County Commission Sacks Coryea Despite Last Minute Pleas

BRADENTON – Several Manatee County Commissioners tried earnestly to get their fellow board members to reverse course and keep county administrator Cheri Coryea in place for at least one more year until a more orderly transition could be achieved. Alas, the efforts proved futile.

Commissioner Reggie Bellamy criticized the way in which despite having chosen not to hold BOCC chair Vanessa Baugh accountable for her role in last week's vaccination scandal, the new majority eagerly moved forward with axing Coryea, even though no one had ever articulated why the 31-year county employee was being forced out. Bellamy made a passionate plea to his fellow commissioners, but it fell on deaf ears. His motion to keep her in place failed 4-3 with only commissioners Misty Servia and Carol Whitmore joining him.

Coryea, the first female county administrator in Manatee County history, had a target on her back since being elevated from deputy county administrator in 2019, as it was well known that politically-powerful developer Carlos Beruff did not want her to ascend to the position. Three candidates supported by Beruff won their elections in November–George Kruse, Kevin Van Ostenbridge and James Satcher.

On their second day as commissioners, Van Ostenbridge moved to fire Coryea after asking for her resignation prior to the meeting. Coryea's contract required 15-day notice before a final termination vote and, prior to that vote, Commissioner Kruse flipped, only to flip still once more in an odd diatribe during a commission meeting, in which he'd also admitted to having had an extramarital affair during his campaign.

That set the process back in motion, leading to Tuesday's vote. In order to avoid potentially-expensive wrongful-termination litigation, the board approved a costly separation agreement but had no plans in place for how to move forward, despite the idea that the prevailing faction had been attempting to remove Coryea for more than three months.

A proposed plan to bring in former Sarasota County Commissioner and attorney Charles Hines as interim administrator also failed 4-3(Whitmore, Servia, and Bellamy voted in favor), creating even more uncertainty.