When elected to the Charter Review Board,
Bryan Worthington
will:

  • Fight for a Verifiable Paper Ballot
The voters of Sarasota County deserve a verifiable paper ballot!  If our
Supervisor of Elections and County Commissioners do not wake up to the
reality that electronic voting machines are unreliable and insecure, then our
charter should dictate a verifiable paper ballot with random audits

  • Fight to preserve Our Environment through
    Responsible Growth
Sarasota County's resources are dwindling because growth is out of
control!  It is time that the needs of our residents come before those of
special interests that are depleting our natural resources.  Responsible -
not drastic - measures must be taken to save what remaining resources
we have left.

  • Fight to Protect the Civil Rights of ALL
    Citizens of Sarasota County
In 2002, the residents of the City of Sarasota voted overwhelmingly (75%)
in favor of amending their Charter to include language that would prevent
discrimination of anyone in housing, employment, lodging, etc.  Many other
County Charters (including Hillsborough, Pinellas and Broward) have
adopted similar measures to include non-discrimination language into
their Charter.  It is time for Sarasota County to step up and adopt non-
discrimination language for our charter.

  • Fight for Equitable Representation by our
    County Commissioners
Currently, our Board of County Commissioners are elected "at large"
(which means that all voters county-wide elect all Commissioners).  In
1992, the Charter was amended to elect our Commissioners by "single-
member" district (which meant that voters only elected Commissioners in
their own district).  This was overturned in 1994 because many felt that
Commissioners interests were only focused on the needs of their district,
neglecting the needs of Sarasota County as a whole.

I propose that we adopt a "combined" method of electing our County
Commissioners in the following manner:
  1. Increase the number of Commissioners from five (5) to seven (7).
  2. Elect four (4) Commissioners by "single-member" districts.
  3. Elect three (3) Commissioners "at large."

Many other counties in Florida (including Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee,
Duval, Leon and Volusia) have adopted this method with successful and
equitable results.  
Issues
Bryan K. Worthington
Sarasota County Charter Review Board, District #3
Democrat