Bill Barnett promised to be full-time Naples mayor, then took 8 weeks off
As a candidate in the 2016 Naples mayoral race, Bill Barnett frequently took shots at incumbent John Sorey for not working enough hours at City Hall.
Barnett promised to be a full-time mayor.
“It means you are there,” Barnett said during a February 2016 debate. “You are in your office every day. You are there to meet citizens or people that come in to meet and greet you. You conduct business there and you need to stay there.”
But in his first year as mayor, Barnett spent eight weeks away from his everyday job at City Hall on personal vacations, according to a Naples Daily News tally.
Barnett's trips were private, not funded by taxpayers' money. And the vacations haven’t caused him to miss City Council meetings.
Still, Sorey, who learned of Barnett's time off when contacted by a reporter, said Barnett broke his promise to work full time.
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"I really feel like he violated at least the spirit of his comments and what he presented to the voters," Sorey said.
Barnett, who previously was mayor from 1996 to 2000 and again from 2004 to 2012, said he is entitled to his time off.
“It was family vacation time,” he said. “I don’t think I ever get faulted for not being here. I think that my track record here and being in this office pretty much every day speaks for itself.”
Barnett was off from June 29 to July 31, including three weeks for a vacation to Buffalo. Earlier in June, he took a trip to Las Vegas from Monday, June 20, to Friday, June 24, for the World Series of Poker.
Barnett also took two trips to Lake Placid, New York, where his family owns a vacation house. For those trips, he was off from Monday, Sept. 12, through Friday, Sept. 16, and again from Friday, Oct. 21, through Thursday, Oct. 27, records show.
Barnett initially offered few details about those trips and denied the New York vacations. But he confirmed the New York trips after being shown photos from the vacation he posted on his Facebook account.
The Daily News questioned Barnett about his time off after obtaining his monthly calendars.
During the campaign, Sorey said Barnett was known to take time off for vacations to New York.
Barnett countered that he ought to be allowed to spend time there during the summer, when council members have a break from their regular meetings.
The council takes off from June through August, but the mayor's office and City Hall stay open year-round.
“I believe council takes a summer break and I believe that’s June through August, so if I want to be in New York, I guess I can,” he said during a January 2016 debate. “And with technology today, it’s not an issue where you spend your vacation.”
For a trip to Arizona for his granddaughter’s high school graduation, Barnett took three days off from Wednesday, May 11, through Friday, May 13.
He took a day off in September — Monday, Sept. 26 — to visit a friend in Fort Lauderdale. He also took the next three days off — Tuesday, Sept. 27, through Thursday, Sept. 29 — when he hosted friends in Naples.
Barnett said he had criticized Sorey, describing him as a part-time mayor, only because of Sorey’s second job as executive director of the Naples Players.
“Being a full-time mayor means you don’t have another job,” said Barnett, who as mayor is paid a $30,000 salary. “It doesn’t mean that you’re not entitled to take vacations.”
Sorey has argued that he managed to keep a full schedule as mayor, despite his long hours at the theater. Sorey was paid $60,000 for his second job.
Sorey said he did take some time off as mayor during the summer. But he didn’t take any more than two weeks of personal time in his first year, he said.
"I probably spent more time in that office with my two jobs than he has spent with his one job," he said.