Weekly Newsletter

Friday, May 2, 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:

Developers gained government status, then got bonds to build big

Across the Suncoast, developers have quietly formed their own local governments — nearly 90 in Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties alone — to finance massive housing projects using tax-exempt municipal bonds.

These special districts, often controlled by the developers and their proxies, allow private companies to raise public money, build roads and sewers and pass the costs on to homebuyers through annual assessments. But while the neighborhoods might boast pristine landscaping and posh amenities, the consequences of this system are far-reaching — including runaway growth, opaque governance and financial risk for residents, a Suncoast Searchlight investigation found.

With limited oversight, developers have used these districts to float billions in bonds — nine times more spending power than the city of Sarasota — while for years retaining majority control of the boards that decide how to use the money.

In some cases, districts have financed extravagant projects like a beach-style swimming lagoon or even a baseball stadium for the Atlanta Braves. Yet if the housing market sours or a project fails, it’s the homeowners — not the builders — who are left footing the bill. During the Great Recession, dozens of local districts collapsed under the weight of unpaid bond debt.

Now, experts warn, the system could buckle again.

NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

Ex-commissioner wants city of Sarasota to cover legal fees after ethics complaints

Former Sarasota City Commissioner Erik Arroyo is asking the city to reimburse more than $10,000 in legal fees he spent fighting ethics complaints that had not previously been reported.

Three local residents filed complaints early last year with the Florida Commission on Ethics, accusing Arroyo of using his elected position to promote a proposed project without disclosing his business ties to it.

The complaints stemmed from a February 2024 commission meeting where local businessman Jeff Koffman presented a proposal to turn Ken Thompson Park into a Park Golf course. Arroyo had requested the proposal be added to the agenda and, after the presentation, voted to send it to a city advisory board.

One month later, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported that Arroyo had business connections to a company affiliated with Koffman’s Park Golf business — ties he did not disclose before the presentation or before he voted.

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:

Officials reduced the number of Sarasota County School Board meetings from two to one per month. Is this normal?

Can you get a ticket for walking along beaches that homeowners say are private?

Can you get arrested for ‘dumping trash’ in Sarasota?

Is it legal for Florida colleges to host a speaker charged with rape?

HERE'S WHAT ELSE WE RECOMMEND READING THIS WEEK

'VOTERS DESERVE MORE.' MANATEE COMMISSIONER EYED FEDERAL JOB AFTER ELECTION WIN

FROM BRADENTON HERALD

A newly elected Manatee County commissioner sought a job in President Donald Trump’s administration shortly after his own Election Day victory. Commissioner Bob McCann applied for one of the most prestigious and high-ranking jobs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. His application followed news that Trump captured the presidency — and that McCann would serve his own four-year term on the Manatee County Commission. McCann had not publicly announced his interest in that job, which, if he were appointed, would almost certainly require his resignation from the board. He confirmed his application in response to a series of public record requests by the Bradenton Herald.

READ THE STORY HERE

SARASOTA POLICE OFFICER LEAPS ABOARD SPEEDING RUNAWAY BOAT

FROM THE OBSERVER

Sarasota Police worked with several other agencies and a commercial marine salvage service to bring under control a powerboat with no one aboard in Sarasota Bay on Monday. The incident on the water finally came to a close around 1 p.m. when a Sarasota Police marine patrol officer jumped from his boat into the circling 26-foot fishing craft, the operator of which had fallen overboard. The officer was not injured and the boat operator, who was not wearing a life jacket, sustained minor injuries in his fall into the water.

READ THE STORY HERE

'I WANT ANSWERS,' FATHER OF BOOKER HIGH SCHOOL TEEN THAT DIED WANTS TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED

FROM ABC7

​On April 25, Cristian Lopez Sales was on the field during P.E class at Booker High School when something bad happened. The School Board’s Superintendent told ABC7 the 16-year-old student suffered a medical emergency and was taken to the hospital where he later died. His father, Juan Mendez Guzman, said he had gotten a call saying they needed to go to the school because something happened. Once they arrived at the school, Sales’ mother went with her son to the emergency room, while Guzman ran home to assist their other child. Then Guzman’s wife called saying their son had died in the hospital. Guzman said the doctors did not know what caused the medical emergency but that they would call the family on Monday with answers from their autopsy.

READ THE STORY HERE

HEROES' VILLAGE IS THE CITY OF SARSOTA'S FIRST AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT DEDICATED ENTIRELY TO VETERANS

FROM SARASOTA MAGAZINE

At 1539 25th St. in North Sarasota, 10 veterans will now have a place to call home. On Wednesday, April 30, a ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the official opening of Heroes’ Village — the first affordable housing complex in the city dedicated entirely to veterans. The national anthem, sung by Jazzmin Carson of Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, rang out before a crowd of roughly 80 people, including officials from Gulf Coast Community Foundation, St. Vincent de Paul Cares, veterans, donors and city leaders. Each of the 10 two-bedroom units is permanent housing, not transitional, and tenants will pay no more than 30 percent of their income on rent—the federal benchmark for affordability. Residents are eligible to rent indefinitely, with the goal being stability and independence. The first residents will move in in June.

READ THE STORY HERE

WHAT CAUSED 700-ACRE FIRE AT MYAKKA RIVER STATE PARK? WHAT OFFICIALS SAY.

FROM BRADENTON HERALD

A viral social media post of a fire at Myakka River State Park is raising questions about why a prescribed burn happened during drought conditions. State agencies told the Herald that after park staff completed a controlled burn last week, a wildfire sparked the next day and flared out of control, burning over 700 acres. Manatee and Sarasota counties are under burn ban advisories. And both counties have moderate and severe drought conditions, according to the National Weather Service.

READ THE STORY HERE

NEW ADVOCATES URGE TO 'STOP THE ATTACK ON OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS'

FROM WSLR

Some 80 people early Saturday were at the Unitarian Universalists of Sarasota sanctuary to participate in a forum on privatization and other issues affecting public schools. The event, titled “Stop the Attack on Our Public Schools,” was co-sponsored by local advocacy group Support Our Schools and the Unitarian Universalist Justice Committee. Issues ranged from school vouchers to protecting special education, supporting school teachers and privatization policy. The event also offered opportunities on how to become active in protecting public education locally and statewide.

READ THE STORY HERE

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DID YOU MISS LAST WEEK'S NEWSLETTER?

HERE'S WHAT WE SHARED:

Delayed ID, missed arrest, downgraded charge: How Piccolo avoided jail for months

Fred Piccolo Jr., the former New College communications director accused multiple times of indecent exposure, avoided arrest for months due to identification delays, a missed opportunity by a deputy to act on arrest authority and the prosecutor’s decision to downgrade a recommended felony charge.

Records and interviews shed new light on how the case unfolded — offering a fuller picture of what law enforcement knew, when they knew it and how decisions by deputies and the state attorney shaped the response.

Gran Paradiso battle reveals how developers control Florida’s fastest-growing communities

In one of Sarasota County’s most manicured neighborhoods, a bitter dispute over irrigation water has laid bare the power of Florida’s developer-controlled governments.

What began as a fight over a 100-year contract that doubled residents’ water fees has escalated into a legal and political standoff between residents and the West Villages Improvement District that oversees their community. It's a fight that could cost homeowners their landscaping, drain their wallets and fracture their neighborhood.

What’s happening in Gran Paradiso isn’t just a neighborhood dispute over water; it’s a window into who holds the power in Florida’s fastest-growing communities and what happens when the homeowners organize to push back.

Mental health funding grew 157% since Parkland, but Suncoast schools still stretched

Seven years ago, Florida lawmakers responded to the deadly school shooting in Parkland with a pledge: more money for student mental health. Since then, the state’s Mental Health Assistance Allocation has more than doubled, sending over $175 million to school districts this academic year alone.

But school officials say the rising need is outpacing resources.





New College’s background check missed 3 exposure charges before hiring Piccolo

When New College of Florida hired Fredrick Piccolo Jr. as communications director in December, he had already been charged three times with indecent exposure — a criminal history that the school’s background check failed to uncover, records obtained by Suncoast Searchlight and WUSF show.

The background check, run on Jan. 8 through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Criminal History Services, came back clean, stating there were “no relevant criminal records.” 

But public records show that Piccolo had been charged three separate times with first-degree misdemeanors for “exposure of sexual organs.” 



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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.

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