County Reinvents Public Communications Division

BRADENTON — A review of public records shows how the Manatee County Government’s communications division has changed in recent years and just how much the division has grown. TBT  also analyzed more than 450 social media postings produced by the division for the government organization's Facebook and Instagram accounts over the last six months. Here is what we found.

The county's social media pages have drawn some attention lately, but not all positive. Between suspiciously timed “informational videos,” posts that appear to promote certain commissioners, and the disabling of comments, the accounts have led some to accuse the county of turning its public outreach apparatus into a one-way communication machine.

Twice the Size

In the spring of 2021, when Manatee County Commissioners appointed county administrator Scott Hopes, the county’s Department of Administration had a small communications division (or public outreach team). While the organization had additional outreach or communication employees allocated to other departments, the administration’s communications division consisted of five employees—four full-time positions and one part-time intern.

The communications division included one digital content creator, one video producer, one graphic designer, one part-time intern, and a Public Information Officer (PIO). Public records show that in 2021, as Hopes assumed the position of county administrator, the combined base annual compensation paid to employees of the communications division totaled an estimated $280,000.

During Hopes’ roughly two years as the head of the organization, the communications division under his office grew to eight positions—seven full-time and one part-time intern. When Hopes unexpectedly parted ways with the county in Feb. 2023, each full-time position was filled, and the intern position was vacant. Based on public records, the estimated combined base annual compensation for the filled positions in the communications divisions was roughly $441,000.

After Hopes left the county, commissioners appointed Lee Washington as acting to fill Hopes' previous seat while a permanent replacement was sought. However, Washington’s time in the role appeared strained, as was later revealed through a whistleblower complaint drafted by Washington. In the complaint, Washington alleged that he had been pressured by some commissioners outside of a public meeting to do things he did not want to do. In the final weeks of Washington’s service—most of July 2023—Washington was largely absent from the administrative building. Washington appointed Deputy County Administrator Courtney De Pol as his stand-in in his absence. 

Public records show that the county’s communications division underwent some changes during the administration’s transitionary period. One of these changes was one likely initiated under Hopes' leadership. 

By the time County Administrator Charlie Bishop was appointed to lead the organization that August, the communications division had gained a division manager. In total, the division had eight allocated positions when Bishop took over: one digital content creator, two video producers, one graphic designer, a communications coordinator, a part-time intern position, a communications manager, and a PIO. One of the video producer positions was vacant when Bishop took the helm.

The estimated annual combined compensation paid to employees of the division was slightly more than it was when Hopes left. 

In July 2023, Casey Zempel, a video production employee hired to the division two years earlier, was selected to serve as the division’s manager. The division manager position was created from a vacant existing position reallocated from another department elsewhere in the organization. Once advertised, Zempel was chosen from among the applicants.

As the head of the communications team, Zempel is sometimes seen giving presentations during BOCC meetings and is heard as narrator in many county-produced videos on topics such as wetland buffers, impact fees, or promoting county events like the annual Night Before Christmas at GT Bray Park.

When Zempel advanced from videographer to the division’s manager, he became the highest earner in communications and saw his annual base salary increase by roughly $40,000. Previously, the highest-paid communications employee was Manatee County PIO Bill Logan, who currently earns about $102,000 a year—the highest-earning PIO in the county’s history. Zempel earns about $2000 more a year as division manager than Logan.

The seven filled positions of the eight allocated to communications when Bishop took over added an estimated $481,000 in annual compensations. An increase of roughly $40,000 since Hopes’ departure.

Today, records show that the communications division has dropped its lone part-time position in exchange for an additional full-time employee. As of this January, the communications division is home to eight full-time employees, with all of its positions filled. The division consists of two video producers, a digital content creator, a content specialist, a graphic designer, a communications coordinator, a PIO, and a division manager. The current estimated annual compensation for all communications employees in the division is roughly $593,923.

In addition to these communications employees, under Administrator Bishop, at least three other department-specific communications positions have been reallocated to the administration’s communications division. While it is challenging to identify where each of these allocated positions previously resided, it appears that at least two were reallocated from the Departments of Property Management and Public Safety.

In essence, these positions already existed within the organization, but previously, these employees were budgeted under other departments and likely reported to their department heads. While these employees may continue to function as communication outreach employees of specific departments, under Bishop, these positions are now budgeted under administration and report to the county’s PIO. Because these positions were existing allocated positions and only reorganized to report to administration communications, TBT did not include their positions or salaries in our growth calculations.

Communication and Public Relations

The county government maintains multiple social media accounts and pages. There are main organization accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) and subaccounts of individual departments such as Libraries, Animal Welfare, and Public Safety. 

TBT wanted to better understand how the county used its social media accounts, the types of posts, and the subject matter. For our research, we looked at posts shared through the organization’s main accounts—Manatee County, Florida Government—on Facebook and Instagram.

Between August 1, 2023, and February 17, 2024, TBT counted roughly 452 unique posts. Any post that appeared on both platforms identically was counted only once.

By our calculations, about 12 percent of all the posts reviewed contained some direct reference, photo, quote, mention, or video with a county commissioner. Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge was the commissioner most often quoted in a post or heard speaking in the county-produced videos.

While the majority of the posts we counted were information posts with county graphic-designed images, other posts contained photographs or photo galleries. About 29 posts included videos of varying lengths created by the communications division. Of the 29 video-containing posts, about 12 included footage of a commissioner or had a commissioner speaking. 

Here’s the breakdown:

Total Posts by Month / Posts with a Video
Aug.    79                                   3
Sept.   65                                   1
Oct.     69                                   7
Nov.    59                                   3
Dec.     79                                   3
Jan.     65                                   7
Feb.     36                                   5

Number of Times a Post Mentioned/Quoted/Had Photo of Commissioner

Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge   27
Commissioner Amanda Ballard   16
Commissioner Jason Bearden  16
Commissioner Mike Rahn  13
Commissioner James Satcher  12
Commissioner George Kruse  12
Commissioner Ray Turner  9

The above counts include posts in which all commissioners appeared together in the same photo. The numbers also include posts made advertising town halls of Van Ostenbridge and Ballard—we located none for Kruse. In addition, posts that linked to a county press release that contained a quote attributed to a commissioner were also counted in our totals.

When it comes to the number of times a commissioner is a featured speaker in a county-produced video, Van Ostenbridge is the only commissioner over six months to do so more than twice. In total, Van Ostenbridge had 8 speaking roles. All of the commissioners appeared speaking in one of the videos together—one in which Van Ostenbridge opened and closed the video with comments. The video summarized commission or county goals and accomplishments titled, “A Vision for Manatee.”

Not including livestream videos with Van Ostenbridge speaking at county EOC briefings during a hurricane emergency, two videos included commissioners in August. One video shared median improvements and while there was no speaking on the video, Van Ostenbridge was quoted in the post in which the video was shared.

Another video in August focused on the work of Public Works employees. This video included comments by Commissioner Kruse, but the director of the department opened the video.  Kruse was also quoted in the post accompanying the video. 

The “Vision for Manatee” video featuring each commissioner was posted in October. Also posted in October was a county-produced video about Cortez Corridor improvements. The video included speakers from Anna Maria Island communities, but Van Ostenbridge was the only county commissioner who appeared in the video. Van Ostenbridge opened the video, saying, “I was born and raised in Manatee County. I love Manatee County.”

In November, Commissioner Satcher was seen in two videos posted by Manatee County Government. One video is footage from a District 1 soccer field opening, Commissioner Bearden is briefly seen in the background. The second video is a Satcher-narrated video about local agriculture.

In January, Van Ostenbridge had a speaking role in two county-produced videos. In one, Van Ostenbridge is narrating footage of a new ADA-accessible playground at Tom Bennet Park. The playground was largely paid for and donated by Kiwanis, but Van Ostenbrige never said as much in the video. Commissioners Rahn and Kruse are also seen in the video, but they are not heard.

The other January video featuring Van Ostenbridge is one made about the county’s parks and preserves following a panther sighting reported at the county’s Duette Preserve. Van Ostenbridge is the only commissioner seen or heard in the video.

The county posted two other videos containing commissioners in January, but neither had commissioner narration or commentary. In a video showing the Lakewood Ranch Library opening, Rahn is seen. Turner and Kruse are briefly seen in a video about the county's ultrafiltration system.

Already in February—from Feb. 1 to Feb. 17—Van Ostenbridge appeared and spoke in three county-produced videos. A video about the Rubonia Resilience Summit included Van Ostenbridge, the only commissioner included. Another video about the opening game of the Palma Sola Girls Softball League also included Van Ostenbridge without any other commissioners. 

Yet another county-produce video included Van Ostenbridge, as he introduced a video tour of a new West Bradenton EMS station. No other commissioners appear in the video. 

So far, no other videos containing any other commissioners have been posted this month. 

Van Ostenbridge, who is up for reelection in 2024, is the commissioner most often appearing in a video, in a photo, or being referenced or quoted on a county’s post or in a linked press release within the last six months. Van Ostenbridge is also the only county commissioner who utilizes county resources to issue an emailed newsletter to his constituents. 

Commissioner Kruse occasionally publishes blog posts on a personal Substack account, but this is a free blogging website and does not utilize county resources. 

Communication or Campaigning?

Florida Statutes, Chapter 106, Section 106.15(3), includes, “A candidate may not, in the furtherance of his or her candidacy for nomination or election to public office in any election, use the services of any state, county, municipal, or district officer or employee during working hours.”

Perhaps more loosely related, Chapter 104, Section 104.31(a), states, “No officer or employee of state, county, and municipal officers and employees… shall: use his or her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with an election or nomination of office or coercing or influencing another person’s vote or affecting the result thereof.”

Both statutes stress that the restrictions outlined concerning the use of public resources for campaigning are not intended to restrict any individual's right to run for office, campaign outside of the office, vote how they choose, or express a personal opinion on any issue at any time.

Whether or not the frequency of county social media posts promoting the actions of the board of county commissioners—or featuring commissioners up for reelection—would qualify as campaigning isn't clear. State laws do not prohibit county resources from being used to promote legitimate county government business or to share relevant information about the commission’s work. 

A social media post shared on Friday about the county donating old iPads to the local Boys and Girls Club seemed to skirt the line between honest county communication and information manipulation. In a photo attached to the post, Van Ostenbridge posed, holding up one of the donated devices.

“...Another example of the Board of County Commissioners stepping up,” the Facebook post included.



A comment on the post left by the Boys and Girls Club thanked the Manatee Supervisor of Elections and SOE Chief of Staff Scott Farrington for the donation. The county’s post does not even mention the Supervisor’s Office. A report later aired on ABC7 telling a different story than the county’s post. The report included an interview with SOE’s Farrington.

A source with direct knowledge of the donation told TBT that the idea of donating the outdated iPads was Farrington’s and the majority—if not all—of the iPads came from the SOE Office. Because the SOE is a constitutional office under the BOCC and county government, the donation of the devices required the county's approval.

Multiple sources have alleged to TBT in recent weeks that political operative Anthony Pedicini is actively lobbying the governor to appoint Commissioner Satcher as the Supervisor of Elections over Farrington who was recommended by outgoing Supervisor Mike Bennet. Given the speculation about a political consultant with connections to Van Ostenbridge and Satcher possibly involved in influencing the appointment of the county's next SOE, the lack of fair reference to the SOE or Farrington in the county's post raises questions about intentionality.

Sources have also alleged to TBT  that county administration plans to move the communications staff from the second floor of the administrative building to the ninth floor. The communications division resides on the second floor—where a new studio space was constructed in 2022—a move to the ninth floor would relocate the communications staff to the same floor as the county commissioners and county administration.

Information Outreach

The majority of the posts reviewed by TBT were straightforward communication posts. The posts shared information about a road closure, a groundbreaking, a community event, or other information. Several of the posts were re-shared posts from other social media pages, such as from the county’s own Public Safety account, or an outside entity such as the City of Bradenton, the National Weather Service, or the Sheriff’s Department.

There are posts announcing the organization’s employee of the month and regular posts that announce new employee hires with a group photo. There were also posts sharing bios of Veteran employees who had led the pledge of allegiance at the opening of BOCC meetings.

Roughly 30 posts of those we reviewed were in recognition of a specific national holiday or recognition of a lesser-known day, such as “National Bird Day.” Some posts recognized month-long designations such as Black History Month and National Hispanic Heritage Month. Sometimes, the holiday-related posts communicated office closures or service schedule changes.

In December, there were 79 posts made by Manatee County. Just over 20 percent were posts about the “ACE Gingerbread Man” who traveled across all of the county’s departments.

While December was heavily weighted with holiday-related posts, August was heavy on storm or hurricane-related postings. About 25 percent of the posts made by the county in August were posts related to storm prep, weather conditions, or storm recovery.

Posts related to the county’s parks accounted for about 16 percent of the total posts over the six months, with topics including groundbreaking, events, construction progress, educational programs, and pickleball.

About 5 percent of the posts were related to the Public Works Department and included announcements on roads opening or closing, community workshops, or the other work of employees. Roughly 7 percent were similarly related to the Public Safety Department, though many of these posts were post-shares from the department’s own social media account.

Approximately 6 percent of the total posts in the six months were related to Manatee County Animal Welfare. These posts often promoted adoption events or available pets.

Lesser percentages of the posts reviewed were related to county libraries, the Convention and Visitors Bureau (roughly half of those were about the water taxis), development services, utilities, transit, or open positions on advisory boards or employment opportunities within the organization.