Barwin Selected As New Sarasota City Manager

Sarasota finally has selected its new city manager. Now it's up to Thomas Barwin to say yes.

Barwin was selected 5-0 by the city commission Monday afternoon to be the city's new manager.

"We are elated and can't wait to join the community and get to work!" Barwin told Patch via email. 

Mayor Suzanne Atwell said Barwin has "extraordinary temperament, a calming influence."

"He looks beyond himself, but he's still savvy," she said.

Barwin was a , but told Patch he pulled out of that application process because "it wasn't a good fit."

, Oak Park-River Forest Patch reports, and without reason. Barwin told the commission the village's Board of Trustees had a heavy turnover during six years — 18 new members — and that the only two members to survive those elections had told him the trustees were not happy with his performance.

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While Barwin was manager of Oak Park, he updated his own Tumblr blog,Mission on Main Street. 

Commissioner Terry Turner selected Barwin because he worked in a city that is a similar size as Sarasota, has similar architectural values and Oak Park also has "unfortunately the level of political discord" that Sarasota has.

Commissioner Shannon Snyder said he disagreed with Barwin's projects that appeared to expand government, but he conceded some of those might have been commission-driven in Oak Park. Snyder still supported Barwin calling him a "descent, honorable man."

The Dramatic Journey

The journey to this selection hasn't been without intrigue. 

The manager replaces Robert Bartolotta, who resigned in January amid accusations that he spied on employees' e-mail, but no formal charges have been filed. Interim City Manager Terry Lewis was called as he was in his last week as interim county administrator to take the temporary post, despite criticism that Deputy City Manager Marlon Brown should have been considered, but he has been marred in the controversy to a degree early on. 

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Lewis decided to stick with the city commission as they paired down candidates to four, with one dropping out, but the commission couldn't agree on whom to select and initially wanted to perform a new search. Lewis told the commission that he would retire Aug. 4, leaving the commission to figure out who would be acting city manager, but instead of choosing an acting city manager, the commission decided to reconsider its finalists instead of forming a new search.

Since then, Daytona Beach City Manager James Chisholm told the City Commission he would pass on the second chance, leaving Barwin and West Palm Beach City Administrator Edward Mitchell.

Barwin still has to agree to a new contract, leaving the possibility that the city could still be without a manager if the two sides cannot agree to terms. The city is planning a special meeting Aug. 1 to discuss its next steps for transition and negotiations.

All the while a proposed charter amendment to split up the city auditor and clerk's office to give the city manager more oversight , while on Monday, another .

This article updates the date of the special meeting, which the commission decided to change during its evening session.