In Wednesday’s column, I offhandedly mentioned that there was a rumor that one of the Bradenton City Council seats might be vacated after the November election, and, if so, the plan was to appoint Kevin Van Ostenbridge. The next day, Councilwoman Jayne Kocher went on social media to put TBT on blast, demanding a retraction and apology for suggesting that she had any intention of resigning her seat. Kocher must not have read the article, because we definitely did not suggest that it was her seat that would be vacant.
That said, Kocher really wants you to know that she definitely has no plans to resign.
“Let me assure everyone that the rumors regarding my intent to resign are completely false,” Kocher wrote me in an email. “It is troubling that anyone would spread such misinformation without taking the time to verify the facts. I remain fully committed to my duties and am honored to have been re-elected unopposed for another four years. This role is a responsibility I take seriously, and I will continue to serve our community with dedication and integrity.”
As I explained to Kocher, I could only find any suggestion that her seat would be the one that would be vacated in her own Facebook post. As you cannot retract something you did not publish or ask someone unnamed in a rumor for comment, there was not anything I could do but share her enthusiastic denial with readers. Mission accomplished.
I realize that most of you probably don’t know who Kocher is. Unfortunately, there is so little interest in the Bradenton City Government that it routinely gets away with all kinds of stuff that is not in the best interest of its citizens or the community. While Kocher, a realtor, seems to take pride in the fact that she was unopposed both when she first ran four years ago and again this time around, I assure you it is owed more to an apathetic constituency than any suggestion that her entire ward is simply thrilled with the job she’s been doing.
The local development community, however, is apparently quite thrilled with Kocher's work. She routinely gets big donations from people like the Neals (Neal Communities) and the Allens (NDC Construction) for races in which she has no opposition. She even got one from Scott Rudacille, a partner at the firm that represents NDC who also serves as the city’s attorney.
You probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that NDC so regularly gets awarded city contracts that multiple construction firms have told TBT over the years that they don’t even bother submitting bids. You can probably guess which way Kocher votes on such matters. In other words, the only thing that would be likely to change if KVO was installed in her seat (and remember, that is definitely NOT going to happen) is you’d have to listen to his big mouth and suffer the contempt he has displayed for the public he was meant to serve. To her credit, Kocher is perfectly civil while shilling for developers.
In fact, Kocher thinks so much of KVO that when the Herald Tribune ran that laughable, bought-and-paid-for, last-minute Hail Mary endorsement article, she shared it with the caption, “Wow, brutally honest, but refreshingly accurate!”
So again, it is doubtful there would be a meaningful difference between the two, even if she is far more palatable in her servitude to developers.
I appreciate Councilwoman Kocher taking the time to share her thoughts about how she thinks we should report the news, and I have no problem with her telling her followers what she thinks of our reporting. I only wish she would bring the same energy to issues like the tens of millions of gallons of sewage the City of Bradenton is pumping into our local waterways as the council approves one large project after another despite a complete lack of capacity when it comes to hooking up the sewer lines to its inadequate treatment facility.
Dennis "Mitch" Maley is an editor and columnist for The Bradenton Times and the host of our weekly podcast. With over two decades of experience as a journalist, he has covered Manatee County government since 2010. He is a graduate of Shippensburg University and later served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. Click here for his bio. His 2016 short story collection, Casting Shadows, was recently reissued and is available here.
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sandy
If I was a City Councilperson, I would be screaming loudly about a proposed county Comp Plan change and development plan at the old PAL property at US 301/US 41 and 13th Ave E. With the amount of sewage being released into county waterways, no development of this size (expansion of charter school, commercial, and RV park) should be approved until such time as the city infrastructure has been fixed and updated. There appears to be no capacity. The county should deny for that very reason. Sorry for the charter school, but they have a second location near the airport.
4 days ago Report this
Adriaan4District71
Congratulations for spot-on exposing the corruption that has become so commonplace after 30 years of republican state rule, that to them it is now so normal that they see their actions as correct and ethical. How refreshing to see a reporter and newspaper that goes straight to facts.
However, the picture of the City Council and local Commissioners will be incomplete without mentioning their State Enabler and Developer Stooge Will Robinson of State District 71 who guided them from Tallahassee since 2018 at the behest of his Developer Owners. Finally, this week, he started unleashing his $hundred thousand + of developer funds to put up oversized signs all over Brendon downtown, hiring professional campaign companies against a grassroots civil engineer who knowns how to fix their mess (visit Vote4Florida.com).
Whether Republican, NPA, I or Democrat voters, do one more step before casting your vote this November and search online “Wiiliam Robinson, FollowTheMoney.org” to see who pays for and controls him, then look at “Will Robinson (opportunityfl.org)” to confirm who he really represented, and hint: it is not the people of Manatee County District 71.
That’s why the flooding with Tropical Storm Debby happened .. because Will Robinson signed the legislation to for practical purposes, stripping the cost for infrastructure from the Developers so that they could make bigger profits. You, the citizens, now own that deficiency and each and every year from now on, you will pay out of your own pocket for the resultant damage every time a tropical storm or more passes even from 100 miles from your home.
3 days ago Report this
Debann
She's just another BOUGHT AND PAID FOR POLITICAL HACK
.. Corruption runs rampant in manatee county. Whether it's the city or the county no big difference...CORRUPTION AT ITS FINEST...
3 days ago Report this
Cat L
What's most hilarious about this is the quote “It is troubling that anyone would spread such misinformation without taking the time to verify the facts." which she clearly did not do....
3 days ago Report this
andreart
I have a good, healthy relationship with Jayne. We don't agree on everything but we can disagree with healthy debate. I have never heard that she was not responsive to her citizens and maybe that is why she has no opposition.
I told Jayne many times how I feel about KVO. This is still a free country and no matter how we feel, we can cuss and discuss and work on issues that can make a difference in our community.
3 days ago Report this
David Daniels
For whatever reason, there seems to be a lack of reporting about the City Bradenton. The Bradenton Herald's local coverage seems to come mostly from police reports. The local section of the HT covers Northport and Venice, but rarely Bradenton. Because there isn't much reporting of the city's approving "one large project after another," NDC, Gene Brown and Jayne Kocher stay under the radar.
3 days ago Report this
NikkiforPalmetto
What a delightful self-own on Ms. Kocher's part. Your response made me LOL.
Yesterday at 6:14 PM Report this