A Final Farewell to Tommy Vayias and Cafe on the Beach

ANNA MARIA ISLAND -- Call it a kiss to go along with the screwing, but I just couldn't let the Manatee Beach Concession change hands without giving my final thoughts on the matter. Having covered the issue from cradle to grave, it remains a mystery to me how Tommy and the gang ended up on the wrong end of such an obvious hatchet job.

I spent the last month on Anna Maria Island (and coincidently across the street), so I had the good fortune to visit much more often than usual as they prepared to say goodbye. Pancakes on the beach in the cool of the early morning, a glass of wine listening to Mike Sales as the sun set, or just pulling up a chair and downing a cold bottle of Mixon's orange juice after a morning jog – my trips were always pleasurable.

There was a certain sadness, a melancholy that hung over each occasion, but as I neared the last day it passed and I found myself angry once again. The new tenants, United Park Services, have reportedly offered jobs to all of the existing staff and will supposedly run the same all-you-can eat specials, and for all I know, it might not seem that different if I ever decide to return.

What angers me is the failure in the process to fairly award the county government contract to operate the concession. The current tenants were run off because of a long-held grudge against the landlord that they were subletting the space from and at a cost to the taxpayer. I can't help but seeing it as me subsidizing someone's (rhymes with fun seeker) personal grudge with my tax dollars, because the contract that was accepted was not as good as the one that the current tenants had offered, and certainly not as much as they would have ultimately paid had they been given the same chance to enter a second bid.

There was nothing fair or productive about the process through which the contract was awarded and much of it outright stunk of the exact sort funny business that is fueling drastic anti-government movements like Amendment 4. For the sake of anyone still not up to speed, I will beat the long-dead horse once again and outline the major points of this tragedy:

• If you want to receive the best deal for the taxpayers, have an open bid. A list of potential bidders was initially compiled and it was a fair one. Only a handful submitted bids, none of which were the current tenant P.S. Beach, who so many staff and commissioners had an issue with. Each should have been able to engage in an open and competitive bidding process, give a presentation to the BCC, and then a vote should have been held with everything out in the open.

• There was no reason why the county administrator should have met individually to "brief" each of the commissioners on the candidates. This stinks to high heaven of political back room engineering and flies in the face of Sunshine Laws.

• Even against such a stacked deck, Cafe on the Beach still submitted the best initial sealed bid. It was only after the committee went back to UPS and negotiated a second offer (that was still not truly equal to Cafe on the Beach's first bid) that the recommendation and presentation were given. There is no justifiable reason that Cafe on the Beach would not be allowed the same opportunity to re-bid, especially having given the highest initial offer when fairly compared (tables and chairs are not capital improvements).

The entire process seemed to demonstrate that it was a confluence of incompetence and corruption that sealed Tommy and the gang's fate. Some of the commissioners clearly did not understand the proposals, as was painfully demonstrated by their comments throughout the meetings, and they were undoubtedly more susceptible to outside influence as a result.

The proposals really weren't that complicated, so it was a shocking eye-opener to watch veteran county commissioners fumble with them and it did nothing to change my perception that the vast majority are utterly incapable of comprehending many of the issues that the board oversees.

Others, clearly understood the proposals, but had already made up their mind that it was out with the old and in with the new, and like typical politicians, spouted the talking points and reinforced misconceptions like the never-ending portrayal of the landlord (P.S. Beach) who'd had problems with the county, and the current tenant (who didn't) being one entity.

What initially surprised me was the audacity of prosecuting such an obvious and misplaced grudge against such ardent opposition. The community came out in droves to support the current tenants who'd done so much to improve the concession and were infuriated by the unfair process. Surely that had to account for something, right?

Apparently not, and as the months went on the board seemed only emboldened to ignore public outcry and even staff recommendations. Meeting after meeting, another seemingly easy call would go the opposite way, no matter how many petitions were signed or how much passionate public comment given.

Well, I for one hope the voters remember such audacity come November and I hope that any County Commissioner that loses their cushy $75,000 a year job remembers the Manatee County resident that ran the beach concession and the time they literally took his food from his table.

Editor's note: Commissioner Getman will not seek re-election. Commissioner Brown will face only a primary candidate this month, while commissioners Hayes and Bustle will not be up for re-election until 2012. Commissioners Whitmore, Chappie and McClash voted in favor of renegotiating with Cafe on the Beach.

Related Article: The Nostalgic Argument for Cafe on the Beach is a Loser, but it's Not the Only Argument to Make