in September 2024 at the University Town Center Mall, where Piccolo allegedly exposed himself to female store employees on multiple occasions. Initially charged as misdemeanors, the offenses were reclassified due to their repeat nature. Under Florida law, a second or subsequent exposure offense can be treated as a felony.

The upgraded charges were filed on Tuesday, court records show, and an arrest warrant was issued for Piccolo’s arrest on the new charges. Piccolo was arrested by the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday. He was still in custody as of Thursday morning.

The charges are separate from two felony charges Piccolo already faces in Manatee County, where he was arrested in April after allegedly exposing himself to a woman in Lakewood Ranch while naked from the waist down and a second incident near New College. Both incidents occurred in March 2025 and led to his firing from New College.

NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

FACT BRIEFS

Suncoast Searchlight is partnering with Gigafact to produce weekly fact briefs — concise, 150-word news stories that take real claims circulating online and fact check them. Each brief offers a direct “yes” or “no” answer to the question or claim, followed by a clear explanation backed up by credible, high-quality sources.

READ THIS WEEK'S FACT BRIEFS:

Is it against Florida law to drive a car with a license plate frame that covers part of the plate?

Is Florida’s legislative support of private schools hurting public school funding?

HERE'S WHAT ELSE WE RECOMMEND READING THIS WEEK

USF LEADERSHIP DRAFTED BILL TO GIVE SARASOTA CAMPUS TO NEW COLLEGE, EMAILS SHOW

FROM WUSF

University of South Florida leaders quietly drafted a plan to hand over their Sarasota-Manatee campus to neighboring New College, even as they worked behind the scenes to keep the public in the dark, internal emails show. The records, obtained Thursday by WUSF, reveal a level of involvement far deeper than previously acknowledged — and a coordinated effort to keep it under wraps as takeover rumors began to spread. Among the emails is an exchange from February about a draft bill USF officials prepared detailing the transfer of the 32-acre Sarasota-Manatee campus and its facilities — including newly built dormitory buildings that opened to students last year — to New College. The deal would have required New College to immediately assume debt for those facilities, which were reported to cost $43.9 million in August.

READ THE STORY HERE

NEW COLLEGE ALUMNI THREATEN TO SUE FOR CLARITY ON DONATIONS

FROM THE TAMPA BAY TIMES

Four former board members of the New College Foundation threatened to sue the school’s leadership Thursday, alleging that it inappropriately used donor money to pay for the school’s athletic program and President Richard Corcoran’s nearly $700,000 salary. The draft complaint, emailed to New College leadership, alleges that Corcoran and foundation head Sydney Gruters may have used more than $1 million in foundation funds against the wishes of the original donors to pay for the school’s growing financial reliance on its endowment. The New College Foundation is a direct support organization, a separate legal entity from the school that collects and distributes donations on behalf of New College.

READ THE STORY HERE

SARASOTA METRO HAS HIGHEST HOME OWNERSHIP RATE IN THE COUNTRY

FROM THE OBSERVER

Despite its affordable housing challenges, a study by financial services website SmartAsset ranks the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota metropolitan statistical area as No. 1 among all metros in the country, regardless of size, in percentage of residents who own their homes. SmartAsset ranked 75 U.S. metro areas based on the rate of homeownership to better understand where residents intend to stay and invest. North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota joined Rochester, New York as the only metros across the U.S. with an ownership rate higher than 80% among all its residents in the first quarter of 2025, at 82.3% and 81.9%, respectively. This while the local metro ownership rate fell 0.9% from the first quarter of 2024 as Rochester gained 6.4% over the same period.

READ THE STORY HERE

MOTE MARINE PROGRAM RELEASES 28,000 SNOOK

FROM ABC7

Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium is on an eight-day mission, releasing 28,000 juvenile snook in strategic estuaries across Sarasota County. It is the largest single snook release in the history of its fisheries enhancement program, the organization said. This release more than doubles the program’s previous record of about 12,000 fish, achieved through multiple spawning events. This time, nearly 35,000 snook were produced from a single spawn. Since 1997, Mote scientists have worked to develop, refine and evaluate stock enhancement strategies for snook and other native sportfish species, Mote said in a news release.

READ/WATCH THE STORY HERE

MANATEE SCHOOL BOARD FIRES SUPERINTENDENT JASON WYSONG OVER LEADERSHIP CONCERNS

FROM THE BRADENTON HERALD

The Manatee County School Board voted Tuesday to remove its superintendent, splitting over concerns about the school district leader’s communication and leadership skills. The board voted 3-2 to terminate Superintendent Jason Wysong’s contract without cause. While his tenure ended without a stated violation or policy breach, board members pointed to a loss of confidence in his leadership, with some citing long-standing issues and internal frustration. “This has absolutely nothing to do with politics or ideology,” School Board Member Charlie Kennedy said. “It just has to do, for me, with my feelings about job performance.” Other Manatee County School Board officials urged their colleagues to slow down and suggested alternatives to firing Wysong, such as group leadership training.

READ THE STORY HERE

ONLINE NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS AT RISK IN SARASOTA COUNTY

FROM THE VENICE GONDOLIER

Virtual neighborhood meetings on comprehensive plan amendments, rezonings and special exceptions could soon be a thing of the past in Sarasota County. The county requires at least one neighborhood meeting be held by the applicant for any of those land-use items.Planning and Development Services Director Matt Osterhoudt asked the County Commission on Tuesday whether the option to hold a virtual meeting instead of an in-person one should continue. The option began as a temporary measure when COVID-19 created difficulties with holding in-person meetings, he said, though staff had already noted problems in finding willing venues of the necessary size within the required 2-mile radius. It was so popular that the temporary fix became permanent, he said.

​READ THE STORY HERE

MANATEE COUNTY JUST AGREED TO BUY PART OF AN ISLAND. HERE'S WHY

FROM THE BRADENTON HERALD

Manatee County leaders voted this week to expand a local nature preserve with the purchase of 13 acres of island property near the mouth of the Braden River. The $41,500 land buy will add a missing piece to the county’s 85-acre Pine Island Preserve, just south of State Road 64 and the Manatee River. It will be funded by Manatee County’s conservation tax that voters approved in 2020. The Environmental Lands Management and Acquisition Committee, a volunteer group that helps the county identify potential conservation lands, recommended the property for purchase last year. Made up of sandy pine forest fringed by thickets of mangroves, county staff say the island provides water quality benefits and shelters native wildlife, including nesting and migrating birds.

READ THE STORY HERE

USF PROFESSORS ALARMED BY DOGE'S REVIEW OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH

FROM THE ORACLE

David Allsopp said he knew the Florida State Department of Governmental Efficiency was looking for “inefficiencies” across higher education institutions ever since its creation in February. However, as a professor who has conducted research at USF for 24 years, Allsopp was “surprised” to learn the Florida DOGE team would analyze research done by university staff. “I don’t know what they think they’re going to find,” said Allsopp, a professor in the College of Education. “I think there’s this notion that we’re just coming up with stuff that’s woke and imposing it on people, when that’s not the case, and it never has been.” Some USF professors and researchers said they are concerned about DOGE’s request for research records due to the uncertainty around how the information will be reviewed.

READ THE STORY HERE

DID YOU MISS LAST WEEK'S NEWSLETTER?

HERE'S WHAT WE SHARED:

NOAA cuts could harm Southwest Florida fishing economy, threaten red tide research

Sweeping cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could imperil Florida’s multibillion-dollar fishing industry and coastal economy, industry leaders and scientists warn — a dire prospect for a region built on tourism, seafood and the health of its waters.

Beyond running the national weather monitoring and alert systems — its most visible role — NOAA also works to prevent overfishing, monitor the coastal environment and support local ocean research. 

For Florida’s Gulf Coast, that means researching red tide, addressing habitat loss and restoring overfished species. Since 2020 alone, NOAA has supported these efforts with more than $35 million in grants and contracts for Suncoast governments and nonprofits, including Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota.

But after U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, more than 2,000 employees have left NOAA. And internal documents show plans for deep funding cuts — including slashing coastal conservation programs in half, shutting down climate research, and gutting the budget for fisheries management.

Challenging new development in Sarasota? Be ready to spend a small fortune

Challenging a development in Sarasota doesn’t just take time — it takes money.

For more than two years, residents of Bay Plaza have tried to stop or reshape the Obsidian, a proposed 18-story condo tower that would become the tallest building in downtown Sarasota.

They’ve hired attorneys, enlisted experts and poured more than $100,000 into the fight — a number that would be closer to half a million if not for help from neighbors with professional experience.

And they’re not alone. Across Sarasota County, residents trying to challenge large development projects have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars just to get their concerns formally considered — often with no guarantee of success.

Now, as Bay Plaza’s fight reaches the Sarasota City Commission, the cost of being heard is once again front and center.

Nearly half of Suncoast families can't afford the basics, new report finds

Across the Suncoast, almost half of all households struggle to make ends meet, according to a new report by the United Way Suncoast and its research partner United for ALICE.

The report, released Monday, evaluated the basic household budget required for different types of families to sustain themselves in their respective county. Researchers calculated the minimum income to meet that budget — known as the ALICE threshold, which stands for asset limited, income constrained, employed.

The ALICE concept reflects a reality that, while 10% of households in DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota counties fall below the federal poverty level, an additional third of households aren’t earning enough to afford the essentials.

READ THE STORY TO EXPLORE OUR INTERACTIVE DATA CHARTS

Florida officials warn: Buyer beware as developer districts spread across the Suncoast

Buyer beware: That’s the warning from Florida officials as special development districts continue spreading across the Suncoast. A recent Suncoast Searchlight investigation found that developers are forming their own government entities, borrowing billions in public bonds to build infrastructure — and leaving future homeowners to pay it back.

Over the past five years, nearly $3 billion in bonds have been issued by these districts to fund new neighborhoods from Parrish to North Port. But unlike traditional governments, most of these boards remain under developer control for years, with residents having little say over spending or decision-making.



State and local officials told Suncoast Searchlight the system is easy to abuse — and they wouldn’t choose to live in one themselves. But few are pushing for reforms, leaving homeowners with rising fees and limited recourse outside of costly legal fights.



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Suncoast Searchlight is a 501c3 nonprofit news organization whose mission is to produce investigative and explanatory journalism that serves and empowers the residents of Florida’s Suncoast region (Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties). We shine a light on critical issues affecting our community. Through independent reporting and collaboration with diverse media partners, we foster transparency, accountability and an informed citizenry, ensuring that all voices are heard and that the public has access to the information they need to drive meaningful change.

CONTACT US:

Suncoast Searchlight

PO Box 99 Sarasota, FL 34230

(941) 724-4450