administrative specialist

library assistant

environmental specialist

librarian

customer service representative

Sarasota County Government

I joined this department in a senior-level role and was initially excited about the opportunity. However, I quickly encountered a toxic and unethical work environment. Management was inexperienced, ineffective, and at times abusive. Onboarding was minimal, yet expectations were immediate and unrealistic,  all of which created a stressful and unsustainable workplace. After more than three decades in professional roles, I had never experienced an environment this poorly managed and hostile.

Early on, I was tasked with correcting critical errors in a federal contract that contained numerous incorrect regulatory references. Management indicated that some errors had been copied incorrectly from another contract, yet I was expected to fix them quickly and independently, without formal training. Instructions were inconsistent, prior directions were often reframed, and guidance was minimal, raising concerns about internal review processes, accuracy standards, and accountability for compliance-related work.

Racially sensitive topics and other unprofessional statements were openly discussed in meetings without intervention. When I raised concerns, management responded punitively and with increased scrutiny, while HR provided little guidance or support, leaving issues unresolved. Despite completing all assignments accurately and on time, focus was repeatedly shifted to alleged performance issues, further contributing to the hostile environment.

These issues appear systemic. Multiple employees had left the team before my arrival, suggesting that toxic management, inconsistent guidance, and unsustainable expectations were not isolated incidents. Overall, the environment prioritizes pressure and control over collaboration, accountability, and ethical practices. Job seekers should be aware that raising concerns and asking for guidance may not be met with support and should carefully consider the environment before joining.

The library system in Sarasota has an administration that follows the old-school clique model, often hiring friends or friends of friends into management positions. Years ago they removed levels of librarianship, leaving librarians who wanted to move up the ladder with the painful choice of either trying to interview for the-almost-impossible-to-get management positions, or to move out of the county to a better library system. The work is meaningful, but is often overshadowed by the poor training and oversight of managers and the sometimes toxic work environments that are rarely dealt with. Many employees hoped this cycle would be broken when a new director was appointed,  but unfortunately it appears to be more of the same. This creates a system heavy with low achieving employees who are rarely fired, employees who geographically can't or don't want to leave and feel forced to stay in a position where they feel undervalued, and a revolving door of high achieving employees who work tirelessly and stay a few years in hopes of moving into management, but then move on when they realize it's futile.

Most work days were taken up with impromptu meetings that lasted hours - sometimes three of four.This made it impossible to meet deadlines without working very long hours. Often staff were subjected to ridicule and threats of termination during these meetings - your only hope was that it wasn't your turn that day. 

Hourly employees were intimidated as well, still they were also intensely committed to trying to do a good job in serving their passengers, whether they performed administrative, call taking, dispatching or driving functions.

Paraphrasing: 
Because many of the hourly employees have more than just a few years of service coupled with concerns over the merging of two transit organizations  and potential privatization, they were just trying to "hang on" until there was a change in current management. This was a sentiment I heard repeatedly.

I saw no benefit in waiting.

The County has hire a plethora unqualified people over the past few years. They'll rather hire someone from outside the organization with little to no experience only because this person will follow management request without question (YES MEN/WOMEN).  Most are close to retirement age and just trying to reach 65.  They offer no realistic guidance. A lot of new managers got their position only because upper management was to lazy to look for more qualify people (inside the organization).  No one is checking on what is happening unless it get in the news or the Commissioners find out.. Then their's a knee jerk reaction.  HR and Ethics departments are a joke.  Don't look for help from them.  If you want to just collect a check, this County is for you. Don't look for advancement, unless you are great at brown nosing.

There have been a lot of changes and staff turnovers in mobility at Sarasota County. The "facilities coordinator" position has turned over twice in less than 7 months. Pay is good but expect to work overtime , use your own vehicle to perform county work and make much happen with little guidance or support from management. Politics revolve around keeping one's job and it is important to do as little that will get you noticed as possible. Transit is at the bottom of the pile when it comes to county departments and there is much that has been put off for years. Privatization threatens to take over and that fact has undermined morale all around.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The pay and benefits were the best part about the company. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
This job was not stressful at all it was depressing. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment is do as your told and don’t think. The culture is work till you die and occasionally we do something fun to say we care about our employees. It seems common courtesy was no where to be found other than in a handful of individuals. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
90% of my time with the company was spent copying and pasting information. 5% meetings and 5% what I thought my job would be. Beware of job titles.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Benefits, nothing else! Breeze/SCAT is a complete disaster! They’ve run this company into the ground!

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Dealing with all the middle aged disgruntled has been employee’s.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Horrible. The supervisors treat the drivers like they’re replaceable. Heaven forbid you have a disability! Typical government red tape, where one departments has absolutely no clue what the other department is doing. BAD communication!

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Constantly scratching your head trying to make sense out of how stupid things are, how disorganized they are and trying not to get fired.

A typical day consists of loading our trucks and trailers up at 6:30 am and heading to job site. We then unloading equipment, set up MOT then begin mowing right of ways. At end of day, we load up equipment and head back to shop. I have learned that skills and training I can carry on to other jobs.
The work culture is very fast paced, and we have job deadlines we must meet. The hardest part of job is worrying about not being almost hit by cars everyday. The most enjoyable part of job is riding the roads in your car on weekends and seeing the roads looking nice and maintained.

Its a job and a check, poor ethical management, constantly hiding the truth from elected officials ( Commissioners and, tax payers) if you think hard work and great ideas will help you, wrong place for you.  Great place for Friends and management families, they will become the next generation of liars and fraud, while the career minded do the right thing enployees get weeded out, Nepotism a laughing issue, will degrade customer service and quality employee base.

Working for a government institution is very unlike working for a private company.
A typical day of work involved a good amount of loafing around. 
This is usually in the form of walking around the building, printing copies of things, generally appearing busy but not actually doing anything.
The secret is that EVERYONE is doing this for some part of their day, which excuses the behavior.
You don't need to engage in this lackadaisical behavior, but you'll inevitably end up waiting on someone who is. So it's best not to be too serious when working for a county government institution.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Administrative specialist 19 salaries reported	$21.18 per hour
Library assistant 3 salaries reported	$16.54 per hour
Environmental specialist 5 salaries reported	$54,055 per year
Librarian 7 salaries reported	$53,248 per year
Customer service representative 13 salaries reported	$16.58 per hour

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