Newly elected Sarasota County Commissioner Joe Barbetta hasn’t had time to warm his seat yet, so it’s too soon to tell if his slow-growth stance will cause seismic changes. He replaces David Mills, who often cast the pro-development swing vote. An attorney and former chairman of the county planning commission, Barbetta defeated fellow Republicans Casey Pilon and John Lewis in one of the nastiest local primaries last fall.

How did you weather such a nasty campaign? I had to be true to myself. I had made a promise I would not engage in a negative campaign, and I held up to that. It was unfortunate that I had to respond to the messages. 

You’ve been referred to as a [fellow commissioner] Jon Thaxton-like environmentalist. Are you? I’m a moderate growth environmentalist, and I don’t think it’s an oxymoron. I think those concepts can interchange without any problems.

What are your priorities as a new commissioner? To get a handle on true growth management. How are we going to grow in the coming years? My feeling is more along the lines of redevelopment and infill, going over the areas that are stale and depressed and rejuvenating them first. The second priority is transportation. Everything we do seems to be automobile-oriented, and we have to get back to concentrating on another way to move people besides the car.

The planning commission has had a contentious relationship with the commissioners. Have relations improved? I don’t think there’s real contentiousness. The planning board is the first sounding board, and if they deny something there’s a pretty good reason. It’s a healthy discussion.

What’s your style as a leader? Innovative and proactive. I realize I have to be a good listener and a good learner. I’ll always look for cutting-edge ideas. I’m not real big on reinventing the wheel. I feel somewhere, someplace, someone’s got a solution.

How concerned are you about the real estate slowdown? I think it’s a healthy thing and we’ll be out of it shortly. I do think there’s been a heavy reliance on the baby boomer population moving to Florida. The anticipation may have been a little over-hyped.

What do you think of our touch screens? I understood the concerns of people prior to the election, but we had spent considerable money on this system, so that’s why I said then that we’ve got a couple more years of useful life. But with the ballot initiative, we don’t have a choice. The credibility of the touch screen has been jeopardized tremendously. I have no problem supporting what the voters passed—a state-of-the art paper trail.

Tell us something that most people don’t know about you. I’m a motorcycle rider and an Eagle Scout and a former developer. —Kim Hackett