BRADENTON BEACH – Former city Building Official Darin Cushing alleges that he saw the city attorney and a well-known developer drive around the city together looking for hurricane-damaged structures and properties after Hurricanes Helene and Milton struck Anna Maria Island last year and pressured him to condemn them.
He also alleges the city attorney, mayor and police chief threatened his employment status on several occasions for not complying with permitting and inspection requests made by the developer.
Cushing made his public allegations during a town hall meeting that District 3 County Commissioner Tal Siddique held at the Island Branch Library on Feb. 13. During the meeting, Cushing handed Siddique a four-page letter that expands upon the allegations he made during the town hall meeting.
Siddique provided The Sun a copy of Cushing’s letter on Feb. 15. The next day, Cushing confirmed by email that his town hall comments and his letter pertained to Mayor John Chappie, City Attorney Ricinda Perry and Police Chief John Cosby. He did not name the developer.
“Based on this person’s track record of retaliation and lawsuits, I am hesitant to spell out a name. Regardless, no matter who the developer is, I was asked and even threatened with my job, to engage in unethical practice, which I refused to do,” he wrote The Sun in an email on Sunday.
Toward the end of his letter, Cushing wrote, “There is so much more I could tell you about the goings on, where there have been dealings with this developer and the city attorney and the mayor and many people can corroborate them. Including eyewitness accounts of the attorney and the developer driving through town following the storms, picking out houses and the developer asking me to condemn them; stating that he was told by the attorney that if we hurried up, the city was going to get the houses demolished and hauled away using FEMA dollars. I refused and only condemned properties that were either completely destroyed or in damage of collapse. Every time I refused to do his bidding, I was questioned by one of the three city staff about it, always with pressure being put upon me to just do it.”
Contrary to his statement about only condemning properties that were either destroyed or in danger of collapse, Cushing did issue a condemnation order to Tennessee resident and “Love Shack” cottage owner Dan Ibach on Oct. 31.
Unlike the neighboring cottage that was completely destroyed by Hurricane Helene, Ibach’s cottage suffered no structural damage and had already been boarded up and sealed off by the time Cushing issued the condemnation order.
According to Ibach, he then received a call from Perry, who said the city could likely assist with his demolition costs. Ibach told Perry his cottage was not condemnable and would not be demolished. He contacted his attorney and the condemnation order was soon lifted. Ibach’s beachfront property is located next to Shawn Kaleta’s Seabreeze at Anna Maria Inn property.
Gash Caudill also staved off the city’s condemnation of the duplex on Gulf Drive North he shares with his mother.
At the city’s request, Cushing was recently suspended, due in part to a hurricane restoration-related permitting dispute between the city and Drift-In bar owner Derek Williams; and due in part to Facebook comments Cushing made in defense of his administrative decision to issue Williams’ permits without city commission approval. Cushing was later terminated by the SAFEbuilt/M.T. Causley development services firm that has provided Bradenton Beach’s contracted building officials for nearly two decades.
Town hall comments
The town hall discussion about Bradenton Beach began with Williams commenting on the delays he’s encountered trying to repair, renovate and reopen the Drift-In.
“I have a permit. The building official (Cushing) that worked on my project is sitting in this room. I worked with him, the city planner, the code enforcement folks. I went through every step and all I’ve gotten is government overreach, private property issues. I tried to follow every letter of the law.
“It’s definitely a land grab. Somebody needs to step up and say that’s wrong. All the way along, this is a back-to-back disaster. This is third-world stuff and it needs to be addressed as the highest level. It’s absolutely a tragedy. It is a clown car show but it’s hurting real people,” Williams said.
Speaking next, Cushing said, “I’m the person who issued Derek’s permit. It was done properly. It was done correctly and it was done by the book.”
He then referenced the letter he later handed to Siddique and said he would hit the high points rather than read the entire letter aloud. He noted he’s been a licensed building official for 25 years and a certified floodplain manager for longer than that.
“I’ve been there since December of 2023. There has been constant, constant threats to me,” he said. “I know what I’m doing. We were getting things done, we were moving forward, we were doing things the right way. But every time that I didn’t do that for a particular developer – and you all know who I’m talking about – I was threatened. I was threatened by the mayor, the attorney and the police chief: ‘Do we just need to get another building official. Why won’t you do this for him?’ Things that were illegal,” Cushing said.
“I have a code of ethics I have to follow and I don’t want to lose that license. That’s my livelihood. I lost my job now and the company I worked for fired me too because I retaliated about the things that were being said about me – slanderous things they said about me and those things are not true. There’s dirty stuff going on in that city and somebody needs to look into it,” Cushing said.
“Our state statute says that I, the building official for that jurisdiction, will perform the duties under my responsibility without interference from any person. Not the mayor, not the city attorney, not anybody,” Cushing said.
Siddique said he’s been following The Sun’s reporting on the Drift-In permitting issues and other concerns being reported in Bradenton Beach.
“I have not been able to get in contact with anyone from Bradenton Beach. I have not had one phone call back from Bradenton Beach since November. I left a voicemail this morning. I have no idea what the hell’s going on,” Siddique said.
Cushing said he recently interviewed for a position with Manatee County but he fears the “slanderous things” said about him may impact his ability to get a job.
Cushing’s letter
Regarding the start of his tenure in Bradenton Beach, Cushing wrote, “A certain developer, whom I’d known from my time as building official of Longboat Key, began asking me to issue permits that had been placed on hold for various reasons by the previous building official (Steve Gilbert). I reviewed the permits and told the applicant what needed to be done in order for the permits to be released.
“Several times over the next few months, I would get questioned by the city attorney, the mayor and several times by the police chief about what was holding this developer’s permits up. Each time, I would explain what needed to be done, but at the same time felt pressured to just give him his permits.”
Marina
Cushing’s letter addresses the stop-work order he issued to the owner of the Bradenton Beach Marina, developer Shawn Kaleta, when a new bar opened there.
“It had been built and the opening announced with no permits for construction, nor did they have a liquor license. Within hours, the developer called me and said, ‘I talked to the city attorney and the mayor and they’re all good with it.’ ”
According to his letter, Cushing told the developer this was not the attorney or mayor’s decision to make and he would still need to obtain all the needed permits and inspections before the stop-work order was lifted.
Pines
Regarding the hurricane-damaged Pines Trailer Park (owned by Kaleta and investment partners), Cushing wrote, “Following the hurricanes, I was immediately asked for the damage assessment status of the Pines by the developer. He also asked me if I would go ahead and condemn the whole park. I responded that I could not do that and that a proper damage assessment needed to be done.”
His letter notes it was later determined that only a few mobile homes needed to be condemned and the rest could be rehabilitated.
“I was asked no less than 10 times, by either the developer, the attorney, the mayor or the police chief, if I was going to write to the Pines (mobile home) owners and tell them they were done.”
Regarding the Drift-In permitting issues, Cushing acknowledges he erred in not routing the tiki bar permit to the fire marshal for an initial review of the tiki structure and its roof materials.
Cushing’s letter says the city received approximately 10 change of contractor forms from “said developer” a few days before he was suspended. According to Cushing, he told the developer he would not issue the change of contractor permits until all needed documents were correctly completed.
“Two days later, in a senior staff meeting, I was essentially threatened by all of the senior staff – attorney, mayor and police chief – that I needed to release those permits to him; or again, ‘maybe we need to get a different building official,’ ” Cushing states in his letter.
Regarding the city attorney and a developer driving around town looking for properties to condemn, Cushing told The Sun on Sunday, “I personally witnessed them driving around together and other people (residents and city employees) visibly witnessed this happening on multiple occasions following the storms. Several owners told me verbally that this had happened to them.”
No response from city
On Feb. 14, The Sun asked Chappie if he wanted to comment on the town hall allegations Cushing made about being threatened by the mayor, city attorney and police chief. Chappie said he had no comment.
On Feb. 15, The Sun sent Cosby a text message containing a link to the town hall meeting video and seeking his comments on Cushing’s allegations. Cosby did not respond.
On Feb. 16, The Sun sent an email to Chappie, Perry and Cosby seeking their comments on these allegations. The email included a link to the archived town hall meeting video and a copy of Cushing’s letter. As of press time, The Sun had not received a response from the city.
The archived video of the town hall meeting can be viewed on YouTube by searching for “Tal Siddique Town Hall @ Island Branch Library.” The Bradenton Beach discussion begins at the 22-minute mark and continues to the 40-minute mark. The letter can be viewed in its entirety below.
(Sun reporter Leslie Lake contributed to this story)
Related coverage:
Pines homeowners offered more time in exchange for titles
City approves building official, floodplain manager candidates
Chiles/Perry/Kaleta not-for-profit dissolved
FEMA review may jeopardize flood insurance, buildings
City attorney explains Cushing suspension
Public speaks out in favor of Drift-In reopening
Letter to the Editor: Drift-In owners appeal to governor for help
Commissioners discuss restructuring building department
Bradenton Beach building official suspended pending hearing
Major development hearing required for Drift-In tiki
Kaleta solicits post-hurricane development investors
‘Love Shack’ cottage owner staves off condemnation
