Sarasota Clerk Defends Proposed Search Policy

Sarasota's City Auditor and Clerk is firing back at a media report about her requesting an expansion of the office's powers to what The Sarasota Herald-Tribiune reports as, searching employees' work space.

City Auditor and Clerk Pamela Nadalini would have power to search desks, files and other city property, the paper reported Wednesday, and the city attorney has given some pause:

"But City Attorney Robert Fournier said the policy would violate employee's rights and give Nadalini powers that should be reserved for police.

"I think some of the things in there, though well intentioned, went too far," Fournier said. "The employees are given certain rights. Those rights appear to be abrogated by this policy."

Nadalini's office is supposed to be a benign check and balance to safeguard public records and suggest improvements for administration.

But the office has acted increasingly like a policing agency since October, when allegations surfaced that Bartolotta and his staff were using the city's computer network to spy on auditors and delete public records."

Nadalini says in an email that the rights of city employees won't be diminished, and the proposal would be fully vetted.

Here's the full response by Nadilini, which is available on Sarasota's public access email:

"As the City Auditor and Clerk for the City of Sarasota, I am entrusted with the responsibility of safeguarding public records. 

A critical function of my position is to ensure appropriate anti-fraud measures are in place to ensure anyone who suspects fraud or malfeasance will be encouraged to report their suspicions and will be protected. 

The City of Sarasota has had an Administration Regulation concerning reporting and handling fraud in place since September 2008.  Nor is the revised draft anti-fraud policy being proposed by my office new to the Sarasota area.

In fact, Sarasota County’s anti-fraud policy is very similar and has verbatim language related to unrestricted access related to unrestricted access to records and premises and the authority related to desks, storage facilities, etc.

Under no circumstances does this proposed draft policy diminish an employee’s due process rights in accordance with the City Personnel Rules and Procedures and State and Federal law. 

The adoption of the County’s anti-fraud was reported by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on January 10, 2012, and was praised for the protections offered to individuals who report suspected inappropriate conduct. 

The provisions in the draft policy are also recommended by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, which is the world's largest anti-fraud organization and premier provider of anti-fraud training and education. 

The proposed policy is a much needed update to the City’s existing Administrative Regulation. 

The draft policy will be fully vetted by Staff and will be considered by the City Commission prior to implementation.

I encourage members of the public to contact the Office of the City Auditor and Clerk if they would like to review a copy of the existing Administrative Regulation."

Meanwhile, the city has also updated its mobile device policy to make sure employees know that if they connect to the city's Outlook Web Access mail, their personal device is subject to discovery during a public records request among other guidlines. 

That policy is found in a PDF to the right of this story.