Sanders Heads Into Election Under Dark Cloud

BRADENTON – Bradenton City Councilman Bill Sanders’ reelection campaign seems to be in severe jeopardy as a settlement agreement in a defamation suit filed by his 2018 opponent and a separate admission of spreading falsehoods during this campaign both became public on Tuesday. Sanders is in a three-way race for the Ward 4 seat on the November ballot.

During the 2018 campaign, Sanders alleged that the brake lines on his RV had been cut and suggested that it was an act of sabotage related to his candidacy. However, an investigation by the Bradenton Police Department determined that the lines were rusted and that the splice occurred where a clip had been attached to a rusty portion of the line.

His 2018 opponent Bemis Smith filed a defamation suit against Sanders in 2019, who had pulled off an unexpected landslide upset the previous November. Without an official admission of guilt, Sanders agreed to pay Smith a whopping $175,000 to settle the case.

Reached by phone, Sanders said that the decision was made solely by his insurance carrier and that he begged them not to settle, which he felt was timed to hurt him in the upcoming election.

Smith told TBT he felt vindicated by the settlement.

"I just hope that we can ultimately get back to a place where we can disagree civilly and campaign on the real issues, rather than making up lies and fabrications to disparage your opponent," Smith told TBT.

When asked if he thinks it will impact the upcoming election, Smith said he believes it should not have to.

"I hope voters will see Bill Sanders for who he is regardless of my lawsuit," said Smith. "This had nothing to do with this election or the last one. For me, this was about right and wrong. I think that all anyone has to do to know Bill Sanders is to watch the council meetings or read the report about his harassment and mistreatment of city employees."

The report Smith was referring to resulted from an investigation launched by the city earlier this year after three city employees accused Sanders of creating a hostile work environment. An outside investigator interviewed over two dozen current and former city employees and concluded that the councilman had demonstrated "abusive and threatening behavior" toward staff.

Sanders claims the complaints and investigation were a set-up, in retaliation for him questioning what appeared to be a hastily formed plan to sell off Bradenton City Hall to a politically-connected developer at a questionable price and without a public bidding process.

On Monday, Sanders sent a letter to retired judge Gregory Holder, admitting to having made "false allegations" and "slanderous comments" about Holder’s record on multiple occasions in a recent candidate forum. Holder was engaged by the city to conduct an internal investigation into allegations of an unlawful search made by a Bradenton police officer against Police Chief Melanie Bevan. Sanders alleged on multiple occasions that Holder had been removed from the bench, when in fact no such events had occurred.

"I have come to realize that my actions were inappropriate, harmful, and improper," wrote Sanders. "On multiple occasions, I publicly accused you of being removed from public office as a circuit court judge in Hillsborough County. Those accusations were false. I should have been more thoughtful before publishing the false statements. After reviewing your credentials–all of which were readily available to me before I spoke–it is clear that you have tirelessly worked as a public servant for the people in the State of Florida. You were never removed from public office, and you did not deserve to be subjected to the slanderous comments that I made."

Sanders responded to the events in the same phone interview by claiming to have misspoken and alleging that Holder had been instead reprimanded by the Florida Supreme Court and that he'd confused the matter. He said that the letter was in response to a communication from Holder's attorney who demanded a formal apology in lieu of a defamation suit. Sanders provided TBT with that letter via email.

The councilman faces planning commissioner Kurt Landefeld and real estate attorney Lisa Gonzalez Moore on the November ballot.