Must-read story: Manatee County Commission candidate under fire for financial woes at local GOP
Voters in this year’s Republican primary should take a close look at this story in the Herald-Tribune, which details complaints about how April Culbreath, the chair of the Manatee GOP who is challenging George Kruse for the at-large District 7 seat on the commission, is managing the party’s finances. Keith Green is also running for the seat as a Republican.
From the Herald-Tribune:
The handling of finances within the Manatee County Republican Executive Committee under Chairwoman April Culbreath has led to the resignation of two executive board members and caused a rift between many executive committee members and those remaining on the board.
The Manatee REC is the governing body of the Republican Party of Manatee County. Members are preparing to hold a special meeting Monday evening to elect two new board members and to impose financial constraints to curb spending by board members without committee approval.
Manatee REC members say they forced the meeting by petition, and it was also called for by Vice Chairman Nathan Knight on Jan. 11 per procedures. Members say Culbreath — who is also a candidate for the Manatee County Commission — had not scheduled a meeting until after the March presidential primary.
Monday's special meeting agenda calls for a vote for two new executive board members to replace former Treasurer Bruce Stamm and former Secretary Marnie Matarese, who each resigned in December, and includes a vote on new financial control policies aimed at restricting and defining spending of party funds by executive board members.
The agenda also calls for a new petition to force another special meeting on Feb. 26, to open all executive board meetings to any committee member, and to appoint a new Sergeant of Arms.
Even the special meeting itself is contested. When reached for comment by the Herald-Tribune, Culbreath responded by email on Thursday evening stating that "there is not a January Manatee County REC meeting." She did not respond to further questioning.
Intra-party squabbles are usually of little public interest, but this one matters because Culbreath is running to represent all Manatee County residents, and not just the relatively few Republicans who elected her as party chair.
Her management skills, financial acumen and espectially her willingness to be held accountable for actions, are probably issues voters should consider later this year.
Also worth reading …
County restricts public input on social media (Bradenton Times)
Bradenton City Council agrees to sell City Hall to luxury developers for $14.1M (Bradenton Times)
Opinion | Sale of Musgrave Property would be Beyond Short Sighted (Bradenton Times)
The Herald Tribune article doesn't even mention the lawsuit against the REC. Granted, Culbreath isn't the main actor in that but the REC is a hot mess.
And this woman wants to be on a board that has control of a $2 billion budget? No way should that happen.