On Tuesday, the Manatee County Commission will vote on an estimated $34 million proposal to purchase and renovate a Lakewood Ranch office complex where the county would move the bulk of its administrative operations, including nearly all those currently housed in the downtown Bradenton administrative building. If you’re surprised and even confused by the fact that you had not previously heard about any of this, join the club.
Despite the enormous complexity of such a decision, virtually no public discussion has contemplated its wisdom or feasibility. The location of the complex is far from ideal. Located at 9000 Town Center Pkwy, it is in the most southeastern corner of the county. Given the heavy traffic that area is known for and the ever-increasing gridlock choking off much of the rest of the county, the location would pose a significant challenge to many of the people who need to conduct business there.
While the county has given no indication of which departments would be relocated, the size of the complex suggests that, at a minimum, hundreds of employees would begin working approximately 40 minutes away from the current administration building. Has an employee survey been conducted to assess how such a radical change might impact county staff? If so, it has not been attached to the agenda, which did not even include a copy of the sale contract until the county began receiving public records requests for it, and it was attached in an updated agenda sent out Thursday afternoon.
What would become of the current administration building and its aging garage? My understanding is that the 9th floor and commission chambers would remain in place, because Florida statute requires that certain county government functions be housed in the county seat, which is currently the City of Bradenton. Does the county have deals in place to lease out the space it will be vacating? There were rumours that the City of Bradenton had been interested in using the building to replace its current city hall, which the city has contracted to sell. However, sources told TBT that County Administrator Charlie Bishop told senior staff this week that the city has identified a more suitable location, seeming to confirm both the city's initial interest and the idea that it is no longer there.
A budget amendment to the Capital Improvement Plan, also scheduled for Tuesday, would fund the purchase of this new complex by shifting all of the money allocated for maintenance work on the downtown garage toward financing it. That would seem to suggest that the garage property would most likely end up in the hands of a developer. If so, it bears considering whether that could be driving the haste in this decision.
I also recall that when the county entered a questionable deal to sell the land from the previous Bradenton City Hall to a developer for a ridiculously low deposit and an unusually prolonged closing date, the contract allowed the county to use that property for parking while the garage work was being completed. Commission Chair George Kruse pointed out that if the garage was not finished by the time of the closing, it could present a big problem, but county officials did not seem concerned. That makes me wonder if it was because they already knew the maintenance work would not happen.
The elephant in the room is the county-owned property on Lena Road that was the subject of so much political mudslinging during the 2020 election. You may recall that the county purchased the massive parcel, which is adjacent to its landfill, because it would not only expand the landfill's life considerably but also allow the county to build needed facilities for many departments that would benefit from being located in what had become a much more central location after the past two decades of growth. The county still owns that property, which begs the question: Why aren’t they building a new facility on land they already own in an ideal location instead of buying an old building that is considerably smaller than the existing one, that is in a terrible location, and that they will need to spend millions upgrading?
Kruse, along with former commissioners Kevin Van Ostenbridge and James Satcher, ran on the idea that with a purchase price of $32 million, the county was grossly overpaying for the Lena Road parcel. A lot of dark money attack ads suggested that corruption was involved. In reality, it was a good deal in which the county could secure a uniquely large swath of land adjacent to the landfill that had not been for sale. The savings from the extension of the landfill’s life alone justified it, never mind the fact that it would mean getting soon-to-be needed land at 2020 prices while guaranteeing that various operations would share the same footprint. Searching for and securing those parcels piecemeal would have been less efficient and much more expensive, especially after the land price inflation we experienced post-COVID. It seems more likely that the developers who were backing those campaigns and had previously tried to purchase it for development simply wanted to queer the deal for retribution.
It’s also worth noting that the Lena Road purchase was done very publicly over a long period of time. Unlike this deal, every stakeholder involved had an opportunity to ask questions and get answers, and the county, under then-County Administrator Cheri Coryea, actually encouraged engagement. I suspect that we will be told that the nature of this deal meant that it had to be kept quiet, that other buyers were interested, and it could have blown up, etc. But the same thing could have been said about Lena Road. There is simply no way that this could not have been executed in the sunshine.
The current county commission is our most inexperienced board in modern history. It oversees a weak and at times inept top level of administration that was staffed based on fealty to the last board and its benefactors rather than meritocracy, and this process demonstrates some of the dangers of that dynamic. Moreover, like its predecessor, this board is filled with commissioners who yammered nonstop about transparency and public input while campaigning. Yet here we are, with a major investment that will impact thousands of people getting a vote only days after the public has been provided with a minimum of notice or information.
For the record, TBT sent a list of detailed questions to County Administrator Charlie Bishop this week so that we could better inform the public. In a response from a county spokesperson, we were told, "The 9000 Town Center acquisition is going to the Manatee Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) on May 6th. There will be a presentation for the board at that time. There is no further information to share prior to that presentation."
On Tuesday, I sincerely hope that at least a majority of commissioners resist being slow-walked by an administration that wants them to rubber-stamp a plan that, as elected officials, they owe it to their constituents to insist gets proper vetting. This may prove to be in the county’s best interest, but such opacity suggests otherwise, and the burden is on those spending the taxpayers’ money to offer proof either way. I would like to conclude with comments from the county attorney’s office and invite you to read between the lines.
“I trust that Staff understands the timing and intricacies of this complex transaction, which poses a myriad of business, operational, and policy issues which are not without risk to the County. My review does not include any examination of the business terms as I presuppose that Staff has carefully examined those from a business standpoint, understands them, and is prepared to comply with all obligations and responsibilities from an operational standpoint. I note only that the terms are multifaceted and deserve careful consideration. I further assume that Staff has conducted the necessary and appropriate due diligence such that Staff is comfortable that there are no encumbrances which would interfere with the County’s intended use of the Property nor responsibilities which the County is not willing to undertake should the County proceed forward with the transactions proposed.”
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. Mitch is also the author of three novels and a short story collection available here.
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Dianna
Staff at its finest, not working for the good of the citizens in Manatee County. I hope that the public turns out in force.
Saturday, May 3 Report this
pattybeenutty
I thought backroom deals were over. We, the citizens, suggest that if the building is needed, we build on our Lena Road property.
Do we still own this site?
The downtown garage MUST be rebuilt to handle the parking problems in downtown.
Sunday, May 4 Report this
Debann
CHA CHING...NICE TO KNOW THAT THE COMMISSIONERS ARE INVOLVING THEIR CONSTITUENTS...OOPS MY BAD THEY ARENT....WHERE'S THE $$$$$$ COMING FROM ..WHY DOES BISHOP STILL HAVE A JOB...WHOSE BENEFITING FROM THIS??????
Sunday, May 4 Report this
David Daniels
Lack of meritocracy is exactly right. In his 1st year, Commissioner Kruse was eager to fire an honest, ethical, respected, 30 year employee Administrator Coryea for simply doing her job - yet over the last 5 years, Kruse and the BoCC has been willing to look the other way when there has been documented evidence of shady, unethical actions of the current Administrator.
For example, Charlie Bishops missing text messages on his personal phone were part of the complaint filed in Case 2022-CA-3276 which led to the County taxpayers reimbursing legal fees and court costs and a final judgement prohibiting the use of personal phones by County employees to conduct county business - which was already a county policy, it’s just that Charlie Bishop ignored it. What signal does that send to the organization, if the leader thinks county policy does not apply to him?
Charlie Bishop used his official position to seek favors for himself (trying to get his party seated ahead of others at a restaurant) and his girlfriend (awarding her drone company a no-bid county contract). Charlie Bishop promoted Tom Wooten to Manager of Code Enforcement. Wooten’s County employment history includes being a convicted felon dirty sheriff’s deputy who planted evidence on innocent people and later ratted out his fellow officers to get a lighter sentence.
Under Bishop and Wooten’s management, a code enforcement officer was ordered to remove a Hell No KVO political sign from private property - which would have been theft and a violation of free speech. Public records show that Wooten and KVO texted 17 times during this period, also a violation of County policy. Yet only the code enforcement officer that refused to break the law was disciplined. What signal does that send to the organization, when leaders violate policy and the law without repercussion?
Under Charlie Bishop, Sarah Brown has received multiple promotions, despite a miserable record at Animal services. Brown received a video of blatant animal abuse at Pawsome Sitters, yet her and Jodie Fiske sat on it for a month before turning it over to the State Attorney. In 2022, Brown requested that a University of Florida (Maddie’s) shelter evaluation be delivered over the phone, stating in an email that her intended purpose was to avoid making a public record that could be used “as a weapon” against her management. Yet Brown has been promoted twice by Bishop. What signal does it send to the organization when a person who purposely avoids public record laws is rewarded?
Under Charlie Bishop, Development Services approved a building permit for an additional dwelling unit on Carlos Beruff’s personal property. The dwelling unit was in clear violation of county codes. Bishop crony Department Manager Nicole Knapp inserted herself into the process and overruled staff to approve the permit - then wrote a pretzel logic memo of explanation after the fact. Knapp too has been promoted and rewarded. Again - what signal does that send to the organization?
Similarly, but on a much larger scale and more critically, Bishop and Knapp overruled staff experts in the administration’s presentation that led to the BoCC eliminating wetland buffers in October 2023. Under Bishop’s direction, the County hired Beruff’s consultant to present the “county initiated” policy to the BoCC. Despite the public outcry and the urging of The Bradenton Times, there has been no accountability for this act that has already directly led to the loss of priceless wetland buffers at Beruff’s 529 Acre Aqua development on Sarasota Bay in southwest Manatee County.
The wetland policy fiasco, which the Bradenton Times correctly called a “fraud and a deceit,” will almost assuredly cost county taxpayers in future lawsuits defending reversing the policy.
I could go on. The foot dragging and outright lies over the progress of the new shelter kennels. The removal of public commenting on social media… all of this under Charlie Bishop - with no accountability. What message does the Board’s refusal to seek accountability send to the organization? Which, incidentally, is the public’s organization.
Sunday, May 4 Report this
Lktinsanfran
I smell something rotten in Denmark! Oh wait, that's the Manatee County Administration. Several questions come to mind. 1. Who owns 9000 Town Center (or better said, whose palm is going to be greased)? 2. Why is Charlie Bishop not held accountable for breaking the law? Lastly, I think it only appropriate that the new Administration Building be erected next to the Lena Road Landfill, better know as a dump. In that manner you would not know if the stench was coming from the dump or the Administrators.
Monday, May 5 Report this
Cat L
Was kinda hoping violations of trust were not going to be a norm for this crew....
Monday, May 5 Report this
hooker.nancy
Is this the location where our Tax Collector, Mr. Satcher, had RENTED office space for the Tax Collector? Have Blue Sky Laws been broken here. It certainly smells rotten. What will happen to the "new" courthouse? Is it up for sale also? Something is rotten here!
Monday, May 5 Report this
igobye3959
Just when we thought we had finally voted for a “new attitude “ commission! Who wants to have to drive down University …especially when you live in west Manatee? And after all the money spent for improvements to the building……I thought the big idea was to revitalize downtown Bradenton, not to kill it. Is this why Tal Sidique won’t answer my emails-about anything!?
Monday, May 5 Report this
David Daniels
igobye3959, Good to know it's not just my emails he ignores. Funny thing is, the couple of times I wrote to praise his position, I got a reply right away. But when I have a concern, a request or a criticism - no response. It's like now that he got my vote - I don't exist.
Monday, May 5 Report this