MANATEE COUNTY – Constituent Dave Tank believes he heard Manatee County Commission Chairman Kevin Van Ostenbridge and County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh discussing county business in a manner that was not compliant with Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine Law.
The Sunshine Law requires elected city and county officials to conduct and discuss their official governmental business with one another in properly noticed public meetings, and the state prohibits them from doing so in non-public, non-noticed settings.
On June 8, Tank expressed his Sunshine Law compliance concerns in an email addressed to Van Ostenbridge and Baugh. Tank’s email was also shared with the five other county commissioners, County Administrator Scott Hopes and County Attorney Bill Clague.
“I ate lunch at Robin’s Downtown today. You sat down at the table next to me and talked loudly about various Manatee County matters. I assume you are aware that a conversation between two or more commissioners about public business, without public notice, violates the state’s open meetings law. I’d appreciate you avoiding this sort of thing in the future,” Tank’s email said in its entirety.
Tank also included a link to the Office of the Attorney General website that includes information on the Sunshine Law and a link to the 2022 Government-in-the-Sunshine manual.
In her June 8 response to Tank, Commissioner Misty Servia wrote: “Mr. Tank. Thank you for the email. I hope they were not discussing county business, as that would be a criminal offense.”
In his two-word response to Servia, Tank wrote: “They were.”
As the county’s District 3 commissioner, Van Ostenbridge was elected by constituents from Anna Maria Island, the northern portion of Longboat Key, Cortez and west Bradenton. Van Ostenbridge was contacted by The Sun on June 16, and asked about Tank’s Sunshine Law compliance concerns.
Van Ostenbridge said he and Baugh discussed politics and politicians but did not discuss official county business.
“The Sunshine Law was not violated because I did not discuss anything the board could potentially vote on. I respect Mr. Tank for reaching out to me out of concern. I did respond to him as well and I assured him we didn’t discuss anything we’d vote on,” Van Ostenbridge said.
When contacted by The Sun that same day Baugh declined comment.
“Nothing to comment about,” she wrote in her message to The Sun.
County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh declined comment on the Sunshine Law compliance concerns. – Joe Hendricks | SunBaugh remains the subject of an ongoing Ethics Commission investigation regarding her role in organizing a controversial COVID-19 pop-up vaccine clinic only for those living in zip codes specific to the Lakewood Ranch area she represents as the county’s District 5 commissioner.
On June 17, The Sun emailed Tank and asked him if he would clarify which specific county issues Van Ostenbridge and Baugh discussed during their lunch outing.
In response, Tank wrote, “I don’t see the upside in going into what the commissioners were talking about, other than what I’ve said and written. It wasn’t ‘just politics.’ Since Mr. Van Ostenbridge denies that, all that will result is a lot of ‘he said, he said’ back and forth.”
In his email response to The Sun, Tank also noted, “Mr. Van Ostenbridge and the county FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) people have not produced all of the emails about the conversation.”
On June 14, The Sun requested from the county all email correspondence from any county commissioner as well as Hopes and Clague regarding Tank’s Sunshine Law compliance concerns. At week’s end, the county had not yet provided those requested public records. Earlier this month, the Mantatee Clerk of the Court’s Inspector General’s office notified the county that the Inspector General’s office was reviewing how the current county administration responds to public records requests.
