County Commission Approves Legal Costs for Sunshine Suits

BRADENTON – At Tuesday's meeting, Manatee County Commissioners voted unanimously to authorize an expenditure of $60,000 in public money to pay the costs associated with a sunshine suit waged against commissioners Kevin Van Ostenbridge and James Satcher.

Van Ostenbridge and Satcher were sued by paralegal and public records specialist Michael Barfield. The "legal expenses" requested for reimbursement by the commissioners included their attorney fees and costs, as well as a settlement they entered into with the plaintiff. The expenses were not itemized to indicate how much each would cost taxpayers.

Commissioners Satcher and Van Ostenbridge were among four commissioners targeted by Barfield after they seemed to act in concert in moving to quickly get rid of former county administrator Cheri Coryea, just after the new board was sworn in last November. The other two commissioners were Vanessa Baugh and George Kruse. Kruse produced all records that were requested and was excluded from the suit. Barfield filed suit against Baugh, Van Ostenbridge, and Satcher after failing to receive all items "in a timely manner." Baugh's suit is ongoing and was therefore not subject to Tuesday's vote.

County Attorney Bill Clague, who, along with the county administrator, is one of two employees who serves at the will of the board, recommended approval of the request. Clague said that a total of $6,000 of the total amount was to be paid to Mr. Barfield to settle the case, $15,750 would be for Commissioner Satcher's attorney fees, while Van Ostenbridge's attorney fees totaled $34,150.

"I do understand that there may be concerns about these amounts, but I will be honest with you, in my world, what I deal with every day, these are small numbers," said Clague. "Litigation is expensive. It is far more expensive than most people realize."

Local attorney Jennifer Hamey disagreed with Clague's assessment and submitted a memo detailing her objections, which can be read here.

Ultimately, the board voted unanimously to approve the payment of the settlement agreement.