Opinion | Confederate monument needs to stay away. So does Vanessa Baugh
Manatee County commissioner a no-show at first meeting after vaccinegate ethics hearing.
Manatee Commissioner Vanessa Baugh was a glaring no-show at Tuesday’s county commission meeting, the first since the Florida Commission on Ethics voted to recommend that Baugh be fined $8,000, censured and required to admit she violated state ethics laws during the vacciengate scandal.
It was an absence that did not go unnoticed by some Manatee residents who spoke during the public comment portion of the county commission meeting.
“The board needs to call for the resignation of Vanessa Baugh,” said Shannon Keever. “I think everybody agrees.”
Commission Kevin Van Ostenbridge threw Baugh a lifeline, telling Keever and other speakers that comments about Baugh were inappropriate for the public comment section of the meeting, because removing Baugh was not something the commission could vote on.
“I watched the entire ethics meeting,” said Sarah Parker, a leader of the Women’s Voices of Southwest Florida activist group, referring to the ethics commission hearing on Friday. “She was told to come here and face her constituents, even though there is an empty chair there, and tell everyone she did wrong. She was told that during that meeting.”
To be fair to Baugh, although ethics Commissioner Don Gaetz told Baugh needed to suffer a “reputational penalty” and face her constituents head-on, he didn’t say it had to be at a county commission meeting. Still, skipping the first county commission meeting after she got her comeuppance, for whatever reason, is not how you show “contrition.”
But it does show, again, that Baugh needs to step down. Thank you for your service, now leave.
The silver lining — albeit a thick silver lining — is that we were spared the very real chance that away from Tallahassee, Baugh would revert to her previous lies and deflections about what did during vaccinegate.
And we also avoided the possibility that Baugh would once again make her case for reinstalling the county’s Confederate monument in front of the Historic Courthouse, because of “history,” or other such abomination.
The fate of the monument, which broke into three pieces when it was taken down in August 2017 in the face of street protests in downtown Bradenton, had been on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting. But late last week, as public opposition against a reinstallation grew, County Administrator Scott Hopes removed it.
About a dozen people told commissioners Tuesday that it needs to stay off of its agenda, and that the commission’s time and money would be better spent on county issues, like the lack of affordable housing and good-paying jobs in Manatee County.
“It is repugnant that any person would be forced to view this memorial to racism and insurrection as they walk to a public courthouse dedicated to justice for all,” said Jerry Hill. “Our public property and resources should not be devoted to hatred.”
Tina Shope said the monument, which had stood since 1924, honored people who taken up arms against the United States in order to defend slavery.
“I don’t understand how reasonable people think it’s a good idea to erect a monument that glorifies crimes against humanity,” Shope said.
Commissioners Amanda Ballard and George Kruse, the only members of the all-Republican commission to vote against reconsideration of the monument’s fate, expanded on their opposition.
Ballard, who was born and raised in South Carolina, said reopening the monument debate is a “waste of taxpayer dollars.”
“I am as southern as they come but I understand that putting that monument back up is divisive, it’s hurtful and it’s not something that I want to see.”
Kruse and Ballard said that as long as the issue is unsettled, it will be “endless cloud” over the county, diverting attention from more pressing issues. Kruse, who said there is overwhelming public opposition to restoring the monument, said he hopes the item returns on a future meeting agenda.
“I think this is a conversation that did not need to happen,” Kruse said. “But now that it has been brought out, it needs to happen.”
The only other commissioner to speak about the monument Tuesday was Jason Bearden, who said he favored moving it to the Gamble Plantation state park, alongside other Confederate-related memorials.
Another commissioner, James Satcher, tried to deflect from the issue at hand by throwing ugly aspersions at the representatives of Women’s Voices of Southwest Florida, because of the group’s past support for Planned Parenthood. Van Ostenbridge let Satcher’s graphic attack go unchecked, even after he earlier had admonished WVSF’s Parker after she harshly criticized the commission for not commemorating the upcoming Black Heritage Month during Tuesday’s meeting.
Vanessa Baugh would have been proud.
Marc R. Masferrer, previously a newspaper and digital editor in Bradenton for more than 16 years, was recently named a first place winner for commentary writing in the Florida Press Club’s 2022 Excellence in Journalism Competition for work published in The Bradenton Journal. You can reach him at Marc.R.Masferrer@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @mrmasferrer. You can also like The Bradenton Journal on Facebook.
At best, she will make a non apology apology. She's definitely not resigning. I hope someone decides to oppose her soon. An announced opponent's comments would likely appear in media coverage. Baugh and this commission have already provided golden opportunities for candidates to present contrast ($32 million Piney point purchase to benefit proposed subdivision, Rezoning land adjacent to race track, not investigating employee report of inappropriate behavior...) More opportunities will surely follow, but voters have short memories.
unbelievable