Guest Op/Ed: My Side of the Story

In light of the litany of negative attacks that have been launched against him by fellow officials and staff, Bill Sanders was invited to explain his side of the story, in his own words. The following is his version of the events in question.

Decision 2018: After retirement, I decided to run for council because of a broken street light near my home. I could not get a response or call back from my councilman or mayor and at that point decided to run. The campaign was organized on "Gone with the Good Old Boys, favoritism, bureaucracy and cronyism,“ and the way they seemed to dictate the council agenda with money used to seat the council and Mayor.

The System:The combined total years of the service with council and administration approached 300 years of good old boys. While some would say that is good, I did not, and, in fact, thought it to be a determent to the city’s ability to seek a new vision. The campaign of 2018 was extremely contentious. So, my goal was to be rid of what I called the Evil Empire. It started with the theft of my signs, threats to my sister, and numerous threats through social media, and other means. I was fighting against the mayor, city administrator, and two sitting councilmen, along with the Fire Department, all of whom supported my opponent with money, signs, and support at events

Election Victory: I won with 63 percent of the vote. The people had spoken and I went to work, building four new parks in Ward 4, and revitalizing 3 other parks in Wards 2 and 5, doubling the Riverwalk to 3 miles, all of which was in ward 4. We paid off 2 million dollars in CRA debt while I was Vice Chairman and created a new CRA department independent of the City Administration for the sake of transparency. We completed the New Chamber of Commerce building and garage, and much more.

Recount:Bemis Smith refused to concede and filed for a review or recount of the votes. So, Bemis had to put up $2,500 for a review and possibly $10,000 if it went beyond a simple review. I was upset to find out the check was torn up, as this cost everyone time and money at the taxpayer’s expense. I filed a complaint but little was done

Inauguration: On the day of my inauguration, 1/2/2019, I was confronted by Gene Brown, then a councilman in Ward 2. I was accosted in the legislative offices in front of my family and friends. I was warned that I was not the "Big Shot" I thought I was and that it takes three votes to get anything done and I wouldn’t get them. After all of that, I then went to chambers to be sworn in by then Prosecutor Heather Doyle Now a Judge in Manatee county. Then-councilman Gene Gallo walked out during it, setting a tone of disrespect during my term.

DeSoto Seafood Festival:I was invited as a special VIP guest to the March 2019 event. While I was enjoying the band and had only been at the concert for an hour, the chairman of the event came up to me, swearing at me, and accusing me of allowing people to enter the area. I did grab him and told him to stop verbally attacking me. The event was free, by the way, so there was no advantage to anyone going at any certain place. I said, fine, you have ruined my evening and walked toward the exit. I then went to the Palmetto Police and asked for him to be charged with threatening me and the officer said, well, you grabbed him.

I said, yes, but not until he came up to me, spitting in my face as he screamed and cussed me out. I am allowed to defend myself. The officer said, well, then, I would have to arrest both of you. I said, you’re not arresting me, as I have done nothing. I then ask for a report of this incident and the officer said there will not be one, as this is over. So, I walked behind the stage and got in my car, and went home. I was not intoxicated, as I had only been there an hour or so. My friend did argue with them separately and they may have associated his behavior with mine.

The next week, a story comes out from Mark Young, then a Bradenton Herald reporter, who openly hates my guts and is personal friends with Bemis Smith. Now I know a lot more, through a lawsuit in which Mark Young was not allowed to give deposition by his employer the Bradenton Herald. He was on probation from the Herald for a period of time according to him. Then, he was released from employment and blamed his job loss on me and Pat Roff. I Have no clue how he created that scenario. Usually, when you get fired, you have done something wrong at your place of employment. I don’t think I would have the power to call up his employer and say, hey, fire this guy he does not like me. I would imagine they determined the story was not fully told.

Then, Gene Brown, the councilman (now Mayor of Bradenton), and Gene Gallo, with some development investors, thought this was a good opportunity to oust this councilman from office. However, I never did anything wrong and the plan backfired. Let it be said that they do not want me around and used this to discredit me and punish me by not attending the De Soto Heritage Parade, annually, which means nothing to me. The event cost the taxpayers over $100,000 and has had numerous complaints of excessive drinking and driving on the floats. Even a Chief of Police hit someone on one occasion, I have learned. It’s quite a liability to the city, in my opinion. Perhaps God is watching because, in year 3, the parade was canceled due to Corvid. In year 4, lighting struck the staging area and the event was canceled. One hour later, the sun came out and the parade could have gone on. The participants were very upset when they would learn their parade fees would not be returned, some as high as $1,000.

Tenure: My term has been quite stressful as I attempted to change the 120-year-old city charter to end the practice of the Mayor serving simultaneously as Police Commissioner, and nearly claimed victory, losing by only 500 votes out of 22,000. Only 251 more votes would have won. I think, had that passed, the city would be a much different place and a less hostile environment. I then refused to allow the new City Attorney to go unchecked, as that law firm represents the developer that does nearly all building projects in the city and has done so for 20-plus years. It was agreed to hire a conflict council, however, it would have been more practical to just hire a firm with no conflict.

This has created even more distrust in projects that expend millions of tax dollars with this developer and now the legal fees have quadrupled. I voted to hire the new City Administrator and was promised he would hire in-house counsel. That has not happened and there seems to be a bond between the Administrator, the Mayor, and the Legal Counsel. Decisions are in harmony between them causing even more friction. As you know, our city is faced with scandal after scandal. The relationship between me and the Mayor has gotten even more intense as the Mayor attempts to silence me, and I retaliate to get my point across or my version of the facts.

I admit I do not like how I have been treated and that I try to tell the public the truth and try to pressure the results to be different. But there is no other way unless you go along to get along, voting the way the good old boys demand. I have questioned the financial internal workings with policy and procedures which I believe are as antiquated as the charter and drive conflict, distrust, and make for little oversight.

This has to change for a better government. Had the new Mayor come in and done the right thing, I said I would probably not have run for a second term. Now, I am more motivated to improve the process and willing to spend my own money to keep myself free from any influence. I say there is more work to do and I am willing to keep fighting for the better government I believe the citizens deserve.

Frivolous Investigation: In January/February of 2022, I attended the Florida Legislative Days in Tallahassee and was again schooled in ethics and am now serving on the Florida State Legislative Committee and the Federal Legislative Committee and was recently appointed to the Florida State Finance and Taxation Committee. I discussed the issues I was having with the city’s questionable behavior on ethics and was informed to reach out to the Department of Justice in Washington. I did and have been advised since.

I returned to Bradenton and immediately set up two separate meetings with the City Administrator and the City Attorney. I pleaded with them to comply with state statutes, develop policies and procedures that were clear, and become more transparent. To no avail, the conversation never moved the pendulum forward and continued distrust and controversy erupted. I was being denied records on various city projects, revenue streams, bidding processes, and accountability. I was then forced to ask for Public Records in writing to the Public Records caretaker. In three years, this had never been the case.

At first, I was charged nearly $400 for a record. I complained to the City Administrator as the Public records clerk argued this was a policy with the new city administrator. I went to him and he lowered it to about $30. But I was asked to continue to request documents and data from the Public Records clerk. When I asked for the public records request of the City Administrator’s texts during a meeting, a public document, the clerk of the public records blew up and said that texts were not public records. I told him I believed they were, and he stormed off, going to the city administrator and attorney.

The next day, I received part of the text. I asked for the text because I witnessed, during a council meeting, the city administrator texting and then looking at the County Commissioner Chairman, who was texting also, with both parties laughing. I put the two together and, low and behold, they were texting each other, making fun of a presenter on Form Base Codes. They have refused to release the rest of the texts. I later witnessed the County Commission Chair in a secured area that requires a security pass. I asked him how he got back there, and, he said, "I’m out of here.“ I inquired as to who let him back there, and no one would admit to it.

Then, suddenly, the infamous investigation began. The city Public Records Clerk writes a specious note to the City Administrator. The note seems to have a legal context as if he had been coached as to what to write. The conflict attorney and I were having a serious conversation about the contracts with the developer and a suspicious $1,100 worth of Spring Training tickets left in my mailbox with no name or note.

The conflict attorney told me to immediately return them to the city clerk and get a receipt. She thought I was being set up. The conflict attorney said, take the tickets back and we will talk next week, as she was in Orlando. I told her that if she was not interested in the issues I would file my concerns with ethics and the Florida Bar. The next week, I called her and she had spoken to the City Administrator and it was as if I had never had the previous conversation with her. I said that is fine, I will go ahead and file the complaint. She obviously, thought I meant against her. However, she was upset that the city administrator had hired a Miami attorney and not her on the city hall sale conflict. So, she had an axe to grind before my conversation with her. Nevertheless, the city administrator used that as a second complaint against me. The third was himself. However, he has cussed me out several times and it has been pretty tense. He also told me the developer wanted me gone and said "this guy has enough money to make it happen.“

I told him I am not worried, and that I believe the public will have the final say. And there forward, the city administrator went to every employee he could convince to say something negative. However, he used the law firm of our union lawyers, which is supposed to represent all city employees by the threat they gave to the BPD to not discuss the police scandal. So, I am not sure how they can represent me and then file an informal report about me. I believe it was to scare me into not running for reelection, as the timing is too convenient, and right after I threatened to go to ethics complaints or DOJ.

They refused to meet me in a law office to record statements stating the investigation was informal, not formal. I asked that it be recorded to protect myself against false allegations and to tie the allegations to a person with a written report in order to make my responses. They refused, so I considered this to be a political stunt to put out to the public just before an election. In fact, another councilman warned them they may be violating state election laws by doing this, and I sent a cease and desist letter to the city administrator and city attorney.

There is much more with more specifics and documents and detail that would take hours to correspond or convey to you. However, it is all well documented. I believe our city can do better and avoid much of this if the culture, character, and leadership will change and I believe it will come in the next two election cycles. Our constitutions do not like this behavior and do not trust that the city is being transparent. It is fixable. I will run and fix these issues one at a time through oversight, exposing the issues to the public with verifiable documents, and convincing the leadership to fix them or risk re-election consequences.

Bill Sanders

Bradenton City Councilman

Ward 4