Source of Manatee's strife

People do not like strife — in their families, with friends, in the communities in which they live. There is enough misery in the world. No one wants people who intentionally create strife or whose narcissism fuels strife.

That is what the Manatee County Commission Republican primary election appears to be about — whether to eliminate the source of the strife that has fueled division and made the Manatee County Commission the leading dysfunctional public body in the region.

The four County Commission races are not elections between liberal and conservative or a fight over socialist or free-market agendas — in spite of the claptrap Manatee voters hear and see on TV ads and in election mailers. 

For goodness sakes, as we have pointed out before, Manatee is one of the most conservative and Republican counties in Florida. Republicans outnumber Democrats nearly two-to-one. The primary is not about left vs. right.

Nevertheless, over the past four years, Manatee voters have watched and endured one commissioner whose antagonistic, disrespecting behavior has tarnished the commission and has hurt the community. 

Voters know who that is: Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge.

His behavior has crossed the line of proper public-service decorum to the point it has created the perception and believed reality that five of the six other sitting commissioners — with the exception of Van Ostenbridge’s opponent, George Kruse — are merely stooges and puppets for Van Ostenbridge and two noncommissioners, political consultant Anthony Pedicini and Manatee homebuilder Carlos Beruff.

There is good reason for that perception and belief. Beruff has been funding his preferred slate of candidates for years, especially in the past four years, to purge the commissioners he and Pedicini have dubbed liberal and RINOs. On the target list: past Commissioners Misty Servia, Carol Whitmore and Priscilla Trace, as well as Democrat Reggie Bellamy. 

In the 2020 elections, Beruff and Pedicini succeeded with the elections of Van Ostenbridge, James Satcher and Kruse and reelection of Vanessa Baugh — four of the seven commission seats. Check.

Then in 2022, they completed the mission, with the elections of Mike Rahn, Jason Bearden and Amanda Ballard. 

Job done. Seven commissioners pretty much thought to be in lock step.

But even before that 2022 victory, through 2021, it was clear Van Ostenbridge had ambitions and coveted the king’s throne — chairmanship of the board. At the end of 2021, the commissioners gave him his wish, electing him chair beginning in 2022 (a position he held in 2023 as well). 

In 2022, Van Ostenbridge made this pledge: “My expectations are that this will be a year filled with accountability, civility and ethics at all levels of our government.”

Oh, how power corrupts 

While our political philosophy of freedom for the individual, limited government, property rights, low taxes and population and economic growth aligns with Van Ostenbridge’s, it is not just the “what” that matters. It’s also the “how” — how the policies are achieved. Likewise, it is not just what the voters see. There is also the unseen — what occurs out of sight and earshot of the public.

The seen: 

A month ago, when Sarasota attorney Dan Lobeck presented commissioners with a packet of information opposing development on a 17-acre parcel at the Concession, the Observer reported: 

“The moment the packet reached Van Ostenbridge’s hands, he stood up, walked over to the garbage can, threw the packet in and returned to his seat.” 

Insulting, unbecoming.

During one of the contentious meetings on the county’s wetlands buffers, Van Ostenbridge opined to the citizens in the commission chambers: “We’re all Republicans sitting up here. We love President Trump. We support the greatest governor in America. It’s become clear that we have radical climate activists who are pushing the new Green Deal and brought a movement that is rooted in communism into Manatee County.”

So much for dignity. 

Indeed, disagreements are part of policy making, but so is respect for the way your fellow citizens are treated — especially from the commission dais.

A true public servant is open to his constituents’ voices, but Van Ostenbridge also led the shutdown of public dissent, ending call-in and social media comments to commissioners. 

The unseen: 

The Bradenton Times obtained telephone call logs between Van Ostenbridge and the Manatee chief of code enforcement, showing 17 calls between March 1 and May 1, with Van Ostenbridge initiating 11 of the phone calls. 

That same report provided details on text messages between two code enforcement employees that directed one of the employees to “grab” an anti-Van Ostenbridge campaign sign off of private property and “hold on to it.” 

The Bradenton Times reported that on the same day that the code enforcement officer was directed to remove the sign, Van Ostenbridge and a code enforcement supervisor exchanged four telephone calls. 

Commissioners set policy; they are not to jump over the county administrator and involve themselves in day-to-day operations.

That’s just one case. 

Indeed, if you put the current county commissioners on a witness stand, there would be disclosures of Van Ostenbridge maneuvering behind the scenes with the county staff. Such behavior prompted former Commissioner Satcher at one point to motion for a re-vote on Van Ostenbridge’s election as chair. Commissioners, we’re told, backed down, wary of repercussions. 

Suffice it to say, Manatee voters know well Van Ostenbridge has not lived up to the pledge of “accountability, civility and ethics.”

And yet, in a show of more brass, Van Ostenbridge, Pedicini and Beruff are now targeting Commissioner Kruse as a “liberal” who has strayed out of bounds and needs to be ousted. And talk about conceit, Van Ostenbridge, apparently thinking his MAGA-ism will carry him to victory, switched from running in his home District 3 to run against Kruse for the District 7 At-Large seat.

Flicking their noses

One last point: It’s the equivalent of this united band essentially flicking their noses at taxpayers. 

That would be the $841,340 they voted to transfer from the general fund to help the flagging candidacy of Pedicini-Beruff-backed Satcher in his supervisor of elections race.

Disguised as necessary funds to shore up and expand the supervisor’s operations, stunningly, the request for this cash came from Satcher with not a lick of detail of exactly how the money would be spent. No detail on the cost of leasing space; no detail on what new employees will be paid; no details on exactly how money would be spent on IT software and hardware.

It didn’t matter; no questions asked. The vote: 6-1 (Kruse:  voting no).

So let’s summarize the Manatee County Commission primaries:

The Pedicini-Beruff team: Steve Metallo (District 1); April Culbreath (District 3); and Kevin Van Ostenbridge (District 7, at-large).

The opposition: Carol Ann Felts (District 1); Talha “Tal” Siddique (District 3); Robert McCann (District 5); and George Kruse (District 7, at-large).

And a standalone, albeit still seen as one of the pack: Ray Turner (District 5).

A vote for the Pedicini-Beruff candidates is a continuation of antagonistic business as usual. A vote for the opposition can begin a course correction back toward respectable representation of taxpayers, where differing points of view can be and often are healthy.

The American system is all about checks and balances. With differing views on the commission, may the best arguments win.