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Commissioner Van Ostenbridge produces call log

Commissioner Van Ostenbridge produces call log

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Community News, Manatee County.

MANATEE COUNTY – County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge has provided paralegal Michael Barfield with a call log that details calls made and received on his personal phone.

As the District 3 county commissioner, Van Ostenbridge represents Anna Maria Island, Cortez, the Manatee County portion of Longboat Key and west Bradenton.

Van Ostenbridge provided Barfield his phone records last week in response to the public records request Barfield made on Nov. 20.

As of Monday afternoon, Barfield said he had identified most of the calls listed in Van Ostenbridge’s call log, but he was still reviewing those records.

Van Ostenbridge’s phone log reveals who he talked to, when he talked to them and for how long, but it does not provide any details on the content of those phone conversations.

The Florida Sunshine Law prohibits members of the same county or city commission from discussing official or foreseeably official county business in any setting other than a properly noticed public meeting. The Sunshine Law does not prohibit members of the same elected body from discussing matters unrelated to their official government business.

Van Ostenbridge and Baugh calls

Van Ostenbridge was elected on Nov 3.

According to the call log he provided to Barfield, Van Ostenbridge and Baugh communicated by phone 15 times between Nov. 4 and Dec. 1. Their calls totaled 129 minutes and ranged in length from one minute to 23 minutes.

Van Ostenbridge and Baugh spoke for 17 minutes on Nov. 5, 23 minutes on Nov. 12, 14 minutes on Nov. 13, 10 minutes on Nov. 16 and for six minutes and 11 minutes on Nov. 18.

One day later, during the special county commission meeting Van Ostenbridge requested, Van Ostenbridge made a motion to put County Administrator Cheri Coryea on notice that her termination would be discussed on Jan. 6.

Baugh, Satcher and Commissioner George Kruse supported the motion made by Van Ostenbridge with no advance notice given to the public. But on Dec. 10, Kruse withdrew his support for further discussion on Coryea’s termination and those efforts have now ceased.

During the Nov. 19 meeting, Baugh also introduced a county resolution pertaining to commission meeting procedures, which was adopted by the same 4-3 vote with no advance notice given to the public.

When contacted Monday, Van Ostenbridge provided the following response via text message: “Vanessa Baugh is a very good friend and we speak regularly. I turned over all my calls with the other commissioners in the spirit of transparency. I did not discuss county business on any of those calls.”

Commissioner Van Ostenbridge produces call log
County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh has provided paralegal Michael Barfield with a copy of her personal call log. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

When contacted Monday, Baugh provided a similar response: “Just personal conversations between two people who became friends on the campaign trail. We campaigned very closely together and forged a friendship.”

Calls with other commissioners

According to Van Ostenbridge’s call log, he engaged in five phone conversations with Satcher between Nov. 7 and Nov. Nov. 24. Those calls totaled 39 minutes and included a 21-minute call on Nov. 7 and a 13-minute call on Nov. 24.

According to his call log, Van Ostenbridge initiated two phone conversations with Commissioner Misty Servia: a nine-minute call on Nov. 8 and a 13-minute call on Nov. 17 – the same day Van Ostenbridge, Satcher and Kruse were sworn in as commissioners.

Regarding her phone conversations with Van Ostenbridge, Servia said, “I endorsed Kevin and we had a friendly relationship, with messages of ‘Congratulations on being sworn in,’ and, ‘Are you getting settled into your new office?’ I wanted to see him grow and succeed. It goes without saying that I was extremely disappointed when he suggested firing our county administrator, and I had no idea that he planned to do that just hours after being sworn in.”

According to his call log, Van Ostenbridge engaged in three phone conversations with Kruse between Nov. 4 and Dec. 1, for a total of 15 minutes.

According to his call log, Van Ostenbridge initiated a one-minute call to Commissioner Carol Whitmore on Nov. 16 and Whitmore initiated consecutive one-minute and five-minute calls to Van Ostenbridge on Nov. 18.

Additional calls

Private citizens who do not hold public office or work for a local governmental agency are not subject to the Sunshine Law, but Van Ostenbridge’s call log provides additional insight into those he’s in frequent contact with.

According to his call log, Van Ostenbridge and developer Carlos Beruff had nine phone communications for a total of 67 minutes between Nov. 11 and Nov. 21.

The pair spoke for 15 minutes on Nov. 11, for 17 minutes at 7:25 p.m. on Nov. 17, for seven minutes at 1:24 p.m. on Nov. 19 and for a total of 14 minutes on Nov. 20 during three consecutive calls that occurred between 6:39 a.m. and 7:17 a.m.

According to Van Ostenbridge’s call log, he spoke to developer Michael Neal six times for a total of 91 minutes between Nov. 12 and Nov. 20; and to developer Pat Neal three times for a total of 21 minutes.

According to his call log, Van Ostenbridge and Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown engaged in 10 phone conversations for a total of 80 minutes between Nov. 16 and Nov. 20.

According to his call log, Van Ostenbridge and campaign supporter Bob Spencer, from West Coast Tomato, spoke nine times for a total of 55 minutes.

Barfield comments

When contacted Monday, Barfield commented on the calls made between commissioners.

“They would have you believe that all these calls were completely about friendship, but it appears they were taking steps behind the scenes to terminate Cheri Coryea, and to bring forth Commissioner Baugh’s resolution,” Barfield said.

“There’s still pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that are missing. Unfortunately, the picture coming into focus raises very troubling concerns about commissioners routinely chatting with each other on key dates surrounding the efforts to terminate the county administrator,” Barfield said.

Commissioner Van Ostenbridge produces call log
Paralegal and Sunshine Law expert Michael Barfield continues to investigate the private communications of four Manatee County commissioners. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

Barfield also commented on some of the other phone calls that took place.

“When you start piecing everything together, it tells me there are some key people acting as conduits between the commission, as well as the commissioners talking among themselves,” Barfield said.

Barfield said he was still reviewing the call log he received from Baugh on Christmas Eve. His partial review of Baugh’s calls between Nov. 3 and Nov. 11 indicate Baugh engaged in four calls with Van Ostenbridge and 12 calls with Kruse during that period.

According to Barfield, attorney George Levesque, from the GrayRobinson law firm in Tallahassee, is representing Baugh, and attorney Morgan Bentley is representing Van Ostenbridge.

Related coverage

 

Notes and texts shed light on Coryea termination efforts

 

Commission abandons Coryea termination efforts

Kruse call log reveals private conversations between commissioners

Call log reveals private conversations among county commissioners

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Community News, Manatee County.

MANATEE COUNTY – County Commissioner George Kruse’s personal call log indicates he has had numerous private phone conversations with commissioners Vanessa Baugh, James Satcher and Kevin Van Ostenbridge since being elected.

It is not illegal for members of the same elected body to communicate by phone, text message or email, but it is a violation of Florida Sunshine Law if they discuss anything that has, will or could foreseeably come before them as official county business.

On Tuesday, Dec. 8, Kruse provided paralegal Michael Barfield with a call log and a copy of a text message exchange he had with Satcher. Kruse produced those records in response to the public records request he received from Barfield on Friday, Nov. 20.

Baugh, Satcher, Van Ostenbridge and former commissioner Steve Jonsson received similar records requests and were originally given until Friday, Dec. 4 to respond. Barfield made his records request according to Florida’s Public Records Act.

According to Kruse’s call log, he had, or attempted to have, 16 telephone communications with Baugh during the Nov. 3 to Nov. 20 timeframe specified in Barfield’s records request.

Kruse had three phone communications with Satcher and two with Van Ostenbridge during that same period. He also made one call and received one call from developer Carlos Beruff, and on Nov. 20, Kruse called 12th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Edward Nicholas.

Nicholas swore Kruse in as a county commissioner on Tuesday, Nov. 17. Satcher and Van Ostenbridge were also sworn in that day as new commissioners, joined by Baugh, an incumbent who was elected to another term.

Later that day, the newly-reconfigured commission participated in a commission work meeting. Kruse left Satcher a voice mail at 6:39 p.m. and called him again at 10:18 p.m., according to his call log. At 10:22 p.m., Kruse called Baugh, and then called her again at 9 a.m. the following morning.

At 6:45 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19, Kruse sent Satcher a text message that said, “Ignore our call the other night. Stick to original.”

Kruse call log reveals private conversations between commissioners
George Kruse provided Michael Barfield a copy of this text message exchange he had with Commissioner James Satcher. – Submitted | Michael Barfield

During the work meeting that took place later that morning, the commission adopted by 4-3 vote a county resolution presented by Baugh with no public notice. The adopted resolution now allows the commission to change its meeting procedures while a meeting is in progress, with no advance notice to the public.

“Any of the foregoing rules may be waived at any board meeting then in session by a majority vote of the board, unless such waiver is in conflict with state or local law,” according to Resolution 20-191.

Van Ostenbridge then initiated a discussion, with no advance public notice, that resulted in a 4-3 vote to put County Administrator Cheri Coryea on notice that her potential termination would be discussed and determined on Wednesday, Jan. 6.

Commissioners Reggie Bellamy, Misty Servia and Carol Whitmore opposed the Nov. 19 actions initiated by Baugh and Van Ostenbridge.

Bellamy said the efforts to terminate Coryea seemed “premeditated” and Whitmore said they seemed “orchestrated.”

Barfield began submitting his records requests the following day.

Barfield’s reaction

“It’s a bombshell,” Barfield said Wednesday afternoon when discussing these initial discoveries.

According to Barfield, the three new commissioners became subject to the Public Records Act and the Florida Sunshine Law once the election results were known on Nov. 3. As an incumbent, Baugh has long been required to comply with the Public Records Act and the Sunshine Law.

“There’s 16 calls between Vanessa Baugh and George Kruse at various times,” Barfield said.

Kruse call log reveals private conversations between commissioners
Commissioner Vanessa Baugh had 16 phone communications with Commissioner George Kruse. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

“That message about ‘ignore the other night’ is so telling, coming hours before the Nov. 19 meeting began,” Barfield said about the Kruse-Satcher text message exchange.

“It seems to me this is strong evidence of coordination in advance of a meeting,” Barfield said regarding the various communications between commissioners.

Barfield said Baugh had not provided him with an original draft copy of the resolution she presented with no public notice.

He said Baugh’s official county emails indicate she had a conversation with the county attorney’s office on Nov. 18 about her requested resolution, but did not provide the county attorney’s office with a digital copy of the document.

“To date, she has not produced that record. Vanessa did provide a photograph of the draft language of the resolution,” Barfield said.

Barfield questions whether Baugh or someone else wrote the original draft of that resolution.

Still awaiting records

Barfield said he received some preliminary records from Van Ostenbridge Wednesday afternoon and was told he’d receive copies of Van Ostenbridge’s text messages and personal call log on Thursday.

Regarding Baugh, he said, “I received a couple emails from her official county account and a phone log from her official county phone that has virtually nothing on it. I’ve received nothing from her private email accounts or her private cell phone, including her text messages and call log.”

Barfield said Satcher produced some records Tuesday night that he was still reviewing.

When asked where all of this might be headed, Barfield said, “I’m still collecting evidence.”

Kruse call log reveals private conversations between commissioners
Commissioner James Satcher received a summons when he arrived for Thursday morning’s work meeting. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

Just before the start of Thursday morning’s county commission work meeting at the Bradenton Area Convention Center in Palmetto, Satcher was served with a summons from the Manatee County Clerk of Court.

According to Barfield, the summons formally started the five-day window for Satcher to show cause to the court as to why the records request should not be granted.

As he walked into the meeting area, Satcher said, “I just got served. I love this job.”

Kruse call log reveals private conversations between commissioners

Paralegal Michael Barfield attended the county commission work meeting Thursday morning. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

Related coverage:

 

Satcher named as defendant in public records action

 

Sunshine Law expert seeks records from county commissioners