Resident considers legal action over Battie's racism accusations

An attorney representing resident Kelly Franklin has informed city officials that she intends to pursue a “appropriate legal action” against Commissioner Kyle Battie “in due course.”

The legal action comes in response to last week’s presentation before the Sarasota City Commission by Battie regarding what was later determined to be a manipulated social media post.

In a letter from Tampa attorney Richard Harrison to City Manager Marlon Brown, City Attorney Robert Fournier and Mayor Liz Alpert, Harrison wrote, that at this time, there is no action contemplated against the city. But it continues, “Our position regarding any legal action against the city may change should our investigation reveal that other employees or representatives of the city knew of, participated in, or aided and abetted the personal attack on Ms. Franklin by Commissioner Battie.”

During the Jan. 16 meeting, Battie produced a printed copy of an alleged Facebook post attributed to Franklin, one that showed a photo of Battie participating in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Corona Cigar Co. along with its owner. The post read, “Gorillas in the midst of being gorillas are on my mind.”

The fraudulent post was printed and delivered to the business in an envelope, which owner Tanya Borysiewicz’s assistant initially crumpled up and threw away before retrieving it and bringing it to her attention. Borysiewicz then provided the document to Battie. Battie then added an item to the meeting agenda, during which time he displayed the document on an overhead projector, effectively accusing Franklin of a racial slur.

A search of Franklin’s Facebook feed quickly revealed the caption actually accompanied nearly two dozen images from a 2022 African photo safari of actual gorillas in the wild.

“I am the victim of a not very hard-to-do mashup of various Facebook posts into a composite,” Franklin later wrote in an email.

“Ms. Franklin has retained me to represent her interests in connection with the deliberate, calculated, intentional, unjustified and unprecedented public personal attack launched upon her by Commissioner Kyle Battie during the course of the Jan. 16, 2024, meeting of the Sarasota City Commission,” Harrison’s letter reads. “I have no doubt that you were as shocked as my client was then and as I am now to have watched this outrageous personal attack on a private citizen by an elected official under the guise of an official City Commission proceeding.”

Franklin is well known at City Hall as an outspoken critic of city government, criticisms that include her contention that the cigar bar at 22 N. Lemon Ave. was approved in violation of city code. She is also the author of a newsletter for CityPAC Sarasota, a government watchdog group.

In his letter, Harrison wrote Battie ”requested that an item be added to the Jan. 16 agenda with a vague description that gave no hint of what was to come; he failed to provide the clerk or administrative staff any backup materials for that agenda item, even though he had in his possession the purported Facebook post; he apparently told nobody in the administration about the details of the matter or his intentions to attack my client publicly; and he made no inquiry of Ms. Franklin concerning the alleged Facebook post. In short, in a cold and calculated manner, Commissioner Battie planned and plotted every step so as to ensure that his very public attack on Ms. Franklin would come as a complete surprise to the City Commission, the administration, the meeting audience, the public at large, and Ms. Franklin.”

The incident was followed by a barrage of emails to city commissioners, some copied to media outlets, expressing outrage over the fact that Battie was permitted to disclose the document during a City Commission meeting without any prior vetting. A request by the Observer last week to both Brown and Fournier for comment received a reply that read, “This is not an administration or city attorney issue.”

At least so far.

Harrison writes, “Ms. Franklin demands that the city immediately conduct a complete and thorough investigation of this matter and document and report its findings publicly. Among other things, it seems apparent that Commissioner Battie misused city assets and resources to pursue a purely personal attack against Ms. Franklin for some as-of-yet unidentified personal or political benefit to himself.”

The letter continues, “We expect and anticipate that the city will take appropriate steps to preserve all records and documents that in any way relate to this matter. In addition to the city’s obligations under the Public Records Law in that regard, the city is now on actual notice of a potential legal claim arising out of these matters and as to which it almost certainly possesses relevant documents and information.”

Of the city commissioners, only Mayor Liz Alpert replied to a request by the Observer for a response to the potential legal action.

Wrote Alpert, “It is unfortunate that this incident occurred for both Commissioner Battie and for Kelly Franklin. It is also unfortunate that we are in a climate in the city where such an incident could be believable. However, when Ms. Franklin emailed me to say it wasn’t true, I believed her and assured her I would make sure this was put on the record during the same meeting. That is why I reopened the agenda item to apologize to Ms. Franklin and let the public know that I believed her that the Facebook post attributed to her was manipulated to make it appear as if she had posted it. I also wanted to allow comment from her husband regarding the situation.

“I don’t think it is in the community’s best interest to allow what happened at the Jan. 16 meeting to be dragged out and further divide the community. A better outcome would be for this incident to create the opportunity for us to have a more positive dialogue and have a conversation about how we can come together.”