BOCC Rejects Settlement Offer in University Park Suit
Posted
Dennis Maley
BRADENTON – University Park residents appealed to the Manatee County Commission on Tuesday, pleading with board members to accept a settlement offer for a lawsuit seeking to reduce the considerable power of a recently created recreation district board. Commissioners wouldn't budge, and a recommendation by the county attorney's office to deny the offer was unanimously approved via the meeting's consent agenda.
Last week, former Manatee County Commissioner Robin DiSabatino sent an email to Commissioner Vanessa Baugh, whose district 5 includes University Park, asking her to pull the item from the consent agenda for discussion. DiSabatino claimed the county attorney's office failed to properly inform her of the ramifications of her vote last year to approve holding an election to decide whether the district would be formed. She asked a series of questions of her fellow commissioners in terms of whether what came to fruition matched their expectations.
On Tuesday, several UP residents who did not support the creation of the district echoed the same concerns, among them that the RD board could create unlimited assessments with the power to immediately foreclose on any property owners who do not pay them. Rich Garrett, a UP resident opposed to the deal, filed suit against both the county and the RD board. Garrett made a settlement offer to the county, offering to drop them from his suit if they amended the charter to give homeowners more say over financial matters like assessments and bonding (click here to view the settlement offer).
Commissioner Baugh responded on Tuesday that she'd gone back and watched the meeting twice since receiving the email and did not share her former colleagues' concerns. Baugh said that it was an issue that, no matter what happens, would be resolved by residents of the RD.
"I'm not going to change anything," said Baugh. "It's up to the residents at this point. There's nothing this board can do."
Without naming DiSabatino, Commissioner Carol Whitmore still managed to slam her former colleague. Whitmore said that "the former county commissioner that everyone was talking about" had plenty of time to research the information provided and had access to staff were she to have had any concerns.
"You should have done your homework," said Whitmore. "Because there were 100 pages for us to look at and you can always change your mind, but unfortunately she didn't change it when she was up here. It's nice to do it when you're not in office ..."
DiSabatino, who often feuded with other commissioners and the county attorney's office, had become somewhat isolated as a board member and opted not to seek a third term last November.
The purpose of creating the RD in the first place was to allow residents to purchase the community's golf club from developer John Neal, who was given the property by his father Pat, a former state senator and the politically-connected head of Neal Communities. The county commission did not create the RD itself but rather approved the process of allowing residents to vote on whether it would be created.
While the overwhelming majority of voters approved the RD (around 80 percent), opponents slammed the process for being driven by misinformation and "strong-arm tactics" designed to instill fear that the developers would put up large condos on the golf course property that would tank property values. They also claimed that the purchase price was vastly inflated.
Opponents noted that some property owners were not allowed to vote while renters were. They complained that few knew that they would be giving the RD board so much power and that it would become impossible to sell their homes as potential buyers would likely be scared off by the uncertainty of future assessments.
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