BRADENTON BEACH – Three more defendants named in a Sunshine Law lawsuit have resigned from their city board or committee positions.
On Wednesday, Aug. 23, Planning and Zoning Board member John Metz sent City Clerk Terri Sanclemente an e-mail that said, “Re: P and Z. I quit.”
On Tuesday, Aug. 22, Scenic WAVES Committee Chair Tjet Martin sent Sanclemente an e-mail that said, “Effective immediately, I hereby resign from Scenic WAVES.”
Martin also sent her e-mail to former Anna Maria City Attorney Jim Dye, who provides legal services for the city of Holmes Beach.
Scenic WAVES member Rose Vincent sent Sanclemente and Dye an e-mail that same day that said, “I hereby resign from Scenic Waves effective immediately.”
Although he is not named in the Sunshine Law lawsuit, longtime Scenic WAVES member Carl Parks also resigned last week.
Last week’s resignations were preceded by the recent resignations of planning board members Reed Mapes, Patty Shay and Bill Vincent. Metz’s resignation leaves the planning board with two active members: John Burns and Jim Lynch.
The city of Bradenton Beach and city resident Jack Clarke filed the Sunshine lawsuit on Aug. 11. The suit alleges Mapes, Martin, Metz, Shay, Vincent and Vincent violated the Sunshine Law by discussing parking garage prohibitions and other potential board and committee issues at the Concerned Neighbors of Bradenton Beach (CNOBB) meetings that are not recognized as official, publicly noticed city meetings.
State law prohibits elected and appointed board and committee members from discussing potential board and committee business outside of a properly noticed public meeting.
Public records obtained in the investigation of the Sunshine allegations reveal that some board and committee members also discussed in their e-mail exchanges parking garage prohibitions, changes to future land use maps, the Community Redevelopment Agency and other matters that could have foreseeably come before them as board and committee members.
Summons have been served to the defendants, but a court date has not yet been scheduled.
