BRADENTON – A recent purchase for vendor services by Manatee County Government may not have followed the county’s procurement procedures and possibly violated Florida Statutes that govern ethical business practices.
On October 1 and 2 of this year, the Manatee County government employed the services of a private contractor for aerial drone services. The company provided its services at a post-hurricane relief staging site organized by the county at the Myakka Community Center. The total billed to the county for services provided by the company was $2,800.00.
Complicating matters, Manatee County established its own internal Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Drone Team Program in 2018. The program was established with the goal of providing county employees with improved ability and safety in performing daily operations and responding to emergencies while saving the county money by significantly reducing the need to outsource services from a private UAS firm. The county’s drone program is overseen by the Energy and Sustainability Division of the Property Management Department.
The program has grown to include more than two dozen county employees across seven county departments who are actively licensed UAS pilots. County employees who serve in the program are required to complete extensive training, maintain an active Part 107 UAS Certification with the FAA, and perform a minimum number of flight hours per year. The program has also amassed a fleet of 16 county-owned drones with most purchase values ranging from $1,000-$5,400. A Matrice 300 RTK drone purchased in 2021 was an outlier of that range, costing roughly$13,000.
To read more about the success of the county's drone program, visit here and here.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, the county's UAS Program members were called to respond to recovery needs including aerial surveillance of flood-impacted structures and roads. However, despite that the county’s drone team was on the scene, Deputy County Administrator and Director of Property Management Charlie Bishop also called in the services of a private vendor, Drone Effects LLC.
The company is owned and operated by a former Manatee County employee who left the organization in January 2020. In addition, the company’s owner has been in a–very public–on-again, off-again romantic relationship with Bishop.
Based on a social media post, it appeared that in June of this year, the two parted ways in a bitter breakup. Melissa Matisko, the owner of Drone Effects LLC, took to social media to publicly announce the couple's split.
"I’m grateful to finally end a physically and mentally abusive relationship with Charlie Bishop," Matisko wrote in a June Facebook post. "I believe power corrupted him and he is 100 percent sleeping with Courtney. Good luck Manatee County."
Sources who spoke with TBT under anonymity for fear of reprisals offered their perspectives that Bishop and Matisko's relationship had been well-known around the office and that, despite the break up in June, the two have oscillated between separation and reconciliation. The status of the two’s relationship as of October is unknown.
During the course of our investigation, TBT confirmed that the county's Procurement Division noticed a Request for Offers (RFO) seeking drone services on July 23, 2021. The RFO was initiated by request of the Property Management Department.
The Manatee County Supplier Guide (2022) defines the different methods of procurement. An RFO is an informal process for obtaining written offers for services. A due diligence review of offers is conducted by the Procurement Division before offers are then evaluated on criteria by the designated department representative.
By August 16, 2021, the county had received and reviewed five offers from drone service firms. The Intent to Award Memo detailed that the firms were ranked equally and the recommendation to award contracts to each of the firms–including Drone Effects LLC–was made by the Property Management Department. The procurement contracts awarded through the RFO expired in August of 2022, and no renewals were requested.
Social media posts shared between Matisko and Bishop appear to show that the two have been in some level of romantic relationship since at least 2018. On August 10, 2021, when Bishop was officially promoted to the dual role of deputy county administrator and department director by County Administrator Scott Hopes, Matisko referenced Bishop's promotion in a Facebook post.
Matisko wrote, "Today was a big day for my two favorite guys, (child’s name) started his senior year and Charlie Bishop was announced Deputy County Administrator! I am beyond proud of my two loves."
Photos attached to the social media post show that Matisko was at the county's downtown administration building, and in commission chambers, for Bishop's confirmation to deputy administrator by the county commission.
Manatee County’s Manual for Administrative Standards & Procedures for Procurement provides guidance to staff responsible for procuring goods and services for the county government. The manual, along with related county ordinances, provides rules for the procurement process.
From the manual's subheading, II. PROCUREMENT CODE OF ETHICS:
C. Governed by the highest ideals of honor and integrity in all public and personal relationships in order to merit the respect and inspire the confidence of the organization and the public being served.
D. Believe that personal aggrandizement (gain) or profit obtained through misuse of public or personal relationships is dishonest and not tolerable.
E. Identify and restrict participation of any individual in operational situations where a conflict of interest may be involved.
In addition, the manual points out that the ethical responsibilities of county employees and agents of the county having official responsibility for procurement transactions are set out in Florida Statutes, Section 112.313.
112.313(6) MISUSE OF PUBLIC POSITION.–No public officer, employee of an agency, or local government attorney shall corruptly use or attempt to use his or her official position or any property or resource which may be within his or her trust, or perform his or her official duties, to secure a special privilege, benefit, or exemption for himself, herself, or others.
Given Bishop’s romantic relationship with Ms. Matisko as well as his role as head of the department that initiated the RFO and provided the recommendation that a contract was awarded to Matisko’s LLC in 2021, it raises questions as to the appropriateness of the county doing business with Matisko’s company. Add to that the fact that the county has invested both time and money into establishing a UAS Drone Program which currently employs 29 UAS licensed pilots and purchased more than a dozen drone devices, and additional questions are raised as to why the county would spend $175 an hour for services to Matisko that it could have presumably sourced in-house for less cost.
The awarded contract with Drone Effects LLC approved in August of 2021 has since expired, but between August and December of 2021, public records show that the company billed Manatee County’s Property Management Department on three separate occasions. The total paid to the company while it was under procurement, was $7,250.00
In contrast, a public record request showed that of the other four firms which also received award contracts through the RFO, only two of those billed the county for services between August 2021 and August 2022.
One firm, Stable Air Media LLC, billed the county approximately $5,500 for drone training sessions for 23 county employees. Like Drone Effects, Stable Air directed its billing to the county’s property management department. The second invoice was paid to an approved firm called Drones on Demand at a cost of roughly $10,000 for drone services, billed to the department of public works.
No other records of paid invoices for drone-related services appear to exist from the year while the contract awards were active.
The most recent bill for $2,800 submitted to property management by Drone Effects LLC is for service dates that are more than a month after the company’s contract with the county had expired. Although Manatee County’s Public Records Division was able to produce a copy of the October invoice upon request, the Clerk’s Office reported not yet having received the invoice for processing and payment.
On her Facebook profile, Matisko shared a post on October 3 which read in part, "...grateful for the opportunity to work with some of my favorite drone pilotsÉ"
Several photos attached to the post showed Matisko was providing drone services alongside the county’s own drone team in early October. Some of the photos also appear to show Matisko inside the Myakka Community Center posing for photos with Commissioners Vanessa Baugh and Kevin Van Ostenbridge.
TBT reached out to the county via email to inquire about Drone Effects LLC and the recent invoice. In our inquiry, we asked why the county would have required drone services from an outside vendor in October, whether Bishop received clearance from county administration (or anyone else) before hiring the services of Drone Effects, and whether the county is investigating the nature and/or appropriateness of its business dealings with the company.
In an emailed response, Manatee County’s PIO informed TBT that the matter is currently under review.
"County administration is investigating this issue and is reviewing the invoice," the email read. "There is no further comment at this time as the investigation is ongoing."
Dawn Kitterman is a staff reporter for The Bradenton Times. She covers local government and entertainment news. She can be reached at dawn.kitterman@thebradentontimes.com.
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