County commissioner fumes over art project

Sarasota County Commissioner Joe Barbetta sent an email to Sarasota City Commissioner Terry Turner Oct. 2, calling the decision to approve a $25,000 art mural project for the Palm Avenue parking garage “a colossal waste of money.”

“To piss away $25,000 on the inside of an already ugly garage is outrageous,” Barbetta wrote from his personal email account to Turner’s personal email account. “Cars and people driving them, inside a garage, don't give a **** about murals inside so it's a colossal waste of money and will send a horrible message to taxpayers whose taxes just got raised and now have to face the parking meter fiasco yet again!”

The email exchange became a public record when Turner felt it was prudent to forward the email to City Auditor and Clerk Pamela Nadalini.

In the email, Barbetta also insults city resident and public art coordinator Virginia Hoffman, even though she has nothing to do with the art mural project that was proposed by Jonathan Parks Architect, which designed the garage.

“This is a joke I hope with Hoffman,” Barbetta wrote. “First of all, she is the worst person to have in charge of anything, let alone art!”

Barbetta referred the art project as “putting lipstick on a pig.”

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].