By Beth Gaddis and Jackie Barron
TBO.com and News Channel 8

Comment | Photos

SARASOTA – Transgender advocate Susan Stanton was eliminated in her quest to become the Sarasota city manager.

City commissioners named her one of the final three candidates on the short list for the job, but dropped her from the final list of two candidates.  Stanton, 48, was one of five candidates who had their final interviews today. Robert Bartoletta and Marsha Segal-George were the other two candidates. Bartoletta and Segal-George got five votes each and Stanton received three votes, enough to get her in the top three.

Robert Bartoletta was finally chosen to fill the position of the new city manager today.

Stanton, who spent 14 years as Largo City Manager under the name Steve Stanton, gained national attention in February when he announced he was a transsexual who was in the process of changing himself from a man to a woman.  He said he was two years into the process.

The Largo City Commission voted to fire him after his announcement.  Stanton announced last month that he would not sue the commission for discrimination.

Stanton applied for the Sarasota job as a woman.  She spent last week and this week meeting with neighborhood and government leaders, as well as chatting with residents.

Earlier this month, Stanton traveled to Washington, D.C. to lobby Congress to support antidiscrimination legislation.  She has also appeared on national radio and television shows to raise awareness of transgender issues.

Stanton planned to finish the process of becoming a woman by early June.

Information from Tribune archives and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune was used in this report.

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