BRADENTON BEACH – The city has gotten one step closer to finding a full-time replacement for former Building Official Darin Cushing. Cushing, a contractual employee of M.T. Causley, was suspended by the city on Jan. 22 and subsequently terminated by his employer.
At a Feb. 14 special city commission emergency work meeting, commissioners approved the hiring of former Manatee County employees Bill Palmer as building official and Sandy Tudor as floodplain manager.
Neither Palmer nor Tudor was present at the meeting.
According to Palmer’s LinkedIn account, he served as Manatee County Building Services Division Manager/County Building Official from January 2022 through February 2025. He was the Building Official/Floodplain Administrator for the City of St. Pete Beach from March 2000 through January 2022.
Tudor’s LinkedIn account states she has been Floodplain Section Manager of the Manatee County Building and Development Department since May 2022.
“The last regular meeting I volunteered to talk to some of my contacts at Manatee County for a building official and floodplain manager,” Commissioner Deborah Scaccianoce said. “I reached out to people that I worked with who I know have 20 plus years’ experience in building. She (Tudor) was a floodplain manager for Manatee County before she retired. I know her work ethic and she’s very well regarded. She agreed to talk to the mayor and city attorney, and she agreed to come on board to help us with what we’re going through right now.”
Scaccianoce also reached out to Palmer.
“He was available, and he also has years and years of coastal city experience,” she said. “He is very well-regarded. The mayor and city attorney had a conversation with him, and he also agreed to come on board and help us. He has all the certifications we need and all the experience we need.”
Bradenton Beach is under review by FEMA for the city’s post-hurricane building processes. That review could possibly jeopardize the city’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) discounts on flood insurance, and even the ability for city residents to obtain flood insurance.
“We’ve been in an emergency situation” since being hit by Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, Mayor John Chappie said. “We’ve done amazing in recovery, but we’re faced with a situation that we have to deal with in the recovery process and the FEMA guidelines. We need to be part of the National Flood Insurance Program. Every piece of property in our community benefits from that. There are many guidelines we are required to follow. We need people with experience and understanding of working with FEMA.”
Chappie said that the review process by FEMA may linger for years.
“They (FEMA) are going to come back and they’re going to be asking us for a lot of documentation, and this can go on for years,” he said. “It has gone on in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where they’ve actually forced people to tear down houses. Some of those houses weren’t in the same ownership after six years, but you have to follow the guidelines. “If you don’t, you can be yanked out of that NFIP. It’s scary stuff. Our city is not the only one that is experiencing the struggles and maneuvering through all the guidelines.”
Scaccianoce said Tudor has already begun to look through city ordinances to make sure they’re up to date.
“She’s willing to help us with that rating for the city so we can get a better rating,” she said. “We’ll have people now who are dedicated to the City of Bradenton Beach. They would be working to make our city better and get us where we need to be in the current situation.”
All the commissioners, with the exception of Jan Vosburgh, have spoken to the candidates.
Commissioner Scott Bear asked both Palmer and Tudor how long they expected to be in the positions, and both said about one year.
“The idea of hiring them is the right idea,” Bear said. “They will help us get out of the mess we’re in. A year from now, there’s the potential we may be back here and I think they’re great candidates.”
“In a year, we’ll re-evaluate it, but we’re in an emergency situation,” Scaccianoce said. “This is not permanent. We need to get them in here. We’re at a standstill and we can’t have that. Not for our citizens, not for our businesses. We have to get this moving.”
Palmer will be an employee of the city as opposed to being an appointed official. Removal or termination of an appointed official requires majority city commission approval. An employment contract is at will and can be terminated during a trial period, City Attorney Ricinda Perry said.
“In three months, if you decide to make him an appointed official, this is something we can always revisit at any point,” Perry said. “I have to think about FEMA and where we are with the hurricanes.”
“In talking to Bill, he said he’s going to retire in a year,” Commissioner Ralph Cole said. “It’s more of a temporary situation.”
Scaccianoce asked who would have authority over the building department.
“Ideally we would like a department head in the building department, especially as we are moving forward creating SOPs (standard operating procedures) and establishing standards and getting everything that’s needed from the hurricane recovery fallout, in looking at a delegation of duties, if you’re bringing Mr. Palmer on as an employee and not as an appointed official, you can give him the responsibility in his employment contract to supervise and delegate responsibilities to city staff,” Perry said.
Perry said the current remaining building department budget is $215,977 for fiscal year 2024-25. Palmer’s salary and benefits would be approximately $180,000. The remaining funds could be used for a part-time floodplain manager at a rate of $35 per hour.
Commissioners unanimously voted to approve Palmer as a full-time employee building official, as a non-appointed official, pending the completion of background and administrative requirements for hire. The commission reserved the option to appoint him as an appointed official at a future date.
Tudor was approved unanimously as a part time hire for floodplain manager.
City Clerk Terri Sanclemente will oversee the bookkeeping aspects of the building department and commissioners approved an annual salary increase of $5,000 for the increased duties.
The city remains under contract with M.T. Causley and that company will provide a city planner to Bradenton Beach at least until the contract expires in June.
