UPDATE 10/02/08, 6:00 PM:
      Sarasota County Fire Department is still investigating why a fire truck was on display at a political rally for one of their retired firefighters... see this email from SCFD's Paul Dezzi
     Code enforcement has turned the matter over to the City Clerk's Office. There is an unconfirmed report that City Clerk Lori Stelzer is supposedly sending a warning letter or some kind of violation notification to Carlesimo's campaign.
     The Venice Gondolier asked for and was granted permission to reprint photos from this page. This does not necessarily mean that they will do a story on any of this, however.

Ummmm.... ooooops
Sarasota County Fire Department is conducting an internal investigation into why two uniformed ambulance drivers and a county fire truck/ambulance made a guest appearance at a weekend rally for city council candidate Emilio Carlesimo.

Additionally, the Venice Code Enforcement department is looking into a complaint about sign placements in the right-of-way on city property along Venice and Turin Avenues.

The sign placements may have violated state election laws as well as local sign and election codes.

The incident comes as a bit of a black eye to Carlesimo, who has been campaigning on a platform that he is knowledgeable of governmental procedural laws and that he would never violate any political laws. Carlesimo has been quick to point the finger at city council for being in an ongoing lawsuit surrounding allegations of Sunshine Law violations.

This past Saturday, September 27, the Suncoast Firefighters held what they stated was a non-political chicken and chili barbecue at Centennial Park in downtown Venice. Union members at the event strongly stated that the event was non-political. When asked about Carlesimo's signs all over the park, Carlesimo handing out political literature, and the presence of political literature on the serving tables, union members stated that it was all purely coincidental.

Equally coincidental was the appearance of two on-duty and fully uniformed firefighter / ambulance drivers, along with County Ambulance 51, which was parked in an area surrounded by election signs for Carlesimo. Carlesimo is a retired firefighter who worked for the Sarasota County Fire Department and whose election is being supported by union members from the Venice Fire Department.

"That's not supposed to happen," said Paul Dezzi, media spokesman for the Sarasota County Fire Department. According to Dezzi, county firefighters and their equipment are "not supposed to appear at political rallies." Dezzi stated that there are clear departmental guidelines about these kinds of activities and that it appeared that the two drivers may have violated those guidelines. Dezzi stated that the department was in the process of conducting interviews with the ambulance drivers and he would not comment further.

County Fire Chief Brian Gorski has indicated that he is looking into the matter as well: "I will investigate and get back to you as soon as possible," Gorski wrote to County Commissioner Shannon Staub, this after Staub forwarded a link to the photos to Gorski.

The clearly marked ambulance was at the park, on display in the marked off political area, for at least 20 to 25 minutes. The truck and its drivers immediately departed after firefighters observed photographs being taken by Venice Florida! dot com.

Most of the activity observed was perfectly lawful. It was completely lawful for the union to have the barbecue, even if it was for political purposes. The union did receive a proper permit for the event. Their permit request for sign placement in limited areas was approved by the city's Planning and Zoning Department, however only one of the dozen or more election signs that were placed at the park was in an approved location.

Oddly, the union continued to deny that the picnic was for political purposes when quite clearly the opposite was true and that it would have been perfectly legal for the picnic to be politically oriented.

The sign placements, though, are another story. According to the city's Planning and Zoning Department, the union and Carlesimo exceeded their permit by placing signs along Venice and Turin Avenues in city right-of-way areas, that according to Planning and Zoning Department head Tom Slaughter. Slaughter stated that he wanted to review the photographs before making any further comment.

The union's permit allowed for limited sign placement in the immediate area of the barbecue pit and gazebo. In actuality, at least a dozen signs were placed throughout the three-block long city park, including in the right-of-ways next to the street curbs at all four corners of the park and along the streets in between the corners. Signs were observed by this writer in other parts of the city park, as well as at all parking lot entrances and exits. In all, at least a dozen signs were placed in park areas that exceeded the original permit request, making the entire city park a Carlesimo campaign area for the five-hour duration of the weekend event.

Calls to code enforcement would have been useless, as the city does not provide any code enforcement services during the weekends, a fact that is well known to building contractors and to anyone who wishes to place signs in the city's right-of-ways during weekend hours.

One such sign, as photographed by Venice Florida! dot com, nearly caused a trip and fall incident as this writer observed and photographed a woman trying to get out of her car and nearly tripping on a sign that had been placed curbside on Venice Avenue.

Code Enforcement Officer John Patek stated he would look at the evidence and send the Carlesimo campaign a warning letter if the photographic evidence showed any clear violations. The sign placements were witnessed by an on-duty Venice police officer and a member of Venice City Council in addition to the photographs that have been provided to the city by Venice Florida! dot com.

The photos were posted on Venice Florida! dot com's message board earlier this week. Below is the text and photos taken from that post.

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Saturday in the park. The 27th of September. The firefighter's union has a barbecue that they repeatedly stated was not a political event, it was a fundraiser for the union that, purely by coincidence, is backing Emilio Carlesimo for city council. Purely by coincidence, Carlesimo showed up. Pics below. All pics were taken on city property -- Centennial Park in downtown Venice. You figure it out -- you are all reasonably bright people.

What's really funny is that Carlesimo has all kinds of opinions about the Sunshine Law and swears he would never disobey any law -- he knows better. And then... this. In fact, he was talking about the Sunshine Law during this event.

Venice Avenue, southeast corner of Centennial Park. Fireman's picnic was in the northeast section of the park, some two blocks away.

Above two pics: center of Centennial Park parking area, about a block from the picnic. There were numerous other signs all over the park.

Bandstand area, with barbecue in the back of the pic. Note the crowd (or lack of it).

County Fire Truck 51 (ambulance), parked in the vendor area.

Above and below: Firefighters in red t-shirts that say "FIREFIGHTER" serving food. Carlesimo in white shorts and blue t-shirt. The two guys in full uniform are the Truck 51 drivers.

Above and below: Firefighter and Carlesimo as Carlesimo hands out election flyers in support of his candidacy. Folded Carlesimo flyers are seen on display on the food serving table.

Sign next to barbecue pit, with fire truck/ambulance in background. There were also Carlesimo signs along Venice Avenue on the other side of the truck as well as signs 40 or so yards in front of and in back of the vehicle. The truck was, quite literally, surrounded by political signs. When firefighters saw me taking this pic, the uniformed drivers hastily returned to the vehicle and drove away. I had been at the picnic for approximately 20 minutes at this point, the fire truck / ambulance was there when I arrived.

Above and below: two pics: Venice Avenue, southwest corner near bathrooms, in plain view of barbecue pit area (which would be about 40 yards directly behind me when I took these pics). The lady above almost fell over the sign the first time she tried to get out of the car. Her husband had to come around the car to help her get out without tripping over the sign.

John Patten is the editor and publisher of Venice Florida! dot com and had previously worked in broadcasting for over 12 years. He can also be incredibly rude at times.