Black in White

Racial diversity has never been big in Sarasota County and its cities. The county's population is 92% white and only about 5% black or African-American.

But times are changing in respect to who's managing some key local government operations impacting business and economic development. Leadership in North Port, Venice, Sarasota and Sarasota County has been put increasingly in the hands of minorities.

“Any community that sees itself as progressive would want to create a more diverse community if they want to create a diverse economic base,” says Allan Lane, North Port's 61-year old economic development manager. He's one of four in the county taking on key roles in the area's economic development or as part of senior management.

They're all experienced, qualified professionals in their fields.

Lane came to the city in January 2008. A month later, Jeff Maultsby, 46, was scooped up by Sarasota County and became its manager for business and economic development.

At the time, the county had never had a non-white commissioner. But now that's changed with the countywide election of Republican Commissioner Carolyn Mason in 2008.

Next came Isaac Turner, 52, hired by an all-white Venice City Council in March 2009 to be city manager in a city that is nearly 98% white and just 1.1% African-American.

A few months later, the city of Sarasota brought on Trinidad native Marlon Brown to be its deputy city manager and chief operating officer.

Though Brown's hiring in a city that's 17.5% black or African-American, isn't earth shattering, it's still groundbreaking. Brown oversees at least eight departments from police to neighborhood and development services to public works to human resources. The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall is also under his purview.

No minority has ever had as much responsibility in the city's government, including Pam Nadalini, who was promoted to city auditor and clerk earlier this year, establishing another city milestone in minority hiring. The city also hired within when it made another African-American, Mikel Hollaway, chief of police.

North Port's Lane, who grew up in Akron, Ohio and worked for a time as a city planner and an economic development specialist in Atlanta, is one of only a small handful of blacks on the city's 580-person payroll.

“When I came to North Port, I had no idea about the demographic make-up of the city,” he says. “I found out that the demographic is not as diverse as I'm used to coming from a city background.”

Lane predicts a 1% or 2% increase in the minority share of the population with the new Census figures coming out next year. “You should see an increase in the racial and ethnic diversity of communities in Southwest Florida,” he says.

Marlon Brown also comes from a city planning background and spent time in Atlanta while getting his masters degree from Georgia Tech. After working management positions in Tallahassee, Brown became county manager of Gadsden County located just to the north of the capital.

“We have a manage by committee [approach] when it comes to economic development,” says Brown. “I work on the policy level,” he adds, noting his work on the recent economic development tax exemption passed by voters last month.

Brown took the concept to the City Commission, but gives credit to the county for selling it to the city, Venice and North Port. All four men helped make it happen.

Asked if he has thought much about the historic context of the four being in the positions their in, in a county not particularly known for its diversity, Brown answers much like the others: “Not really.” He says, “It's an honor and a privilege to be in the position and represent minorities. I'm trying to represent everyone equally.”

Turner's not much concerned about the history — he's still learning the job of overseeing 275 employees, only three of which are black.

“Most of the cities I've worked in have been more affluent communities, I'd say, and there's not been any sort of correlation to the number of ethnic minorities in the city,” says Turner.

He'd rather talk about economic development and how the city's turning the corner in its approach to that, and not his personal role in the city's history. Turner points to the city attacking its permitting processes and fee systems to make it more business friendly.

“We've set up a one-stop shop so people with technical expertise come to our building instead of sending people all around,” says Turner. He also notes that the city is finally getting around to setting up an online system to schedule building inspections and check the status of permits, something many communities have done for years.

“We're very excited about a number of changes that are occurring in the city,” he says, referring in part to development and redevelopment permit processes that he and the City Council aim to streamline and make less costly.

Maultsby, the youngest of the bunch and the only one who grew up in Florida — coming from Winter Haven — has had his hands in a number of economic development efforts the past few years. He attributes that to what he calls the county's “refocus.”

“We're all economic developers,” Maultsby observes about county staff and the commissioners taking a more proactive approach. “The mindset was just to open the doors and growth would come,” he says about the pre-recession days.

Now, he says, with things like the economic development tax exemption, the “Fruitville Initiative” (a 325-acre mixed use public-private development), Orioles' spring training at the rebuilt Ed Smith Stadium, and the new world-class rowing facility getting underway, “The county has taken great strides in making things more business friendly.” More is in the works, though Maultsby wouldn't elaborate.

Although the four didn't know each other before they came to their new jobs, they're getting opportunities to get to know each other professionally through all their economic development work.

“We have to work together,” says Maultsby, who also looks forward to some playtime in a golf match with Brown that's been delayed. “We can't get into this idea of economic development and have this silo mindset. We're all in this together.”