APRIL FOOL: Countywide government consolidation effort launched

A group of Sarasota County residents is preparing a petition to seek state legislature approval to place a referendum on the Nov. 2026 general election ballot to unify all jurisdictions in the county under one government.

Dubbed Sarasota Citizens Advocating for Merger (SCAM) the group said its efforts are in response to what it says are the inequities between North County and South County, citing the Northeast Florida example of Jacksonville/Duval County.

“The county government is too North County-centric,” said SCAM spokesperson Bob Lee. “Between all the county government offices located in the north and an obvious bias toward the city of Sarasota, we just want our fair share in the south.”

The effort to achieve greater parity, SCAM is also proposing changing the name of the county to better foster unity among all its residents.

“With the population center now shifting to South County, we think Venisota has a nice ring to it,” Lee said.