County Procurement Officer Mark Thiele Resigns

Updated 1:37 p.m. June 20

Mark Thiele has resigned as Sarasota County Procurement Official Tuesday, and according to media reports, it's after a mistake in procurement.

Deputy County Administrator Bill Little will temporarily serve as Procurement Official while the county conducts a search to fill the position. Little has overseen procurement system changes both for former Interim County Administrator Terry Lewis and for current County Administrator Randall H. Reid.

Aug. 29, 2011, and was procurement manager for Cape Coral in Lee County from 2007 until his Sarasota job.

Thiele had tried to cover up a mistake on a contract that should have been approved by the county commission, The Herald-Tribune reports:

According to the ethics report, Thiele signed off on a $150,000 contract for motor repairs, apparently by mistake, instead of sending it to the county commissioners for approval as required.

To cover his tracks, he changed the contract amount to $100,000, which does not require board approval. The change was discovered by another high-level manager and when Thiele's bosses confronted him, he admitted he had done so "in an effort to conceal his mistake," the report said.

Reid told Patch in an email that Thiele's resignation came following Tuesday morning in a discussion with Reid, Thiele and Little "on issues related to our procurement process and my expectations for the future."

"Mark contributed a great deal to our improvement efforts here while director," Reid said. "I believe another individual will  be able to be hired to bring long term credibility and to build a greater level of confidence in the procurement process."

Reid didn't provide a specific incident to Patch of what led to the resignation.

Reid said in a news release that the staff change emphasizes the county's commitment to additional integrity and transparency in the procurement operation, along with the need to institute, enforce and follow the new professional procurement process being implemented by the county.

That process emphasizes accountability to gain public trust and provide exceptional procurement services. 

Reid emphasized that the county has made extensive changes to its procurement systems and processes and will continue to strengthen staff and procurement policies.

Thiele had been appointed to clean up and help fix the county's procurement procedures after the c among other officials, including .