Sheriff Brad Steube Earns High Marks for His Budget Presentation

BRADENTON -- What was mistakenly characterized as a ”dog and pony show“ was a far more sober and impassioned description of the budget woes faced by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office heard in the ground floor chambers of the Board of County Commissioners Tuesday afternoon.

Sheriff Brad Steube, whose April 29 budget had requested $4.5 million more than the county offered for deputies, gasoline and raises, told commissioners he had heard their own laments and lopped off the cost of 3 percent pay raises and a $200,000 expense for gasoline. Instead, he said, he would accept the county administrator's offer of a $1,000 check for each MSO employee, sworn and civilian -- but not the $300,000 cut announced June 1.

With crime rates in Manatee County no longer achieving the high reductions of previous years and deputies leaving by the dozen, the Sheriff said he would not accept denial of his request for 10 patrol deputies and 10 corrections deputies, all certified, to make up for the 14 officers who have left this year due to higher pay being available in counties to the north and south. "I need help," he said.

Sheriff Brad Steube speaks to commission

Far from being a circus with overflowing crowds, the commission heard a tall, ramrod-straight Sheriff speak with quiet intensity about the calls that go unanswered for as long as 54 minutes when emergencies such as a burglary in progress require all available deputies. As he listed the serious crimes that other citizens were facing during the emergency – such as children at risk, assaults and other burglaries – a pin could not have dropped unheard in the silent chambers.

And when the 20-minute presentation was done, and MSO comptroller Tom Salisbury -- a veteran of Fortune 500 companies like TECO and AT&T – scrolled through the PowerPoint pages of supporting charts and documents for the actual budget request, the tide had clearly turned in the Sheriff’s favor. But he still needed about $2.5 million to hire new men and women for his agency.

”I have lost deputies to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, the Tampa Police Department, the Federal Air Marshall’s Service and the State Department for an approximate average of $5,000 a year.

”I have deputies that started at $39,689 four years ago and have now completed a school that allows them to train new deputies. We will begin a group in the Field Training and Evaluation Program in a couple of weeks for those who were recently hired. Their starting pay is also $39,689.

”The new deputy is making the same amount as the four year deputy, yet the four year deputy now takes on the responsibility and liability of training someone new.

”There is something fundamentally wrong with that,“ Sheriff Steube said.

”You have to be a victim to understand what this man is saying to you,“ said a middle-aged man who came to the microphone during public comments. His impassioned plea was followed by one from former Bradenton City Attorney Sandy Marshall, founder of the Federation of Manatee County Community Assns. He pointed directly at Steube, sitting with four or five of MSO’s top officers, and declared, ”I have the greatest admiration for you.“

At-Large Commissioner Joe McClash said the Sheriff’s report of ”compression“ of his work force had reached him. ”This compression sure worries more than anything else I’ve heard,“ he said. Commissioner Michael Gallen said he was also deeply concerned about the shortfall. ”Public safety is the most important job we have as commissioners,“ he noted.

5th District Commissioner Donna Hayes spoke with passion too, when she said that for 20 years every time the Sheriff asked the commission for money, there had been excuses and delays. Tuesday, with a bit of theater, she tried to bring those years to an end.

Unexpectedly, Hayes startled the other commissioners by revealing plans for renovations to the commission chambers that never before had been publicly revealed, prompting an irked Commission Chair Carol Whitmore to declare, ”We’re going to have the dais bullet-proofed.“

Later, Whitmore explained to The Bradenton Times that ”Joe [McClash] and I have had death threats,“ and that she had been Maced in another incident and threatened at a meeting. She also named a man she said was responsible for the threats.

The purpose of keeping the work under wraps, she said, was to prevent inspiring someone to act against them before the new measures could be implemented.

But Hayes, during the meeting, contrasted Sheriff Steube’s plea for help with the county’s law enforcement tasks with the expenses planned during the commission’s recess from June 22 to July 25.

”Installing bulletproofing materials to the dais,“ Hayes read. ”Construction of a new podium and attached table for better presentations.“ When she got to the fifth item, Hayes held the audience in her hand: ”Construction of a new desk behind the podium for better flow and camera appearance,“ she read.

Whitmore grimaced in frustration, and at least one commissioner turned red.

"This is a crisis," said Hayes, her voice rising. After the meeting, Hayes, who described herself as the board’s conservative, spoke outside the county building with The Bradenton Times. A memorandum she provided from a county official to this reporter backed up her recitation of the improvements, word for word.

While the expense may have been small compared to the gaps in Steube’s budget, the ”wish list“ probably sealed the deal. The county has until July 29 to reconcile the budget offered by County Administrator Ed Hunzeker with the one Steube asked for Tuesday.