Sarasota's Hometown Newspaper Just Agreed With Our Findings
For months, this site has documented the county's spending record vote by vote. On July 29, the Observer's editorial board looked at the same four years — and reached the same verdict: “runaway spending.” Don't reward it.
We are not the Observer, and the Observer is not us. They are Sarasota's family-owned hometown newspaper, publishing since 1995. We are a civic-accountability project that spent months building a vote-by-vote ledger of what this County Commission actually approved. We never coordinated. We never compared notes. And that is exactly what makes July 29 worth your attention: two entirely independent examinations of the same four years arrived at the same conclusion.
In its primary endorsements, the Observer's editorial board weighed the records of incumbent commissioners Mark Smith and Joe Neunder. It credited their service. It called the record “on balance acceptable.” And then it named the disqualifier — the same one our ledger documents line by line. Here is the Sarasota County section of that editorial, in full, unedited:
The Observer · “Observer Recommends” · July 29, 2026 · Verbatim
County Commission — Longtime Sarasota-Siesta Key architect Mark Smith gave it his all. And like many elected officials, he had a mixed record — on balance acceptable, but also some rotten tomatoes (the boatyard purchase; rejecting the Cox workforce housing project; the tax collector-school board fiasco; and his blanket no on data centers). But the biggie: the county's runaway spending over the past four years.
Say exactly the same for Joe Neunder.
Voters have a tough choice: The incumbents' challengers — Kristina Sargent (District 1 against Smith) and Jim DeNiro (District 4 against Neunder) — are not widely known. So voters do not know how they'll perform. All they know is what they promise: Better fiscal management., But Neunder did that bait-and-switch, too.
Or perhaps you can hope (not a good strategy) Smith and Neunder have learned their lessons and should be given a second chance.
Our litmus test is past performance. Smith and Neunder had four years. They should not be rewarded. Give the newcomers a chance and hold them accountable from Day One.
We recommend: Kristina Sargent, Jim DeNiro
— The Observer editorial board, read the full editorial at YourObserver.com →
Editor's note: the editorial is reproduced exactly as published, including its punctuation. One clarification for voters: the Observer lists Sargent “District 1 against Smith”; Mark Smith's seat on the ballot is County Commission District 2. Jim DeNiro challenges Joe Neunder in District 4, as stated.
They Wrote “Runaway Spending.” We Documented Every Dollar of It.
An editorial board renders a judgment. A ledger proves it. When the Observer writes that the “biggie” is the county's runaway spending over the past four years, here is what that spending actually looks like in the public record — the same documented findings we published at sarasotacountyfacts.org/the-case weeks before the endorsement ran:
| The Observer's words (7/29/26) | Our documented findings |
|---|---|
| “the county's runaway spending over the past four years” | $876,356,310 in new spending and debt added above what the incumbents inherited — verified line by line in The Case. |
| “Say exactly the same for Joe Neunder.” | 827 YES money votes across two governments, $198,800 in county-cycle developer money — the full record in The $876 Million Man. |
| “on balance acceptable, but also some rotten tomatoes” (Smith) | A per-family bill of $7,189 from the yes votes — itemized in What Mark Smith Cost Your Family. |
| “Our litmus test is past performance.” | So is ours. Side-by-side records: Smith vs. Sargent (D2) and DeNiro vs. Neunder (D4). |
The left column is the Observer's editorial opinion, quoted with attribution. The right column is Sarasota County Facts' own documentation; every figure links to its sources and derivation. The Observer did not participate in, review, or endorse our research.
Two independent examinations. One conclusion:
four years of spending is the record — and the record is the test.
He Had Four Years. This Is What He Did With Them.
Every number below is documented in the public record and published on this site — tap any one of them for the full story, the votes, and the receipts.
$876,356,310
New spending and debt in four years. Smith voted for it every time it counted.
The full story →
$7,189
Your family of four's share of his yes votes. Itemized, receipt by receipt.
See your bill →
71%
Budget explosion since Smith joined — $1.46 billion to $2.5 billion. Yes, each time.
The votes →
$7.5M
The ‘T-shirt’ grant nobody could explain. The vote was 3–1. Smith was the 1.
He stood alone →
$18M / 2 acres
Seller paid $8.9M two years earlier. You paid double. Even the Observer called it rotten.
The boatyard deal →
4–1
Neighbors fought a bigger condo rebuild. Four commissioners heard them. Only Smith voted yes.
Whose side is he on →
$79 / second
What county government now costs, every second of every day. He helped build that clock.
Watch it run →
Developer $$
Campaigned on the people. Funded by the developers. The donor rolls are public — we pulled them.
Follow the money →
Every figure links to its full article; every article links to its primary sources at sarasotacountyfacts.org/sources.
Tap through the record · every card links to the full story
THE SMITH FAILURE FILE
The Biggie
$876,356,310
New spending and debt piled on in four years. Smith voted for it — every time it counted.
Read: The $876 Million Bombshell→
373
That's the number of votes Mark Smith won by last time.
Then he helped approve a $2.52 billion budget. There is no Democrat on the ballot — the August 18 Republican primary IS the election, and it is open to every registered voter in the district. You and the people on your street are the margin.
The Observer put it plainly: the incumbents “should not be rewarded.” We put it numerically: $876,356,310. Read their editorial. Then read our evidence. Judge for yourself — that has been the point of this project from day one.
About the Observer
YourObserver.com is the digital news site of the family-owned Observer Media Group, a Sarasota, Florida-based multimedia company. Founded in 1995 with the acquisition of the Longboat Observer, it delivers daily hyperlocal coverage of Sarasota, Longboat Key, Siesta Key, Lakewood Ranch (East County) and nearby communities. It complements the group's free weekly newspapers — the Longboat Observer, East County Observer, and Sarasota/Siesta Key Observer — plus lifestyle magazines, with a focus on neighborhood news under the motto “You. Your Neighbors. Your Neighborhood.”
The Observer editorial quoted above is the copyrighted work of the Observer Media Group, quoted verbatim with attribution and linked to the original for the purpose of commentary and public education. The Observer logo appears solely to identify the publication being quoted; its use does not imply any affiliation with, or endorsement of, this site. Our findings are our own: browse all sources.
Political advertisement paid for and approved by Local Government Accountability, a 501(c)(4) organization, independently of any candidate or committee.