UPDATED Monday, May 24, 2021 at 11:40 a.m. – MANATEE COUNTY – County commissioners Kevin Van Ostenbridge and James Satcher will be reimbursed for the attorney fees and legal expenses they incurred as defendants in a Public Records Act lawsuit filed by paralegal Michael Barfield in December.
On May 11, the county commission voted 7-0 in favor of reimbursing Van Ostenbridge and Satcher up to $60,000. The commission approved the reimbursements without being provided with itemized attorney bills that supported the reimbursement requests.
Citing standard operating procedure, Clerk of the Court and Comptroller Angel Colonneso said the commission-approved reimbursements would not be paid until her office received and reviewed itemized invoices from Van Ostenbridge and Satcher’s attorneys.
According to the non-itemized attorney fee summaries County Attorney Bill Clague provided The Sun on May 12, Van Ostenbridge incurred $26,368 in attorney bills and $281 in additional legal costs for legal services provided by attorney Morgan Bentley and his office, for a total of $26,650. According to detailed invoices provided later by the Clerk of the Court’s Office, Van Ostenbridge received 97.2 hours of attorney services from Bentley’s office.
Van Ostenbridge incurred an additional $7,500 in expenses for legal services provided by attorney Sean Flynn and his office. According to the itemized invoice provided by the Clerk of the Circuit Court office, Van Ostenbridge received 22 hours of legal services from the Flynn Law firm. Van Ostenbridge’s attorney fees and legal expenses totaled $34,150.
According to the non-itemized invoice received from Clague, Satcher incurred $15,750 in attorney fees for 70 hours of service at $225 per hour. According to the itemized invoice later provided by the Clerk of the Court’s Office, Satcher’s total bill was $15,785.
Van Ostenbridge and Satcher’s combined attorney fees and legal costs totaled $49,935. The commission-approved reimbursement also included the $6,000 settlement payment Van Ostenbridge and Satcher agreed to pay Barfield to settle the lawsuit without an admission of liability regarding Public Records Act compliance. The settlement agreement with Barfield was executed in late April.
According to the invoices and settlement agreement, the total reimbursement sought is $55,935.
Commission Chair Vanessa Baugh is now the lone remaining defendant named in Barfield’s lawsuit he filed in December. On May 14, Barfield deposed Baugh under oath. An in-person court hearing before Judge Charles Sniffen is pending.
According to Barfield the purpose of the hearing is to seek a ruling from Sniffen as to whether Baugh fully complied with the Public Records Act and provided all the records he requested.
Commission discussion
During the May 11 commission discussion, Clague referenced a legal memorandum he included in the agenda packet.
“Florida law allows the county to pay the legal expenses incurred by commissioners in this case, subject to the board finding that the commissioners were performing their official duties for a public purpose,” the memo stated.
When addressing the commission, Clague said, “The purpose of the law is to prevent what the courts refer to as a ‘chilling effect’ on the performance of official duties by public officials, particularly elected officials. The idea is that if officials are afraid that they will be forced to pay legal expenses, personally, for doing their jobs, they will be afraid to do their jobs. People will not always agree with the decisions elected officials make and the law recognizes that the place to deal with that is the ballot box.”
Commissioner Carol Whitmore asked Clague if Van Ostenbridge and Satcher could recuse themselves from the vote if they wished to not give the appearance of personal gain or loss. Clague said they could, but they’d have to leave the room. Neither commissioner recused themselves, nor were they asked to.
Satcher said he was surprised when the lawsuit was filed and originally named him as the first and only defendant, with Baugh and Van Ostenbridge later named as co-defendants. Satcher said it was never his desire or intent to hold back any records Barfield requested.
Regarding the pending vote on the requested reimbursements, Satcher said, “People shouldn’t be bankrupted for being elected.”
Public input
County residents Matt Bower and Glen Gibellina expressed opposition to the reimbursement requests as presented, in part because the public had not yet been provided with copies of the attorney bills.
“This bill is excessive,” Bower said of the total reimbursements sought.
Bower said he and more than a dozen other county residents he communicated with were unhappy about the taxpayers being asked to pay the commissioners’ legal bills.
Gibellina said, “Any time there’s a settlement, it’s a red flag. We make deals to save time and money, but at the cost of transparency to the citizens.
Gibellina said the reimbursement request should have been delayed until the public was provided with copies of the attorney bills.
“If we’re paying the bill, we deserve to see what the bill is,” he said.
