BRADENTON BEACH – Bradenton Beach police officers’ efforts to potentially unionize the department have morphed into serious consideration by the city commission to utilize law enforcement services provided by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office instead.
The agenda for the special city commission meeting that took place on Thursday, April 23, contained two items. The first agenda item was a discussion about the representation-certification petition the International Union of Police Associations (I.U.P.A) submitted with the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission on April 10, on behalf of the Bradenton Beach police officers.
The second agenda item was a discussion about the city’s law enforcement services possibly being provided by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO). The sheriff’s office’s $1.5 million preliminary law enforcement proposal is $628,000 less than the $2.12 million budgeted for the city’s police department during the current 2025-26 fiscal year.
The first agenda item was quickly dispensed with. The second agenda item commanded the bulk of the conversation during the 80-minute special meeting.
Unionization discussion
Attorney Robert Eschenfelder represented the city during the special meeting. Eschenfelder, a labor law and employment law specialist, is a partner in the Trask Daigneault law firm that provides the contracted services of City Attorney Erica Augello.
“There have been a number of interest cards where the group of public employees (police officers) want to examine the opportunity to vote to create a union,” Eschenfelder said. “Those have been signed and submitted to the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC). The next step is requiring the city to respond within a certain period of time as to whether the proposed bargaining unit is the appropriate bargaining unit.”
The proposed union bargaining unit currently consists of eight officers (including one recently vacated officer’s unfilled position) and one sergeant.
The union-represented bargaining unit would not include Police Chief John Cosby, Lt. Lenard Diaz and police department clerk and public information officer, ChrisAnn Allen.
Cosby was the only member of the police department who attended the special meeting. I.U.P.A. Business Agent and Field Representative Bill Bjork attended the city meeting, but he did not speak or participate.
“I want to make it clear that this does not mean the union is formed,” Eschenfelder said. “There is a concept that PERC examines, which is called ‘unity of interest.’ In this case, PERC wants to know what the city’s position is with respect to a sergeant being in the same bargaining unit as officers”
He advised the commission not to expend any resources to fight the proposed unionization and to allow him to inform PERC that the city has no objections to sergeants and officers being represented as part of the same bargaining unit.
The commission reached unanimous consensus to allow Eschenfelder to register no objection on that point.
Eschenfelder said PERC would schedule an election. He said if at least five of the eight potential union members vote yes, the department would be unionized.. The city would then be legally obligated to negotiate with the union on behalf of the Bradenton Beach union members. It’s also possible that the proposed unionization could be voted down.
MCSO discussion
Prior to the recent unionization efforts, the Bradenton Beach Commission never entertained the idea of replacing the city’s police department with contracted law enforcement services provided by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
The city of Anna Maria does not have its own police department and the sheriff’s office has long provided that city’s contracted law enforcement services. The city of Anna Maria is paying the sheriff’s office approximately $1.7 million for the law enforcement services being provided during the current 2025-26 fiscal year. The city of Holmes Beach has its own police department, which is operating with a $5.6 million budget for the current fiscal year. The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and the Holmes Beach Police Department are not unionized.
When discussing an agreement with the sheriff’s office for such services, Eschenfelder referenced the April 21 cease and desist letter sent to Mayor John Chappie, the city commissioners, Chief Cosby and Lt. Diaz by attorney Bradley Rothman, from the Naples-based Weldon and Rothman Law Firm.
“You are familiar with the correspondence that was received by the union lawyer saying that this is nothing more than anti-union hostility and so forth,” Eschenfelder said.
Rothman’s letter alleges police officers have received “explicit threats of reprisal for protected (union) activity.”
Regarding that allegation, Eschenfelder said, “The city completely understands and respects that folks are entitled to be members of a public sector union, but you all (as elected officials) have a separate fiduciary duty to the taxpayers, and a budget, to always make sure you’re doing the right thing.”
In addition to serving as police chief, Cosby has served as the city’s public works director since Tom Woodard vacated that position in May of 2024.
“You have a police chief who has made it known to many of you that his intention is to retire. He has interest in being the public works director for the city and there’s going to be a transition there in the police department,” Eschenfelder said.
Eschenfelder said he’s had preliminary discussions with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office with respect to a transition to county-provided law enforcement services. He said that transition could result in substantial cost savings for the city.
“I have worked with the general counsel’s office for the past few days on what would the transition look like,” Eschenfelder said. “Yesterday, I was informed by the sheriff’s office that their preliminary review of our staffing needs is that they would be able to perform that role for $1.5 million, and likely less. That is based upon eight deputies and one sergeant. When you look at your current budget of $2,128,000 for municipal policing, that’s a saving for the city of $628,000 a year.”
Cosby asked if the sheriff’s office indicated a timeframe as to when it could start providing those law enforcement services if a formal proposal is later approved by the city commission.
Eschenfelder said the sheriff’s office is flexible, but the county-provided law enforcement services would likely begin on Oct. 1, which is the first day of the city and the county’s 2026-27 fiscal year.
Regarding the potential loss of officers during a transition period, Eschenfelder said, “If the city does approve an agreement and a significant number of our officers go find other jobs, which could occur, it may become unviable to maintain the police department over the summer months. Obviously, the sheriff will begin earlier.”
Eschenfelder said the sheriff’s office would need to hire additional deputies to accommodate Bradenton Beach’s law enforcement services and that could possibly include hiring current Bradenton Beach officers if they qualify and choose to apply.
“We can continue the status quo unless we run into that situation where there’s a mass exodus of officers,” Cosby said.
Eschenfelder said the commission could discontinue its discussion about the sheriff’s office and maintain the city police department even if the officers vote to unionize. He said the city would then need to negotiate a contract with the union and that annual contract would likely exceed $2 million.
“Or do we want to direct staff to negotiate with the sheriff?” he said.
Commissioner Ralph Cole said the commission needs to explore all possible funding sources and police service options.
Eschenfelder said the commission could raise property taxes to generate additional revenues, but there aren’t many other potential funding sources the city can turn to. Commissioner Debbie Scaccianoce noted the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis hope to eliminate property taxes on homesteaded residential properties.
Cosby noted total aggregate value of all Bradenton Beach properties is much less than it is in Holmes Beach, Anna Maria and the Manatee County portion of Longboat Key. Cosby said the additional property tax revenues generated in those neighboring cities provide more funds for law enforcement operations and allow for higher officer salaries.
The commission expressed no support for increasing property taxes to generate more tax revenues for police services.
“We have a fiduciary responsibility,” Mayor Chappie said. “We are sworn to maintain the health, safety and well-being of our community and the police department is the key to that. I think we need to continue the negotiations with the proposal from the sheriff’s department.”
Scaccianoce’s brother, Sam Speciale, served as a Bradenton Beach police officer and then served as the Bradenton Beach police chief for many years until his retirement in 2021.
“I have a special attachment to the police department,” Scaccianoce said. “I love our guys and I love our police department, but we really are in a crossroads here financially. It’s our duty as commissioners to at least look at that proposal from the sheriff.”
Eschenfelder addressed the city’s current police budget.
“The $2,128,000 budget is your current budget without a union contract, so the issue really is that maintaining a local police department has its costs. There are certain costs because it’s a small agency and you don’t have economy of scale,” he said. “You pay your own insurance premiums, workers’ comp, vehicles, vehicle maintenance, and all that would be handled in a much more efficient way with a larger agency.”
Eschenfelder said the sheriff’s office currently has no interest in occupying the police station building on Church Street and the city could use that space for other city operations.
Cosby addressed the special policing services currently provided by the police department in the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) district that includes the Bridge Street business district. Separate CRA funds are used to pay for the additional policing that occurs along Bridge Street during peak weekend and holiday periods.
Cosby said the sheriff’s office’s initial proposal does not include additional CRA patrols.
“You would have to make a request for off-duty deputies and we would pay them (using CRA funds), but there’s no guarantee that anybody’s going to sign up for it. There’s a lot of off-duty time offered to them throughout the county.”
Cosby noted the county currently contracts the city to patrol the county-owned beaches in Bradenton Beach. He said the sheriff’s office would have to assume those patrol and enforcement duties if the police department is eliminated. He also said the sheriff’s office would have to enforce the boats and derelict vessels that anchor in the city’s waterways, including the unmanaged mooring area south of the Bradenton Beach Pier.
“Sometimes you pay more for something because you like it better and it’s more suitable for our situation,” Cole said. “I’m torn about this. I think we should keep all our options open.”
Commissioner Scott Bear, who also serves as the CRA chair, pointed out that the CRA has $134,000 in its budget for CRA policing.
“That would be an additional cost, so I’d like to see that added into the quote from the sheriff,” Bear said.
Commissioner Robert Talham asked how many of the city’s officers voted for unionization.
“PERC would not have sent a requirement for us to respond if a majority of the potential bargaining unit members hadn’t signed interest cards,” Eschenfelder said. “We’re not allowed to know who did. The gentleman who initiated this discussion among the officers has since left the force.”
“He poked the bee’s nest and left?” Talham said of that officer’s departure.
Regarding future negotiations with a unionized police department, Talham said, “When we talk to these people, are we talking in the officers’ interest or are we talking to a union machine?”
Eschenfelder said the union would decide who sits at the negotiating table on behalf of its members: “If a majority of officers say we vote to hand our fate over to the union, then from that point forward we can’t stick our nose behind the curtain and say ‘Who are you sending? Why isn’t the officer here at the table?’ That is none of our business. Whoever shows up across the table from us, we are to presume is speaking on behalf of and in the best interest of the officers.”
“I guess the sheriff’s proposal is looking mighty wonderful,” Talham responded.
Cosby said county deputies are fully equipped and provided with equipment the city’s officers currently don’t have.
“Right now, we don’t have body cams, we don’t have cams in cars, we need to replace our radios and all this stuff is extremely expensive,” Cosby said. “Most of the (law enforcement) agencies are also accredited. These are things, if unionized, that the union will expect us to do.”
Public comment
Bradenton Beach resident Bill Clemens was the only meeting attendee to provide public comment.
“The dollars being spoken about aren’t quite apples-to-apples. I wonder why is there a $600,000 swing? I understand there’s an economy of scale with the sheriff’s department, but are there some things they’re not providing? Or are there things we could do here to maintain our police department at a closer cost?” Clemens said.
Eschenfelder said the $628,000 difference between the city’s budgeted policing costs and the sheriff’s office’s proposed costs are due to cost efficiencies the sheriff’s office experiences as a much larger agency.
“I like what Mr. Clemens said about apples-to-apples,” Scaccianoce said. “We need to have an apples-to-apples comparison. What would overtime look like as far as the sheriff for special events and the increase in population during season? This is not black and white. There are a lot of variables involved.”
Motion adopted
The commission unanimously approved the following motion: “To approve continuing with a formal request from Sheriff (Rick) Wells for an operational analysis to provide an agreement for the city of Bradenton Beach for the sheriff to take over the law enforcement activities of the city of Bradenton Beach.”
No final decisions have been made in regard to who will provide the city’s law enforcement services and further discussion and decision-making will take place at a future commission meeting or meetings. The commission is scheduled to meet next on Thursday, May 7, at 6 p.m.
Union rep speaks
After the meeting ended, Bjork, the union representative, spoke to the media.
“We’re not adversarial,” he said. “I came here to listen to what the proposals and thoughts are. It’s just sad that we filed a petition with PERC and then, all of a sudden, they have a special meeting to discuss that PERC petition, and then also discuss having the deputies take over. I can appreciate their wanting to explore their options, but I would say in the long run they would be far better off with their own local police agency that they would have more control over, and with officers that have a good relationship with the community.”
The video recording of the entire April 23 meeting can be viewed here.
Sun reporter Joe Hendricks contributed to this story.
