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The Sarasota Candle stand at the Downtown Farmers Market. (Photo by Cristin Neisler)

At the Downtown Farmers Market this past Saturday, produce lovers were treated to the usual organic blend of homegrown vegetables, crafts and cut flowers. But behind the scenes, small controversy was just starting to sprout.
At about 7:45 the previous evening, CL was cc’d — along with City Commissioners and sponsors from the Downtown Partnership — on a mass e-mail from John Matthews, the Market’s former director. It appeared to be a confrontation of some sort, with new director Leann Aldridge on the receiving end.
“Leann,” wrote Matthews. “I have been informed of your threat to not allow [local merchants] Peperonata Pasta to join the Downtown Farmers Market unless they lie” and say that he’d tried to corrupt the integrity of the Market when he was still director.
To whom the Italian pasta company would be lying remained unclear — but in the message, Matthews specifically alleged that Aldridge had instructed the pasta vendors to say he’d “forced them into a relationship with Herbal Gourmet,” a dried produce business operated by his wife, Andrea Daniels.
“Everyone knows this is not true,” he continued, “but for some reason you feel you can ‘bully’ them while they are trying to get their business off the ground. … I have informed city officials of your actions and I understand they will be stopping by to see you tomorrow.”
At the market he following morning, Aldridge called for a closed Monday night meeting with the Market’s advisory board, a small group of vendors she’d assembled upon taking over from Matthews in December.

While Aldridge wouldn’t disclose what was discussed at last night’s meeting, she said that Matthew’s allegations weren’t brought up.
“It was just a meeting, like usual,” she said. “”We were discussing other things.”
“Nobody cares about [Matthews],” she added, “and I wouldn’t even give him the credence to rebuff his accusations.”
She’s not sure what was on last night’s agenda, but Daniels is convinced that her dismissal from the weekly street fair was one of the main points of discussion.
“The advisory board has not had a meeting since last May,” she told CL on Monday. What else would they be meeting about?
According to Daniels, her relationship with Aldridge soured long ago — and not just because of Matthews’ ouster. Aside from watching other vendors “get picked on,” Daniels says that when she approached Aldridge with her own concerns — she worried that moving her stand to a direct-sun location might spoil her produce — her requests were ignored. Then, she says, Aldridge implied that refusing would mean her expulsion from the Market. “I think vendors are afraid to really speak out,” said Daniels.
For her part, Aldridge maintains that such qualms are little more than sour grapes.
“These two people have been anti management since [Matthews] was fired,” she says. “They do nothing but create havoc whenever they can.”
Although she still hasn’t heard anything of her dismissal, Daniels believes it won’t be long before she does. And when that happens, she says, she’ll do what she can to help her colleagues say what’s on their mind.

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