APRIL FOOL: 'Stuff the Breeze Bus' for county workers

The Sarasota County Commission and administrators continue to grapple with budget tightening following years of spending as if the post-pandemic property value growth would never end. To help make ends meet, they are looking inward for some help.

As the county administration prepares to move into the palatial new offices off Fruitville Road east of I-75 as the nearly $80 million building is nearing its delayed completion, it is asking employees to contribute to the cause.

Not too unlike the now-standard practice of teachers funding classroom supplies and decorations out of their own pockets, staff will be required to supply their own offices with daily essentials such as notepads, sticky notes, writing implements, staplers, highlighters, copier paper and more.

“And if they have a desk chair at home that they really like, they’re welcome to bring that, too,” said spokesman Ebenezer McDuck. “We’re not limiting this to folks moving into the new building. This policy is county government-wide.”

To assist staff, the county is taking a page from a pre-school year tradition and is planning a “Stuff the Breeze Bus” campaign, which encourages county residents to contribute office supplies to needy employees.

On April 1, donations may be dropped off at the Breeze transfer stations in downtown Sarasota and on Cattlemen Road, where they will be loaded onto buses and delivered to county offices. For more information, call 941-366-3468.

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