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Majority of Manatee County Commission sides with Hopes, rejects clerk's criticisms
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Majority of Manatee County Commission sides with Hopes, rejects clerk's criticisms

Commissioners Baugh, Kruse, Satcher and Van Ostenbridge vote to give county administrator a new contract, pay raise describe concerns about his management raised by Clerk and Comptroller Colonneseo.

Marc R. Masferrer
May 24
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Majority of Manatee County Commission sides with Hopes, rejects clerk's criticisms
thebradentonjournal.substack.com

A 4-3 majority of the Manatee County Commission on Tuesday bet there is nothing to the “grave concerns” county Clerk and Comptroller Angelina “Angel” Colonneseo has about county Administrator Scott Hopes and voted to extend his contract, complete with a pay raise.

Manatee County commissioners George Kruse (left), Vanessa Baugh, Kevin Van Ostenbridge and James Satcher on Tuesday voted to extend the contract of county Administrator Scott Hopes, despite questions about Hopes’ management of the county raised by county Clerk and Comptroller Angelina “Angel” Colonneseo. Here the four commissioners are seen on Nov. 17, 2020, after they were sworn into office. (Manatee County Government photo)

It was the same majority — made up of Vanessa Baugh, George Kruse, James Satcher and Kevin Van Ostenbridge — that last year ousted Hopes’ predecessor, Cheri Coryea, so the outcome of Tuesday’s debate was likely never in doubt. That was even more so after the same commissioners defeated a motion to suspend Hopes so they could investigate the questions about his management of the county government raised by Colonneso in her letter.

The Bradenton Journal
Manatee clerk raises 'grave concerns' about how Administrator Scott Hopes is running county government
Angelina “Angel” Colonneso, the most powerful Manatee County official you may never have heard about, on Friday fired a powerful shot across the bow of county government, raising serious questions about how Administrator Scott Hopes is running the county…
Read more
20 days ago · 5 likes · Marc R. Masferrer

“I am not up here arguing with the clerk," Kruse said, according to YourObserver.com. "I’m not here refuting what she believes within her letter. I'm arguing her letter, is, in and of itself, dictating her view of policy and not allegations that warrant any kind of true investigation.

“I think it is premature to completely disrupt this organization, and this county further, based solely upon an unsubstantiated two-and-a-half-page letter that came in 72 hours ago.”

The Bradenton Journal
Van Ostenbridge accuses county clerk of playing politics with criticisms of administrator Hopes
That Manatee County Commission Chairman Kevin Van Ostenbridge would bristle at the criticisms county Clerk and Comptroller Angelina “Angel” Colonneso unleashed on county Administrator Scott Hopes on Friday is not surprising. After all, Van Ostenbridge and other commissioners expended a significant amount of political capital during a tumultuous hiring p…
Read more
19 days ago · 2 likes · 5 comments · Marc R. Masferrer

Voting against extending Hopes’ contract were commissioners Reggie Bellamy, Misty Servia and Carol Whitmore. They had also voted to suspend Hopes.

Hopes will remain in office, complete with a new salary of $215,000 a year, but he will do so without one of deputy administrators, Jan Brewer, who also is the county’s chief financial officer. Brewer on Tuesday submitted her resignation, effective June 8, citing some of the same concerns about Hopes that Colonneso described.

The Bradenton Journal
Manatee County's chief financial officer resigns
Jan Brewer, a Manatee County deputy administrator and the county’s chief financial officer, resigned Tuesday. Brewer, a county employee for 10 years, said she quit after learning that her boss, County Administrator Scott Hopes, had directed staff to withhold certain information from her. For instance, Brewer said she realized after reading a letter from …
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16 days ago · 1 like · Marc R. Masferrer

In her resignation letter, Brewer suggested Hopes had maneuvered to keep her from information she needed to do her job. For example, Brewer said she was unaware that the county, as revealed by Colonneseo, had opened a second retirement account for another deputy administrator and that the county had purchased a $46,000 SUV for use by Hopes, despite he also receiving a $450 a month vehicle allowance.

Under his new contract, Hopes will no longer receive the vehicle allowance.

Brewer will depart just as the commission is set to start work on the 2022-23 county budget.

Read more here.

Watch the county commission’s discussion here, starting at the 59:55 mark.

You can reach the writer at Marc.R.Masferrer@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @mrmasferrer. You can also like The Bradenton Journal on Facebook.

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Majority of Manatee County Commission sides with Hopes, rejects clerk's criticisms
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ruthlawler
May 25

I encourage MORE concerned citizens to show up to Commission meetings IN PERSON. I was there for the entire morning during the Scott Hopes contract discussion. I sat up front and watched intently. I became aware that my body language was a powerful communicator. Facial expressions, crossing arms, shaking my head positively and negatively...even KVO looked away from me a couple of times as I stared at him. It is easy for Commissioners to ignore emails, letters, call in phone voices, yet very difficult to ignore a human in front of them. 55% of communication is body language! Google it.

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