On Friday evening, September 8, 2023, an item was added to the Manatee County Commission September 12 meeting agenda. Item 55 was a motion to move the Manatee County Clerk of Circuit Court’s Historical Resources Department to Manatee County’s Sports and Leisure Department.
The Historical Resources Department consists of four historical museums: the Florida Maritime Museum, the Manatee County Agricultural Museum, the Manatee Village Historical Park, and the Palmetto Historical Park. It also includes a historic archive, the Manatee County Historical Records Library. The sites are owned or leased by various nonprofit groups (except the Florida Maritime Museum, which is owned by Manatee County).
Through management agreements between the Clerk of Circuit Court and the nonprofit groups (or Manatee County in the case of the Florida Maritime Museum), all had been placed under the care of the Clerk of Circuit Court over time, beginning in 1983.
At the September 12 meeting, commissioners, county staff, and the county administrator outlined increasing attendance, better marketing, and more efficient communication between the museums and the county as reasons for the change. Despite multiple community members speaking passionately against this motion, it passed 6-1, with only Commissioner George Kruse dissenting.
At that meeting, Commissioner Jason Bearden assured that “nothing was going to change,” Commissioner Amanda Ballard stated, "Employees need to know this is the county wanting to be more involved.”
These commissioners' statements were both right and wrong. While Commissioner Bearden predicted no changes, he was correct only up until April of 2024. When approved by the Manatee County Commission in September of 2023, the 2023-2024 budget included funding for the Clerk’s Office to support the Historical Resources Department as usual. Everything proceeded normally; staff remained employees of the Clerk’s Office, and purchases and payments ran through that office.
However, at an April 2024 meeting to discuss budgets for 2024-2025, the clerk’s representatives were abruptly informed not to include Historical Resources in the office’s budget request. In the following weeks, it became clear that while Commissioner Ballard’s statement that the county wanted to be more involved might be true, it was unclear as to what extent.
It has been three months since that initial budget meeting. A new Director of Historical Resources was hired by Manatee County. Still, while being reassured verbally that their jobs are secure and that their accrued vacation and sick time will be preserved, Clerk Historical Resources employees have yet to receive anything official in writing regarding employment or positions.
The nonprofits that own or lease the properties involved have hired an attorney to negotiate agreements for them. While the county staff have made verbal promises, they only recently provided a proposed agreement, and it is only for one of the sites. The clerk, as instructed, did not include Historical Resources in her budget, yet the county has not officially released its own budget showing that Historical Resources is included in theirs.
Ironically, while the board promised increasing attendance, better marketing, and more efficient communication, the failure to prepare for the transfer has led staff to decline to plan and promote the very programs that have earned them accolades from the community for so many years. Will the museums even remain open? Will there be staff to implement them? Should special events applications be approved and deposits taken if no one is sure who will be in charge? How will registrations be handled? What is the social media policy? The promised efficient communication failed to materialize even before the October 1 transfer.
As noted by then-County Attorney Bill Clague in the September 12, 2023, meeting, the motion was supposed to be the first step among several steps in transferring Historical Resources from the clerk to the county. In fact, Clague added, “I’m skeptical that the ownership of the property is going to affect whether or not we can move that function over.” If that was true, as it clearly was, why didn’t the county begin working on the transfer negotiations immediately after approval of the motion on September 12, 2023? Why was the motion forced onto an agenda with only three days’ notice, and then nothing happened for six months?
During that meeting, County Administrator Charlie Bishop admitted that the item had not been discussed with Clerk of Circuit Court Angel Colonneso prior to the meeting, nor had she even had the courtesy of being notified. Also, later in that meeting, then-Commissioner James Satcher stated that the decision to remove Historical Resources from the clerk came because of “complete frustration” with the clerk and an effort to “pare back” her responsibilities.” Why the frustration? What responsibilities?
Consider that the Clerk of Circuit Court is also the Manatee County Comptroller charged with overseeing the county's finances. Think about the multiple times the clerk has checked board members for their fiscal mishaps. Perhaps the frustration Satcher referred to had something to do with the $10 personal check he bounced for a certification required by the State of Florida upon taking office. Or the $1,686 Commission Kevin Van Ostenbridge was required to repay when he used a county purchase card to buy a list of voters in his district. Information that was later found to be used for campaign purposes.
Colonneso’s use of checks and balances to protect taxpayer dollars is not new; other commissioners and county staff have been asked to reimburse the county for personal expenditures on a government card in the past. Normally, the funds are recovered discreetly with the assumption that the illegal purchase was made unintentionally. Except in these cases, the purchasers, county commissioners, had to be forced to repay the amount resulting in public disclosure.
Along those same lines, is it a coincidence, or was it a planned diversion that this motion appeared on a Board meeting agenda two days before the clerk’s inspector general released a report on the county’s public records request process? One that showed flaws and perhaps maleficence in the county’s handling of public records requests? Was the clerk’s Historical Resources Department simply the easiest target in an attempt to discredit Clerk Colonneso?
County Administrator Charlie Bishop drew the battle lines in the September 12, 2023, meeting when he noted, “We welcome them to come to our side.” If we all want to make Manatee County government more efficient and transparent, why is there a need for sides?
We may never know the honest answer to why the Manatee County Commission chose to pass the motion that day to move Historical Resources under the county’s authority. However, one thing is perfectly clear: the Historical Resources Department, its staff, volunteers, and nonprofit support organizations are being held as political pawns.
The Manatee County Commission, the Manatee County Administrator, and county staff must either move forward expediently to complete negotiations with the nonprofit organizations who control the museum sites, publicly acknowledge the budget set aside for the upcoming fiscal year, and ensure that existing staff are treated with respect and understanding for their knowledge and expertise or fund the Clerk of Circuit Court to retain those museums and staff within that office. Otherwise, come October 1, four decades of time, money, and work to create those historical sites will be lost.
Cathy Slusser
Retired Manatee County Director of Historical Resources
