Van Ostenbridge accuses county clerk of playing politics with criticisms of administrator Hopes
Commission chairman doesn't respond to 'grave concerns' Colonneso detailed about how Scott Hopes is running Manatee County Government.
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 process that led to Hopes’ appointment as county administrator. And Van Ostenbridge was Hopes’ most vocal champion.
A year later, Colonneso, an elected official whose bailiwick includes acting as a watchdog on county government, is telling the commission that, to put it plainly, Hopes is unfit to lead.
But the tenor of Van Ostenbridge’s comments on Saturday — he compared Colonneso, a fellow Republican, to Joe Biden! — is certain to cloud any attempt, serious or otherwise, to address the financial, governance and other “grave concerns” Colonneso addressed in a letter to commissioners on Friday.
Van Ostenbridge accused Colonneso of trying distract from her “actions as Clerk which resulted in the loss of millions of taxpayer dollars.” He offered no explanation of what he was referring to.
“(S)he has taken a page from the Joe Biden playbook and is pointing a finger at others to distract from her failures,” Van Ostenbridge said in a statement released by the county and reported by SNN. “This political stunt attempts to undermine the sovereignty of our Board of County Commissioners. Manatee County taxpayers deserve better from their Clerk.”
In her letter to commissioners, Colonneso detailed numerous “repeated troubling events that continue to happen involving your county administrator of which you may not be aware.”
For instance, Colonneso wrote, Hopes has attempted to interfere with responses to requests for public records, and he is using a $46,000 SUV despite also receiving a $450 a month vehicle allowance as part of his compensation. Colonneso, who said some of her concerns had been referred to the county inspector general’s office for further investigation, sent her letter just days before the county commission is set to consider a contract extension for Hopes.
“I have grave concerns on the efficient operation and transparency in government to our citizens,” Colonnseo wrote. “Given my observations, these matters and those yet to be discovered, could create a significant cost to the taxpayers that are unquantifiable at this time.”
Here is Van Ostenbridge’s full statement, as published by SNN:
As Chairman of the Manatee County Commission, I will not sit idly by while an elected official abuses the status of her office to attack one of our county employees. The Clerk’s letter is strategic and politically motivated. Recently, light has been shed on Miss Colonnesso’s actions as Clerk which resulted in the loss of millions of taxpayer dollars. Miss Colonnesso has chosen not to face the music and take responsibility for her own actions. Instead, she has taken a page from the Joe Biden playbook and is pointing a finger at others to distract from her failures. This political stunt attempts to undermine the sovereignty of our Board of County Commissioners. Manatee County taxpayers deserve better from their Clerk.
Kevin Van Ostenbridge,
Chairman, Manatee County Board of County Commissioners
Read Colonnseo’s letter below.
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Colonnesso’s actions as Clerk which resulted in the loss of millions of taxpayer dollars....Please provide facts, dates and full explanation of this statement...For the Record